SBB back in the black

Güterverkehr

SBB back in the black thanks to record passenger numbers

For the first time since 2019, SBB is back in the black for the 2023 financial year thanks to another record number of passengers. However, the mountain of debt keeps up the pressure to economise and improve efficiency. SBB is focused intently on the future. Its goal is to ensure that SBB trains operate safely, cleanly, punctually and, in future, more flexibly, more frequently and faster.

Sabine Baumgartner (Text), SBB/CFF/FFS (Fotos)
Publiziert am 11.03.2024, Lesedauer 9 Min

The positive trend continues. In 2023, SBB transported 1.32 million passengers per day (2022: 1.16 million), once again reaching the level of the record year 2019; thanks in part to the work of SBB employees. More and more people are travelling by rail in their leisure time, both within Switzerland and to surrounding destinations in Europe. More passengers bring more revenue, which is why long-distance services are back in the black for the first time in three years (2023: CHF 117 million, 2022: CHF –47 million). Together with the profits from SBB Real Estate before transfer payments (2023: CHF 281 million, 2022: CHF 269 million) and Energy (2023: CHF 78 million, 2022: CHF –165 million), this led to a profit of CHF 267 million (2022: CHF –245 million). The profit is pleasing, but not sufficient to significantly reduce the debt (CHF 11.26 billion, 2022: CHF 11.44 billion), offset the massive losses of the previous years and finance investments for the future, for example new rolling stock.

In 2023, SBB further stabilised the railway system, carrying a record number of passengers while the railway system was continually under construction; there were around 20,000 construction sites last year. SBB trains are safe, clean and – as stated in the SBB media release on punctuality 2023 (in German) at the end of January – on time. However, more passengers also mean fewer free seats and customers are also giving a lower cleanliness rating. This had an impact on the still high level of satisfaction among passengers (2023: 78.7, 2022: 80.5 points). The figures for freight transport developed positively (significant improvement of 3.9 points to 73.7 points). The new offers for young people launched in 2023 were very well received (for example, 89 273 Night GA Travelcards were sold by the end of February 2024). Despite the tense financial situation and major operational challenges, including planning, construction and driving, SBB employees are more satisfied and motivated than at any time since the survey began (79 out of 100 points, 2022: 78 points). Thanks to the extraordinary commitment of its employees, SBB overcame some exceptional situations in 2023, including the derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel and other major disruptions such as those in La Chaux-de-Fonds and Renens.

More robust and flexible travel in the medium term...

A financially healthy SBB needs an annual profit of around CHF 500 million. To stabilise the situation, the company will also be spending around CHF 6 billion less by 2030. The cost and efficiency measures that have been adopted are on track. Three major digitalisation programmes in particular are set to help SBB to plan and manage rail operations more efficiently and productively. The Confederation also wants to make a major contribution to compensate for losses in long-distance services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

SBB is an attractive employer and aims to remain so in view of the shortage of skilled labour. By 2030, around a fifth of the workforce will have retired and around 6,000 employees will need to be replaced. The railway will continue to grow strongly and construction volumes will increase. Today, around 25% more trains are running on SBB tracks than at the start of Rail 2000. Now that the timetable in German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino has been adapted to the current situation with the cross-city link in Zurich and the Gotthard Base Tunnel, SBB is working with the Federal Office of Transport and the Cantons of French-speaking Switzerland to establish a more robust timetable for French-speaking Switzerland from 2025. This will allow the necessary maintenance and expansion work to be carried out on the network while trains continue to run.

On this basis and in line with its 2030 Strategy (SBB website «SBB 2030 Strategy», SBB intends to gradually make its service offer more flexible. For this reason, SBB has introduced more direct trains where demand is high, for example, the ski trains in French-speaking Switzerland, hiking trains to the Alps, the Ticino student train to Lausanne and more day and night trains abroad. The company is also investigating new direct connections for daytime and night-time services.

With the help of the Confederation, SBB wants to put freight transport on an economically sustainable footing and transport more goods in a climate-friendly way by rail. SBB Cargo was returned to full SBB ownership in June 2023; the structural deficit in its wagonload traffic is to be eliminated. Operations should also become more efficient with digital automatic coupling and automatic brake testing.

Over the course of 2024, a new Centre of Excellence for customer information will ensure that passengers are informed quickly, easily and from a single source, particularly when disruptions occur, but also in the event of construction work and rail replacement services. Railway stations are SBB’s calling cards. After the major stations, SBB is modernising the small and medium-sized stations, developing them into attractive, multimodal meeting places with space for local and regional elements. SBB is becoming less dependent on the electricity market and will cover 95% of its rail power requirements by 2030, even in winter. SBB must make further improvements in occupational safety. To improve cyber security, the Cyber Defence Center was established in 2023 and monitors network traffic around the clock.

...more frequent and faster services from 2050 onwards

Switzerland is the European champion of rail travel. As a climate-friendly and space-saving mode of transport, rail will continue to play a central role in the comprehensive mobility of the future. At the same time, growing demand is pushing the capacity of railway hubs and the complexity of the system closer to their limits. To meet these challenges, SBB is developing a long-term vision for a railway that runs more flexibly, more frequently and faster. The vision is based on the Confederation’s «Perspective RAIL 2050».

In future, fast and direct trains will connect Switzerland with other countries. Domestically, the frequency of services is to be increased closer to 15 minutes and door-to-door connections will be faster thanks to the inclusion of other modes of transport, such as trams, on-demand buses and light rail transit. How can the railway ensure a good connection with Europe? How does a good domestic system work? Where does it make sense for a train to run and stop and where might trams or on-demand buses be more suitable than a train? If the train runs more frequently, the strict hub structure becomes less important. If the train stops less, the railway will be faster even without new high-speed lines. Questions and considerations like these are part of the long-term vision for the railway. SBB intends to discuss these with politicians over the next few years in order to further the development of public transport in the long term.

SBB’s 2023 financial year in figures.

The positive annual result for 2023 was characterised in particular by the faster and stronger than expected growth in passenger numbers, higher earnings from the Energy unit and a solid contribution to the overall result from Real Estate. At CHF 11.26 billion, debt is slightly below last year’s level (2022: CHF 11.44 billion). The debt coverage ratio at the end of 2023 was 7.82. Here are the key figures:

Passenger Services

Passenger Services revenue rose by 9.9 per cent year-on-year to CHF 3,731 million. Long-distance services were back in the black for the first time since 2019 with a profit of CHF 117 million (2022: CHF –47 million). This is primarily due to the rise in demand for weekend and international passenger services. For regional services, higher demand for short commuter distances in particular led to improved earnings of CHF 23 million (2022: CHF 11 million). At the same time, costs rose, including for rail power, train path fees and fleet management. Targeted advertising campaigns (including for leisure, trial offers and 125 Years of the GA Travelcard) and new products contributed to the positive growth in demand for passenger services. The number of GA Travelcards rose again: 447,166 GA Travelcards were in circulation at the end of 2023 (+3.8%). The number of Half Fare Travelcards rose further to a new high of 3.15 million travelcards (+6%). And the Half Fare Travelcard PLUS, which has been available since December, has also been very well received. As of last week (3 March 2024), 70 791 travelcards had already been sold. Compared to other countries, a high level of punctuality (train punctuality: 92.5%, connection punctuality: 98.7%) was maintained in passenger services. The figures in French-speaking Switzerland and southern Switzerland are not yet satisfactory.

Real Estate

Before transfer payments to Infrastructure (CHF 150 million) and contributions to the pension fund (CHF 78 million), the annual result for Real Estate was slightly higher than the previous year at CHF 281 million (2022: CHF 269 million). Real Estate therefore once again made a solid contribution to the overall result. Third-party rental income increased compared to the previous year (+4.4%), in particular due to the recovery of footfall at stations by 8.9% and growth from new openings, such as Basel Dreijohann and Zurich Letziturm during 2022 and Zurich Oerlikon Franklinturm in 2023.

Swiss and International Freight Services

SBB Cargo Switzerland’s result increased by CHF 148 million compared to last year to CHF –40 million. This is due in particular to the write-down made in the previous year (CHF –128 million). Traffic performance fell by 7.5% compared to the previous year. The main drivers were price pressure, the structural deficit in wagonload traffic and the economic downturn.

SBB Cargo International posted a loss of CHF 2.5 million in 2023 (2022: CHF –0.3 million). The volumes transported fell by 0.8% compared to the previous year due to the economic slowdown in Europe and ongoing infrastructure restrictions. As cost increases were passed on to customers, freight transport revenue still increased by 1.6%. Cost drivers included additional personnel costs caused by the need for more locomotive staff and ongoing infrastructure restrictions in Germany (in particular, construction and strikes).

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Network also benefited from the recovery in demand for passenger services, with a significant increase in train path revenue. The result remained negative at CHF –23 million (2022: CHF –24 million). Additional maintenance costs and additional charges for ancillary rental costs had a negative impact on the result.

The annual result for Infrastructure Energy improved significantly by CHF 243 million to CHF 78 million. This is due to higher earnings from increased production and higher rail power prices, as well as a lesser impact from falling energy market prices. However, the positive result is not sufficient to compensate for the previous year’s loss of over CHF 165 million.

More facts and figures can be found in the SBB annual report on the SBB website «SBB Annual Report» (in German).

SBB Annual Report (in German)

SBB Status review (not accessible for disabled persons)