Hupac

Updated: August 2026 – On the Gotthard southern ramp, a train of identical pocket wagons rolls past, loaded with semi-trailers. On the wagon body it says Hupac. On the locomotive it says something completely different – and both are correct. The group organises this train; it’s run by a railway undertaking contracted to do so.

Log the train and the locomotive separately

In combined transport, wagons and traction often belong to different companies – note both down.

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What an operator does – and doesn’t do

Freight traffic has a role that doesn’t exist in the same way in passenger traffic: the operator. It doesn’t sell train journeys to travellers, but transport capacity to forwarding agents. To do so it supplies wagons, plans fixed train systems, runs transhipment terminals, and buys in the traction from railway undertakings.

Hupac is the best-known example of this role in the Alpine region. The group owns no significant locomotive fleet, and doesn’t need one – its value lies in the wagon fleet, the timetable and the terminals. That’s exactly why it’s so easy to misread trackside: its name is written large on the train, and yet not on the vehicle pulling it.

Who actually pulls the train

Because the traction is bought in, the front of the train is interchangeable. The same train system can be worked by several companies over the course of a week, and on long relations the operator changes at national borders anyway.

The practical consequence: a photo of the locomotive documents the company currently running the train. A photo of the wagon rake documents the train system. Whoever combines both has captured the train – whoever has only one knows half the story. The guide Who’s actually running it? covers this distinction in more detail.

From a train photo to a proper sighting, in four steps

Why Swiss transport policy plays a part here

The business model would be unthinkable without the political framework behind it. Switzerland committed early on to shifting trans-Alpine freight traffic onto rail, and backed that decision with the construction of the base tunnels. Only the level routes and the widened clearance make long, heavy system trains with tall semi-trailers economically viable.

Anyone watching the trains sees this policy directly: far fewer freight trains now run on the old mountain lines than in the past, while a dense stream flows through the base tunnels that’s barely noticeable from the surface. If you want the shots, head for the approach lines – to Erstfeld in the north, say, or to Bellinzona in the south. The classic mountain backdrop is still there at the Gotthard southern ramp at Giornico, just with less traffic than before the base tunnel.

The traction comes from several houses. Most often you’ll come across SBB Cargo International, in which the operator itself holds a minority stake – a customer that is also part-owner of its own service provider. Alongside it, companies such as Lokomotion Austria work the same system trains on other sections. Which class turns up depends on the electrification system: in Switzerland, machines such as the Re 474 are common.

Watch system trains over several weeks

You'll only spot the recurring slots once several timed sightings sit in the same archive.

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When you may write “Hupac”

Verdict

Hupac turns the usual identification logic on its head. Normally, the locomotive gives away the operator. Here, the locomotive gives away the contracted train operating company, and the train itself belongs to someone else. Once you’ve grasped that, you read combined transport in a completely different way.

In practice that means taking two sightings from one train – one for the traction, one for the train system. It costs an extra look, but it’s the difference between a note and a sighting you can rely on.

Document Alpine transit systematically

Log wagon and locomotive separately, and after a few weeks you'll see which company runs which system.

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