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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 9 (January 1, 1929)

Advance of Swiss Railways

Advance of Swiss Railways.

Switzerland possesses one of the most successful and enterprising Government railway systems of Europe. Travellers from every land have spoken of the progressive policy which is invariably followed by the Berne railway authorities, and in the electrification field, especially, the Swiss transportation folk have set a lead for all the world to follow. The recently published report of the Swiss Federal Railways for 1927 makes an excellent showing, a net profit of about £200,000 having been secured for the twelve months.

Approximately 2,000 miles of track are owned by the Swiss Government lines. During 1927 the system handled 111,000,000 passengers, an increase of 8 per cent, over the previous year. Freight business rose by 6 per cent. from 16,800,000 tons in 1926 page 21 to 17,800,000 tons in 1927. Considerable sums have been saved by the Swiss railways as a result of the extensive reorganisation of the workshops, while the introduction of electric working has also been of service in the securing of more economical operation. At January 1, 1928, the Swiss Federal Railways owned 323 main-line electric locomotives, a figure which is far ahead of anything found elsewhere on the European railway systems. A feature of recent note is the introduction of thirty locomotives, equipped for one-man control, for slow passenger and freight train haulage. This form of working has been found to be most economical, and gives every satisfaction from the viewpoint of service.