Swiss railway operators

Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)

VKM CH-SBB

The Swiss Federal Railways are the state railway of Switzerland and present across the whole country. This page shows what that means for the network and how to recognise its vehicles.

Schweizerische Bundesbahnen SBB

VKM CH-SBB

Swiss vehicles don't stop at the national border. This page explains how wagon transfer across borders works and how to recognise cross-border vehicles.

Aargau Verkehr AG (AVA)

Aargau Verkehr AG is a regional transport company in the canton of Aargau. It stands for a basic Swiss pattern: railway undertaking and infrastructure manager under one corporate roof.

Appenzeller Bahnen AG (AB)

The Appenzeller Bahnen are a regional railway company in north-eastern Switzerland. Their vehicle designations follow the Swiss system of letters and an axle fraction.

Baselland Transport AG (BLT)

Baselland Transport AG is a regional transport company in the Basel area. Its name shows a basic Swiss pattern: the canton orders the services, but passengers cross the cantonal border anyway.

BLS AG

VKM CH-BLS

BLS AG is one of Switzerland's big railway companies. Its example is a good way to explain how a mountain line and a base tunnel differ operationally.

Chemin de fer Lausanne–Echallens–Bercher (LEB)

The Chemin de fer Lausanne–Echallens–Bercher carries its route in its company name. Anyone who can read such place-name chains unlocks a large part of the Swiss rail landscape at a glance.

Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ)

Chemins de fer du Jura simply means "railways of the Jura". The name reveals two things at once: the company's language region, and the plural, which stands for more than one line.

Forchbahn AG

Forchbahn AG is a Swiss private railway in suburban service. Its name names an area rather than two endpoints – and its operation shows how a trunk section shapes timetables.

Lugano–Ponte Tresa Bahn (FLP)

Lugano–Ponte Tresa Bahn (FLP) is a narrow-gauge regional railway in Ticino. Its name shows, by example, how Swiss railways are named from place chains and abbreviations.

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG (MGB)

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG is a metre-gauge alpine railway. Its operation is a textbook example of how vehicles switch between friction and rack drive.

MBC Transports de la région Morges–Bière–Cossonay

The MBC is a transport company in the Vaud region of Morges–Bière–Cossonay. Its name names three towns – and the world around it shows how gauge boundaries are bridged.

Montreux-Berner Oberland-Bahn AG (MOB)

Montreux-Berner Oberland-Bahn AG links the Lake Geneva region with the Bernese Oberland. Its type of railway stands for something rarely explained elsewhere: the panorama car.

RegionAlps SA

RegionAlps SA is a Swiss regional operator in the Alps. Its name states both: the regional task and the mountains it takes place in.

Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS)

Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS) connects two cantons. That alone makes it a case study in how strongly cantonal borders shape Swiss local rail services.

Rhätische Bahn AG (RhB)

The Rhätische Bahn is Europe's best-known narrow-gauge railway. Its most striking feature isn't the vehicle but the route: spiral tunnels, viaducts and avalanche galleries.

SOB Südostbahn AG

SOB Südostbahn AG operates rail services in eastern Switzerland. To understand its network, you need to know how cantonal borders structure Swiss regional traffic.

Thurbo AG

Thurbo AG runs regional passenger rail services. Its made-up name is a textbook case of how regional companies present themselves in rail operations – and why the data panel matters more than the lettering.

Transports Publics du Chablais (TPC)

Transports Publics du Chablais (TPC) is a Swiss railway and transport company with a French-language name. The name gives the landscape the operation calls home – the data panel gives you the keeper.

Transports Publics Fribourgeois (TPF)

Transports Publics Fribourgeois (TPF) operates public transport in the canton of Fribourg. The language border runs right through this area – and that shapes markings, place names and sightings alike.

Transports publics genevois (TPG – Bahnanteile)

Transports publics genevois is the urban transport operator in Geneva. The label “rail portion” in this database sets apart the rail-based part of its services from the rest of the urban transport network.

Transports Publics Neuchâtelois (transN)

Transports Publics Neuchâtelois (transN) run public transport with ties to the canton of Neuchâtel. Anyone who wants to understand Swiss railways should start with one term: the concession.

Travys SA

Travys SA is a French-speaking Swiss transport company. Anyone who wants to understand Swiss regional transport needs to know the cantons: they are the service area, the client and often the source of the name.

Waldenburgerbahn (BLT Baselland Transport AG)

The entry "Waldenburgerbahn (BLT Baselland Transport AG)" combines a railway name with a company name. This page explains how to read such double entries in directories.

Zentralbahn AG

Zentralbahn AG stands for rail services in the heart of Switzerland. Its most exciting feature for observers is mixed operation: vehicles that handle both adhesion and rack sections on the same run.

BLS Cargo AG

BLS Cargo AG is a Swiss freight operator. Its example is a good way to explain what the country code in the data panel really means – and what it doesn't.

Captrain Schweiz AG

Captrain Schweiz AG is a Swiss freight operator. Its core name appears in several countries – and its business area leads straight to one of the most instructive spots in rail operations: the border wagon handover.

Crossrail AG

Crossrail AG is a Swiss freight operator with an English name. Anyone wanting to see its trains shouldn't head for the tunnel portal, but to the long approach lines in front of it.

DB Cargo Schweiz GmbH

DB Cargo Schweiz GmbH is a freight railway operating under a Swiss company name. The name stem appears in several countries in this database – the company itself is identified by its train picture and data panel.

Hupac SA

Hupac SA is a Swiss freight transport company. Its SA suffix reveals more about the language region of the firm's name than about its legal form – and that's exactly what often misleads people.

Railcare AG

Railcare AG is a Swiss freight railway whose name is a statement: Rail plus Care stands for goods that need looking after in transit – think temperature control.

Railtraxx AG

Railtraxx AG is a freight railway with a Swiss registration. Its home ground is cross-border traffic – and there, much comes down to the wagon, not the locomotive.

SBB Cargo AG

SBB Cargo AG operates rail freight transport in Switzerland. Anyone looking for its trains should understand how traffic bunches on the approach lines to the base tunnels.

SBB Cargo International AG

SBB Cargo International AG is a Swiss freight company. Its name suffix suggests a cross-border focus – typical of transit traffic through the Alps.

TX Logistik AG (Schweiz)

TX Logistik AG (Schweiz) is a Swiss company in the freight transport field. This page shows what the name proves – and how to tell accompanied from unaccompanied freight trains.

Widmer Rail Services AG (WRS)

Widmer Rail Services AG (WRS) is a Swiss railway company in the freight sector. This page explains the name structure and shows what secured loads reveal about a freight train.

WRS Widmer Rail Services AG

WRS Widmer Rail Services AG is a Swiss rail freight company. This page places the name and explains why Alpine transit shapes the country's freight traffic.

Sersa Group AG (Rail Operations CH)

Sersa Group AG (Rail Operations CH) is active in the Swiss railway construction sector. Anyone looking for its trains has to understand that construction work happens in time windows – usually when no one's watching.

Gornergrat Bahn AG

Gornergrat Bahn AG is a narrow-gauge rack railway high in the mountains. This page explains how the different rack rail designs differ and how to reliably recognise rack-driven vehicles.

SNCF Voyages Développement (Schweiz) GmbH

An entry with a French name stem and a Swiss legal form: this page explains what the name actually proves – and how to handle companies with no visible fleet.