Cisalpino

Cisalpino, the operator of the international rail service between Italy and Switzerland, ceased to exist on 13 December 2009. The parent companies Trenitalia and Swiss Federal Railways SBB will split the rolling stock fleet consisting of the rather unreliable and unpopular ETR 470 Pendolino tilting trains, and the new ETR 610 high speed tilting trains which have been delivered several years late. This will create jobs for the re-painting of trains, a welcome ‘make-work scheme’ in the present economic climate! In the future, SBB and Trenitalia will again directly be responsible for the international rail traffic between the two countries.

Sconrail

All of Europe is in the hands of the European Union. All of Europe? Switzerland is not member of the European Union, but situated right in the heart of Europe. As part of the bilateral treaties with the EU, Switzerland is committed to apply the EU rules for interoperability and free access for freight and passenger trains. SCONRAIL has been created in a joint venture by PROSE, ENOTRAC and TÜV Rheinland InterTraffic GmbH with the aim to establish a 'Notified Body' (NoBo) in Switzerland for the assessment of conformity with the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI). SCONRAIL has obtained the accreditations for Inspections and Certifications in the railway domain and is successfully operating in the market. The accreditation as 'Notified Body' can only be obtained after the adoption of the EU rules in the Swiss legal framework. This process takes time and requires patience. The cartoon shows how the NOBOs are established in the whole of Europe except for Switzerland, where SCONRAIL is holding the fort.

Rail Switzerland – Germany

Switzerland is keen on good connections of its national railway network with the high speed rail networks of the neighbouring countries. To achieve this, Switzerland is also prepared to make substantial contributions to the upgrading of the connecting railway lines. This cartoon makes reference to the planned upgrades of the Zurich – Munich and Zurich – Stuttgart lines, as well as some improvements between the Lake Constance region and the upper Rhine valley. The Swiss 'Chiefs' Mr. Merz (Finances) and Leuenberger (Transportation) hand over some bags with money to the commander of the German cavalry Mr. Steinbrück (Finance Minister). In his term in office, Mr. Steinbrück was eager to get the money Germans put on secret Swiss bank accounts to avoid the high German tax. He threatened to send out the 'Cavalry' if the Swiss 'Indians' were reluctant to support his mission.

Elvetino

Elvetino (now a subsidiary of Swiss Federal Railways SBB) is in charge of the catering services in Swiss trains. The Elvetino food trolleys have recently been equipped with battery driven coffee machines. Real freshly brewed Italian espresso can now be served to the passengers. No doubt, the quality of this coffee is much better than the coffee from the thermos jugs in the old days, but the power supply from batteries can be a bit tricky. Often the batteries are flat, and there is no coffee at all from the Elvetino rail bar. In our recent power supply studies for the trolley bus networks of the cities of Winterthur, St. Gallen and Bern, we were inspired with some ideas how the power supply of the Elvetino rail bars could be drastically improved.