At a time when the EU is announcing its Transport Package and striving to decarbonise transport, Switzerland is taking unilateral action that undermines a sustainable way of moving goods across Europe. Rather than working through the Joint Network Secretariat to improve rail freight safety, Switzerland has chosen to go solo. Most of the freight passing through Switzerland connects Europe’s largest seaport with key industrial areas. In turn, the Swiss measures not only risk creating a European supply chain crisis but are also being imposed on the rest of Europe. This is at odds with the existing EU Switzerland Land Transport Agreement. The EU cannot afford to stay silent any longer. It must be firm in protecting not only the integrity of its Single Market but also in ensuring that a sustainable mode of transport is not disadvantaged.
In autumn of this year, Switzerland announced measures for rail freight crossing its territory that would come into effect as of 1 January 2026. This was in response to the Gotthard Base Tunnel accident in 2023 and came out while the improved pan-European measures are being finalised. While the timeline and the measures announced by Switzerland are questionable from a technical perspective, there is a bigger diplomatic issue at hand. By taking a unilateral approach to a matter that will predominantly impact EU movement of goods, Switzerland is not respecting its agreements with the EU.
The silence from the EU in defending its Single Market and the JNS process must change. The EU must take a firm stance against Swiss unilateralism.
Switzerland is an important transit country for the movement of goods. It connects Europe’s largest seaport Rotterdam with key industrial zones in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. It also enables the transport of goods to Scandinavia. This means that the rules governing the transit of those goods through Switzerland impact European competitiveness, resilience and sustainability.
If businesses try to mitigate the risk that this causes to European supply chains by options for road transportation over rail freight, this would threaten the achievement of emission reduction targets.
Transport accounts for around a quarter of EU emissions and rail is key to reducing this. Railway transportation can emit up to 80 percent less CO2 than road. This makes it central to achieving the European Union’s aim of cutting net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55 % by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.  The way we choose to move goods such as fuels for our airports and steel for our industry will define our ability to decarbonise. This makes rail freight key.
Measures such as those that Switzerland is trying to impose are best handled by all relevant European partners through the Joint Network Secretariat (JNS), created by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) in 2014. This European rail coordination platform, which also includes Switzerland, brings together railway stakeholders – infrastructure managers, operators, and national safety authorities.
As Wagon keepers, we are keen to keep contributing to improved European safety and the resilience of European supply chains. Wagon keepers are a key stakeholder in the railway system and contribute to the movement of goods that citizens, businesses and our economy depend on. We collectively invest up to €2 billion every year in safer rolling stock and monitoring systems and continue to participate actively in technical discussions to advance rail safety across Europe. Safety in the railway freight is a collective responsibility and it requires all relevant actors from railway undertakings to infrastructure managers.
Let us be clear – all relevant national safety authorities and sector representatives have been working hard through the JNS process. We have been working tirelessly to help build long-term safety and resilience. There is no vacuum of action that could possibly justify one country exploring unilateral measures.
The JNS already announced safety measures in the months following the accident and has been conducting extensive technical work involving all relevant stakeholder. This is in order to establish evidence-based long-term solutions for greater safety that also supports the resilience of railway operations.
In terms of immediate steps, the JNS published measures in July 2024 and refined them further in April 2025. They required enhanced monitoring, maintenance and design verification of relevant wheelset types, and were disseminated to all European rail actors via ERA’s website, ensuring transparent access to safety information across the sector. The additional measures focusing on long-term solutions are due by the end of the year.
Through the work of the JNS, the railway sector has helped deliver measurable improvements. The sector has delivered the transition to monobloc wheels, refined maintenance practices, and the introduction of thermo-stable wheel designs, which have dramatically reduced wheel failures over recent decades.
In its political guidelines, the European Commission noted that making business easier and deepening the Single Market was a key part of the new plan for Europe’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness. It also underlined the importance of preparing the way towards reaching emission-reduction targets and transport. Given that Switzerland’s unilateral actions undermine all of these priorities, the EU must finally take action.
Written by Gilles Peterhans, UIP Secretary General.
