To ensure the stability and reliability of the Combined transport on the north-south axis in transalpine transit through Switzerland, it is necessary to expand the lines through France. This was highlighted by the operator Swiss intermodal system Hupac on the basis of good results from the diesel shuttle train on the left bank of the Rhine through Alsace which was created in collaboration with DB InfraGO and SNCF Réseau, SBB Cargo International and Captrain France to respond to the closure from 9 to 30 August of the Rhine Valley Railway near Rastatt, Germany, for carrying out work on the line. The connection was built with diesel locomotives on the Wörth-Lauterbourg-Strasbourg-Offenburg non-electrified line.

Hupac CEO Michail Stahlhut said stressed that alternative service through Alsace is "A pioneering idea that overcame many obstacles technical and administrative staff through intensive collaboration Franco-German-Swiss. Thanks to this initiative - he explained - a collapse of the supply chain has been avoided industrial sector, as we had unfortunately had to experience with the Rastatt accident in 2017" ( of 21 August, 1 and 4 September 2017).

According to Hupac, the result of the alternative service via France to cope with the three-week closure of the Rhine Valley was positive even if there was no shortage of "The volume of traffic, which is relatively low due to of the holiday period - explained the Swiss company - is was largely managed through the four-meter corridor in Alsace and via the Gäubahn with a reduced profile. The weak point of the diversion through France - he specified society - was the lack of ability to stationing at transfer points that caused problems with congestion in the event of traffic irregularities. In addition Towards the end of the month, the diversion path reached capacity limit due to the increase in volumes".

"Now - urged the president of Hupac, Hans-Jörg Bertschi - we must start from this pioneering and include French access lines to Alptransit in policy of modal shift. The adaptation of the line Belgium-Metz-Strasbourg-Basel with a profile of four meters is An absolute priority". For Hupac, in fact, "a further modal shift in Alpine transit is only possible with a four-meter corridor on the left bank of the Rhine". Remembering that the transfer of traffic transalpine rail has been stagnant for several years, Bertschi specified that "the limited capacities of the network are responsible for this stalemate in Switzerland's modal shift policy. It is this is the bottleneck of the current Alptransit system". In addition, Bertschi warned that the renewal of the railway corridors in Germany, with the closure of the main lines for several months, will exacerbate the situation until after 2030.

Bertschi noted that, with the adjustment to four meters of the Belgium-Metz-Strasbourg-Basel corridor on the left bank of the Rhine, traffic from Belgium and South Holland, which is currently being routed through Germany, it could be operated on the shortest route of 110 kilometers through France. "In view of the delay of decades in the widening of the railway axis on the right bank of the Rhine - explained - traffic through France must be increased as only option to avoid stagnation or even a regression in modal shift policy. It is In the interests of Swiss transport policy, stimulate the widening of the tunnel profiles through the Vosges Mountains with targeted subsidies in France, as was done with success in Italy".

Bertschi recalled that a motion to this effect by the Transport Commission of the National Council was approved by the National Council last June and will be discussed by the Council of States during the current month.

Meanwhile, Hupac has announced that, after the negative trend of the last year, traffic volumes in the Hupac Group's network fell have stabilised and in the first six months of 2024 a slight increase of +0.4% in transalpine traffic recorded through Switzerland. Overall, in the first half of This year, the Group's services handled traffic equal to 494,000 road shipments, with a decrease of -2.8% compared to the first six months of 2023. The company specified that traffic maritime transport to the hinterland in Germany and transalpine traffic through Austria and France showed a negative.