Switzerland, always known to be serious about punctuality, is unhappy with the poor on-time record of trains from neighboring countries, none of which come near the Swiss 92.5% on-time record.
And, say the Swiss, they’d do even better than the 92.5 if their tracks and stations weren’t cluttered with poky trains from Italy, Austria and especially Germany. France, their other connecting neighbor, is apparently off the hook.
SBB, the national rail operator, has been negotiating with neighbor operators over changes to schedules and operations that could bring them up to standard.
It’s asking Italy to start trains from Milan to Switzerland to start earlier to allow more time for possible delays at the Simplon tunnel. SBB has already had enough issues with Germany’s DB that it has taken to stopping German trains that are more than a few minutes late at border stations and moving the passengers onto Swiss trains to avoid having the delayed German trains in the way of others. No specific issues with Austria have been stated, other to say that SBB is “not satisfied” with their record.
