SBB half-year results 2026

SBB records strong first half with clear priorities for the future

More passengers, high punctuality and a significantly stronger financial result: SBB looks back on a successful first half of 2026. It is also looking ahead. Chairman of the Board of Directors André Wyss has identified three strategic priorities: reliability, innovation and financial flexibility.

SBB/CFF/FFS (Text), Lorenz Held (Photos)
Published on 26.08.2026, Reading time 7 minutes

Today, SBB is on a solid footing. The first half of 2026 demonstrated the railway’s operational resilience, underpinned by sustained growth in demand, high punctuality and significantly improved financial performance. The freight services restructuring is also going to plan, with a with a break-even result for the first time in many years. At the same time, demand for mobility continues to grow, the backlog in asset maintenance is increasing and substantial investments in rail infrastructure, rolling stock and digitalisation remain essential.

In response to these developments, Chairman André Wyss has defined three strategic priorities to ensure that SBB remains the backbone of sustainable mobility in Switzerland over the long term.

Ensuring reliability

SBB brings people, regions and businesses together – reliably and with low environmental impact. This reliability is not a given, which is why preserving and modernising existing infrastructure is a top priority. While network expansion remains necessary, future developments must focus on areas that deliver the greatest value to passengers and to Switzerland as a whole.

Driving targeted innovation

Infrastructure expansion alone will not be sufficient to meet rising demand. Digitalisation, emerging technologies and new mobility solutions will help optimise the existing system, further improve reliability, create additional capacity and simplify travel for passengers.

Strengthening financial flexibility

SBB requires sufficient financial flexibility to invest over the long term and fulfil its mandate for Switzerland. Moving forward, the company will enhance operational efficiency, strictly prioritise investments and work alongside its owner to establish sustainable framework conditions.

Chairman André Wyss said: “SBB is in a strong position today. Our task now is to secure that strength for the future so that the railway remains reliable, innovative and financially flexible for generations to come.”

Positive first half of 2026 with satisfied passengers and high punctuality

SBB enjoyed a strong first half of 2026 both operationally and financially. Demand for mobility continued to increase, with an average of 1.45 million passengers travelling on SBB trains each day; up 4.0 percent from the first half of 2025 (1.39 million).

Customer satisfaction also improved year on year, rising to 80.1 points (2025: 79.9 points). Contributing factors included smoother operations, enhanced passenger information during disruptions and additional seating on heavily used routes.

Passenger service punctuality remained at a high level. Train punctuality reached 94.1 percent, only 0.4 percentage points below the exceptional figure recorded in the first half of 2025. Important contributing factors included infrastructure and rolling stock reliability as well as effective planning of engineering works. Technical faults, adverse weather and delays in cross-border traffic had a negative impact.

Overall safety performance remained stable despite growing challenges related to aggression, violence and cyber threats. However, serious accidents and one fatal occupational accident underscored the need to keep safety as SBB’s highest priority. The company is therefore strengthening preventive measures, training programmes and technical safety systems, while working closely with partner organisations.

Financial situation remains challenging despite improved profitability

The half-year result improved significantly year on year. SBB reported profit of CHF 126 million in the first half of 2026, compared with CHF 48 million in the same period of 2025. The improvement was driven by rising passenger demand, positive real estate performance and substantially improved earnings in freight services.

Despite this progress, the financial situation remains challenging. To fund increasing investment requirements for major fleet renewals and planned service expansions, SBB will require annual profits of around CHF 500 million in the medium term and even higher levels over the longer term. This is essential to stabilise debt levels while continuing to invest strategically in the future.

Freight services back on track as demand grows in international passenger services

The freight services restructuring is going to plan. At the beginning of 2026, SBB reorganised combined transport (CT) and launched trial operations of the CT shuttle along the North–South axis. As previously announced, the restructuring of national single wagonload traffic (SWT) will follow the CT reorganisation. From December 2026, the new production model will improve cost-efficiency and support the target set by the Swiss Confederation for freight operations to become economically self-sustaining by 2033. Ongoing rolling stock renewal programmes will further support this target. A key milestone in this restructuring will be the reintegration of freight operations into the parent company (see detail box below).

Demand for international rail travel also continued to rise. In the first half of 2026, 6.02 million passengers travelled on international services, an increase of 1.3 percent compared with the previous year. SBB continues to expand its international offering in partnership with other rail operators.

Transport 45: asset maintenance as the foundation for further expansion

The reliability of the rail network will remain SBB’s primary focus. Network expansion remains necessary to accommodate growing demand and avoid future capacity constraints. SBB is following the consultation on the Transport 45 rail expansion programme and contributing its expertise to the federal planning process. Its guiding principle remains unchanged: maintaining existing infrastructure comes first. A high-performing network is the foundation for any further expansion. SBB therefore supports solutions that deliver clear passenger benefits, involve manageable long-term costs and remain viable over the long term.

The first half of 2026 in figures

In Passenger Services, earnings from long-distance services increased by approximately CHF 3 million year on year to CHF 14 million. Stronger demand in Long-Distance Services and International Passenger Services was partly offset by higher maintenance costs and depreciation associated with double-deck trains (IR-Dosto).
Regional Services reported a loss of CHF 16 million, an improvement of CHF 23 million on the previous year, driven by higher demand and lower maintenance costs.

GA Travelcards remained stable at 419,000 subscriptions. The number of Half Fare Travelcards in circulation reached 3.53 million, up 3.2 percent compared with June 2025. Demand for the Half Fare Travelcard PLUS remained strong, with 202,000 active subscriptions by mid-2026, up from just under 170,000 in 2025.

Energy Infrastructure generated earnings of CHF 14 million, down CHF 24 million year on year. This decline was attributable to higher energy market purchases and increased grid usage fees resulting from lower levels of self-generation. Network Infrastructure reported a CHF 5 million decrease in its mid-year result, reflecting higher personnel costs linked to increased maintenance activity and major projects.

Real Estate earnings improved by CHF 29 million year on year to CHF 176 million, which was largely attributable to new site openings and higher footfall at railway stations.

In Freight Services, earnings increased by CHF 49 million year on year to CHF 2 million, marking the first break-even result in many years. The improvement was supported by federal subsidies for national single wagonload traffic, internal efficiency measures, cost-covering transport pricing and proceeds from rolling stock sales. International Freight Services also performed positively, while declining domestic transport volumes continued to present challenges.

SBB boosts freight services with reintegration into the Group

Freight services play a vital role in ensuring national supply and climate-friendly freight transport. SBB is therefore strengthening freight services as a core business activity by bringing the integrated railway structure back under one roof.

SBB Cargo AG will be financially integrated into SBB AG from 1 January 2027 and will be managed as the Freight Services division together with the SBB Cargo International AG (SBB AG majority stake of 75 percent) and ChemOil Logistics AG (100 percent subsidiary) group companies. SBB will therefore be concluding the process initiated in 2023 with the complete acquisition of SBB Cargo AG. The new organisation reduces complexity, makes management more efficient and improves integration of freight services within SBB.

Employees from SBB Cargo AG will transfer to SBB AG on 1 June 2027. This organisational change will not affect their terms of employment. Reintegration as a division is an important step towards achieving SBB’s objective of operating a self-sustaining freight transport business over the long term, in line with the target set by the Swiss Confederation, as owner of SBB.