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RAIL SERVICE BETWEEN SWITZERLAND AND ITALY WILL CO

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UPDATE: Cross-border train service between Switzerland and Italy to continue running

Despite an earlier announcement that Switzerland and Italy will halt rail services between the two countries, they are set to continue.

UPDATE: Cross-border train service between Switzerland and Italy to continue running

The two neighbouring countries said on Monday that all cross-border rail traffic would be suspended indefinitely because train personnel do not have capacity to carry out COVID-19 safety checks.

However, representatives of both nations agreed on Wednesday on the need to ensure the continuity of passenger transport between the two countries.

Following discussions between the Italian Minister of Transport Paola De Micheli and her Swiss counterpart, Swiss president Simonetta Sommaruga, who also heads Switzerland’s Transport Ministry, “it was decided that the EuroCity services would be maintained, but to a limited extent”, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said. 

Concretely, from December 10th, 2020, two EuroCity trains will run on the Gotthard axis, and two on the Simplon axis.

From December 13th, when the new SBB timetable comes into effect, two pairs of EuroCity trains will run on the Gotthard axis and two pairs on the Simplon axis.

  • EC 313 dp. Zurich 07:10, arr. Milan 10:50 am
  • EC 316 dp Milan 11:10, arr. Zurich 2:50 p.m.
  • EC 34 dp Milan 13:05, arr. Geneva 5:21 p.m.
  • EC 37 dp Geneva 07:39, arr. Milan 11:40 am
  • EC 50 dp Milan 07:20, arr. Basel 11:32 am
  • EC 57 dp Basel 12:28, arr. Milan 4:40 p.m.


Checks will be carried out at the border posts in Chiasso and Domodossola by the staff of the Italian railways.

READ MORE: MAP: Return of night trains across Europe comes a step closer 


Regional traffic

The situation related to regional TILO trains, which connect Ticino with the Italian region of Lombardy, and transport border workers between the two countries, will be more complicated.

The large number of stations along the line does not allow border checks to be carried out in the same way as on EuroCity trains. 

SBB said that from December 10th Italian regional trains will run to the Chiasso station, where passengers will be checked and then change trains and continue their journey on TILO trains.

In order to gradually restore links between Switzerland and Italy, SBB and TILO are awaiting confirmation from the Italian authorities of the adaptation of the decree which, following discussions between the parties, exempts the railways from the responsibility of border checks.


 

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TRAVEL NEWS

Swedish government shelves plans for two fast train links

Sweden's government has called for a halt to planning to faster train links between Gothenburg and Borås and Jönköping and Hässleholm, in a move local politicians have called "a catastrophe".

Swedish government shelves plans for two fast train links

In an announcement slipped out just before Christmas Eve, the government said it had instructed the Swedish Transport Administration to stop all planning for the Borås to Gothenburg link, stop the ongoing work on linking Hässleholm and Lund. 

“The government wants investments made in the railway system to first and foremost make it easier for commuting and cargo traffic, because that promotes jobs and growth,” infrastructure minister Andreas Carlson said in a press release. “Our approach is for all investments in the railways that are made to be more cost effective than if the original plan for new trunk lines was followed.” 

Ulf Olsson, the Social Democrat mayor in Borås, told the TT newswire that the decision was “a catastrophe”. 

“We already have Sweden’s slowest railway, so it’s totally unrealistic to try to build on the existing railway,” he said. We are Sweden’s third biggest commuting region and have no functioning rail system, and to release this the day before Christmas Eve is pretty symptomatic.”

Per Tryding, the deputy chief executive for the Southern Sweden Chamber of Commerce, complained that the decision meant Skåne, Sweden’s most southerly county, would now have no major rail infrastructure projects. 

“Now the only big investment in Skåne which was in the plan is disappearing, and Skåne already lay far behind Gothenburg and Stockholm,” he said.

“This is going to cause real problems and one thing that is certain that it’s going to take a very long time, whatever they eventually decide. It’s extremely strange to want to first suspend everything and then do an analysis instead of doing it the other way around.”  

The government’s instructions to the transport agency will also mean that there will be no further planning on the so-called central parts of the new planned trunk lines, between Linköping and Borås and Hässleholm and Jönköping. 

Carlson said that the government was prioritising “the existing rail network, better road standards, and a build-out of charging infrastructure”.

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