Key facts
The railways are among the biggest power consumers in Switzerland. The annual traction current consumption of the SBB network is around 2,400 GWh, which is similar to the power consumption of around 630,000 households. The Confederation sees a need for action in the rail transport energy efficiency improvements in the planned 2050 energy strategy. Direct financial incentives for efficiency gains should be created by including effective energy costs in the route price system, among other things. With the route price, the infrastructure costs, including traction current costs, are charged to the railway undertakings (RUs), thereby compensating the infrastructure operators. SBB Infrastructure charges the RUs in its network traction current costs averaging around CHF 220 million each year. This is approximately 20% of the route price proceeds of CHF 1.1 billion.