The new SBB timetable brings noticeable changes: while Swiss passengers will benefit from more frequent services and new rolling stock, the international connection between Stuttgart and Zurich will be reduced. Deutsche Bahn sold its Stadler double-decker trains and replaced them with slower, more unreliable commuter trains, which led to massive delays. In response, from Sunday onwards there will only be one direct train every two hours from Stuttgart to Zurich, while the connection in the opposite direction will remain hourly.
In Switzerland, improvements will mainly be seen in north-western Switzerland. New BLS Mika trains will be used between Basel and Biel, and thanks to expansion work, long-distance services will once again run every half hour via the southern foot of the Jura to Lausanne. A quarter-hourly S-Bahn service will also be introduced between Basel and Liestal. Additional Stadler double-decker trains will also be used between Zurich and Biel, offering more capacity and additional bicycle spaces.
In leisure travel, SBB is expanding its services with more direct ICE connections to Brig and additional trains to Chur, where half-hourly services will also run on weekdays in future. Seasonal extensions of individual S-Bahn trains from the Zurich Oberland will create further direct connections to the Grisons mountains. For international travel, TGV connections between Lausanne and Marseille will now run from April to October, and additional trains to Milan and Chiasso will provide continuous hourly service to the border. In addition, new late and early trains will be available on routes such as Bern–Zurich–Winterthur and Fribourg–Lausanne–Geneva. Commuters will also benefit from an additional IC stop in Bern Wankdorf.
Major construction projects will continue to restrict international traffic in 2026. The line between Buchs and Feldkirch will be completely closed from June to October, there will be further interruptions on the Simplon line from the end of May to the end of July, and journey times on the Zurich–Munich route will be significantly longer due to the poor condition of individual DB sections.
