Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

has a dense network of roads and railways. The Swiss

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

transport network A transport network, or transportation network, is a network or graph in geographic space, describing an infrastructure that permits and constrains movement or flow. Examples include but are not limited to road networks, railways, air routes ...

has a total length of and has more than 2,600 stations and stops. The crossing of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

is an important route for European transportation, as the Alps separate Northern Europe from Southern Europe. Alpine railway routes began in 1882 with the Gotthard Railway, with its central

Gotthard Rail Tunnel The Gotthard Tunnel (, ) is a railway tunnel that forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Saint-Gotthard Massif in order to bypass the St Gotthard Pa ...

, followed in 1906 by the Simplon Tunnel and the

Lötschberg Tunnel The Lötschberg Tunnel is a long railway tunnel on the Lötschberg Line, which connects Spiez and Brig at the northern end of the Simplon Tunnel cutting through the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. Its ends are at the towns of Kandersteg (2 k ...

in 1913. As part of the

New Railway Link through the Alps The New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA; , , ), is a Switzerland, Swiss construction project for faster north–south rail links across the Swiss Alps. It consists of two axes with several improvements along these rails including three new ba ...

(NRLA) in 2007, the

Lötschberg Base Tunnel The Lötschberg Base Tunnel (LBT) is a railway base tunnel on the BLS AG's Lötschberg line cutting through the Bernese Alps of Switzerland some below the older Lötschberg Tunnel. It runs between Frutigen, Bern, and Raron, Valais. T ...

opened, followed by the

Gotthard Base Tunnel The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; , , ) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened in June 2016 and full service began the following December. With a route length of , it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunn ...

opened in 2016. The Swiss road network is funded by road tolls and vehicle taxes. The Swiss motorway system requires the purchase of a road tax disc—which costs 40

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s for one calendar year—in order for private cars and commercial trucks to use its roadways. , the Swiss motorway network has a total length of and has also—with an area of —one of the highest motorway densities in the world.

Zurich Airport Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest o ...

is Switzerland's largest international flight gateway, handling 24.9 million passengers in 2013. The second-largest airport, Geneva Cointrin, handled 14.4 million passengers (2013) and the third-largest

EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg IATA airport 3-letter codes for the French area, the Swiss area, and the metropolitan area is an international airport in the administrative commune of Saint-Louis, in the French Alsace part of the Trination ...

6.5 million passengers; both airports are shared with France. Switzerland has approved billions of

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

for the improvement of its public-transportation infrastructure. The

modal split A modal share (also called mode split, mode-share, or modal split) is the percentage of travelers using a particular type of transportation or number of trips using said type. In freight transportation, this may be measured in mass. Modal share ...

for public transportation is one of the highest in Europe, standing at 21.3% in 2010. In many cities with a population above 100,000, the modal split for public transportation lies above 50%.

Public transport

Switzerland has an extensive and reliable public transport network (see e.g.

public transport in Zurich Public transport in Zurich is available for four main Mode of transport, modes of transport—boat, bus, train and tram—assisting residents of and visitors to Zurich move around the of List of cities in Switzerland, Switzerland's largest city ...

). Due to the

clock-face schedule A clock-face schedule, also cyclic schedule, is a public transport timetable, timetable system under which public transport services run at consistent intervals, as opposed to a timetable that is purely driven by demand and has irregular headways. ...

, the different

modes of transport A mode of transport is a method or way of travelling, or of transporting people or cargo. The different modes of transport include air, water, and land transport, which includes rails or railways, road and off-road transport. Other modes of tra ...

s are well integrated. There is a national

integrated ticketing Integrated ticketing enables a journey involving transfers within or between different modes of transportation using a single ticket that is valid for the entire journey. These modes include buses, trains, subways, and ferries, among others. The ...

system for public transport which is organised in tariff networks (for all train and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

services and some boat lines, cable cars and

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

s). For non-Swiss tourists, travelling by train, bus and boat in the country is facilitated with the ''Swiss Travel Pass''.

Eurail The Eurail Pass, introduced in 1959 and formerly known as Europass or Eurorail Pass, is a rail pass which permits travel through 33 European countries on nearly all railroads and several shipping lines. The Eurail Group, based in Utrecht, is re ...

and

Interrail The Interrail Pass is a rail pass available to European citizens and residents. Citizens of other countries residing outside Europe may purchase the Eurail Pass instead. Types of Interrail Pass include the Interrail Global Pass and the Interrail ...

rail pass A rail pass is a transit pass, pass that covers the cost of train travel in a certain designated area or areas within a certain period of time. It is contrasted to a point-to-point ticket in that it allows the holder unlimited travel, within the p ...

es are both vailid in Switzerland. Many Swiss railway stations have

bicycle parking Bicycle parking is part of the cycling infrastructure of a populated place allowing for the storage of bicycles when they are not being used. Parking facilities for bicycles include racks, lockers, parking stations, and covered areas. Bicycle ...

(or a bicycle-parking station) and

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

, known as P+Rail, and many of them also offer

Mobility Carsharing Mobility Carsharing (officially Mobility Cooperative, also known as Mobility Car Sharing or simply Mobility for short) is a Swiss cooperative of carsharing. It covers almost all organised carsharing in Switzerland."Today, the co-operative cover ...

Railways

Switzerland has a very high density of railway network, with an average of of track for every 1,000 km² ( per ; average of in the EU). In 2008, each Swiss citizen travelled, on average, by rail, which makes them the most frequent users of rail transport. There are only a few

high-speed railway lines High Speed or high-speed may refer to: Films * ''High Speed'' (1917 film), starring Jack Mulhall and Fritzi Ridgeway * ''High Speed'' (1920 film), an American drama directed by Charles Miller * ''High Speed'' (1924 film), featuring Herbert R ...

. Many of the Swiss

standard-gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

railway lines are part of the nationwide

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

(SBB) system, although other standard gauge lines are operated by independent companies such as

BLS AG BLS AG is a Swiss railway company created by the 2006 merger of BLS Lötschbergbahn and Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG. Its ownership is divided, with 55.8% of it owned by the canton of Berne, and 21.7% by the Swiss Confederation. It has two ma ...

Südostbahn The Südostbahn (German language, German, ) – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Switzerland, Swiss railway company, and a network in Central Switzerland, Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the Schweizerische S ...

. In addition numerous

narrow-gauge railways A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

are operated, the largest company of its kind being the

Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Cantons of Switzerland, ...

. In total, of rail network are used. Swiss Federal Railways run some 5,000 passenger train services covering about daily. Half of these train services are long-distance; the other half are regional and suburban services. In 2013, 366 million passengers used the Swiss Federal Railways. Rail transport in Switzerland also includes a car and truck transportation service () on some lines.

Urban rail

Urban commuter rail networks, known mostly as

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

, are focused on the country's cities:

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, St. Gallen,

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

and

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

Aargau S-Bahn The Aargau S-Bahn ( or ) is an S-Bahn-style regional rail network serving the canton of Aargau, Switzerland, with some services extending into the cantons of Bern, Lucerne, Solothurn and Zug and one service to the German city of Waldshut-Tiengen ...

provides regional train services mainly in the canton of Aargau, transN in the canton of Neuchâtel, RegionAlps in the canton of Valais and TILO in the canton of Tessin and the Italian province of Lombardy. Some services near

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

() also operate for

Bodensee S-Bahn Bodensee S-Bahn is an international marketing effort grouping various regional rail services (S-Bahn, R/RB, RE, RE/REX) around Lake Constance () in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Cross-border rail and bus services along with Lake Constance ...

. Several cities, such as Basel, Bern and Zurich, have a

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

network. During the mid 20th century, some cities (such as

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

and

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

) replaced their tram lines with

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

lines. Lausanne is the only city with a metro system (

Lausanne Metro Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French-speaking canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and facing the ...

), which includes two lines: one is

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

; the other, a fully automated metro, opened in 2008. After its opening, Lausanne replaced

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

as the smallest city in the world to have a full metro system.

Mountain rail

Trains cannot climb steep gradients, so it is necessary to build large amounts of track in order to gain height gradually. Transversals through the Alps were made possible with the use of hidden circular tunnels, which are called spiral railways. In the case of extremely mountainous terrain, railway engineers opted for the more economical narrow-gauge construction. The many railway viaducts of the Rhaetian Railway in the

canton of Graubünden The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; * Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. I ...

, built for the most part in the early 20th century, have become a tourist attraction as well as a necessary transport system, drawing rail enthusiasts from all over the world. Some railways were built only for tourist purposes as the Gornergrat or the

Jungfraujoch The Jungfraujoch (German language, German: lit. "maiden saddle") is a Saddle (landform), saddle connecting two major Four-thousander, 4000ers of the Bernese Alps: the Jungfrau and the Mönch. It lies at an elevation of above sea level and is dir ...

, Europe's highest station in the Bernese Oberland, at an altitude of 3,454 metres (11,330 ft).

Funicular

Proposed Maglev

In response to the increasing need for transport capacity and the cost of ground surface infrastructures, an underground transportation system has been proposed and studied. The trains would use linear motor and magnetic levitation to reach speeds about . The project is not likely to be realised in the near future, but a license for application has been deposited for a trial line between Geneva and Lausanne.

Cable transport

Roads

Switzerland has a network of two-lane national roads. These roads usually lack a median or

central reservation A median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ap ...

. Some stretches are controlled-access, in that all traffic must enter and exit through ramps and must cross using grade separations. Two of the important motorways are the A1, running from

St. Margrethen St. Margrethen (Saint Margrethen/Sankt Margrethen) is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is located on the Swiss–Austrian border. Geography St. Margrethen has an ar ...

in northeastern Switzerland's

canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen or St Gall ( ; ; ; ) is a canton of Switzerland. Its capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern Switzerland, the canton has an area of (5% of Switzerland) and a resident population close to half a million as of ...

through to Geneva in southwestern Switzerland, and the A2, running from Basel in northwestern Switzerland to

Chiasso Chiasso (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As Extreme points of Switzerland, the southernmost of Switzerland's ...

in southern Switzerland's

canton of Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzo ...

, using the

Gotthard Road Tunnel The Gotthard Road Tunnel in Switzerland runs from Göschenen in the canton of Uri at its northern portal, to Airolo in Ticino to the south, and is in length below the St Gotthard Pass, a major pass of the Alps. At time of construction, in ...

. ''Autobahn'' (plural: ''Autobahnen'') is the German name; in

French-speaking Switzerland Romandy ( or ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Romandia'')Before World War I, the term French Switzerland () waalso used ( or , , ) is the Swiss French, French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 million pe ...

they are known as ''autoroutes'', and in Italian-speaking Switzerland they are known as ''autostrade'' (singular: ''autostrada''). Swiss motorways have general

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

s of 120 km/h (75 mph).

Road passenger transport

Local bus services cover the whole country.

Postauto PostAuto Switzerland, PostBus Ltd. (known as in Swiss Standard German (), in Swiss French (), in Swiss Italian (), and in Romansh () is a subsidiary company of the Swiss Post, which provides regional and rural bus services throughout Switz ...

cover the smaller urban areas and every region not connected to the rail network. Switzerland also has a well-developed network of

car sharing Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pr ...

organised by the

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

. Taxi services are also a common and convenient option for travelers looking for a quick and straightforward way to reach their hotels, corporate meetings, or other locations in Switzerland. Another type of passenger transport service is airport transfers. They often utilize luxurious vehicles equipped with amenities. These services encompass the provision of transportation from the airport to various destinations, such as hotels, business meetings, headquarters of international organizations, or tourist attractions. Whether for business or leisure, airport transfers offer a transition between flights and final destinations, making them an essential component of modern travel.

Biking

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

is included and promoted in the

Swiss constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; (BV); (Cst.); (Cost.); ) of 18 April 1999 (SR 101) is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of ...

since 2018. Concretely, the authorities must develop bike-lanes and related infrastructures. The Asian trend of bike sharing came to Switzerland in 2017 with new companies emerging such as

Lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

, PubliBike and Smide. The Singaporean-based, former company

oBike oBike was a Singapore-registered stationless bicycle-sharing system started by businessmen Yi Shi and Edward Chen with operations in several countries. The bikes have a built-in Bluetooth lock and can therefore be left anywhere at the end of ...

launched in the city of Zürich on 5 July 2017. As of 2024, nearly one in two bikes sold in Switzerland was an

ebike An electric bicycle, e-bike, electrically assisted pedal cycle, or electrically power assisted cycle is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fa ...

(Switzerland has 5.2 million bicycles and around 1.4 million e-bikes).

Air transport

*64 (2012) *Airports - with paved runways **total: 41 **over : 3 ***

***

Geneva Airport Geneva Airport – formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport – is an international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. It is located northwest of the city centre. It surpassed the 15-million-pas ...

***

**: 2 **: 13 **: 6 ***

Bern Airport Bern- Belp Regional Aerodrome , marketed as ''Bern Airport'', officially referred to as in German, is a regional aerodrome serving Bern, the capital of Switzerland. The aerodrome is located within the town limits of Belp, and used to feature sc ...

***

Lugano Airport Lugano Airport is a regional airport located west of the Swiss city of Lugano, approximately north of Milan, in the municipalities of Agno, Bioggio and Muzzano. It lies closer to the village of Agno than to Lugano itself, and is sometimes k ...

**under : 17 (2012) *Airports - with unpaved runways: **total: 23 **under : 23 (2012) *

Heliport A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, powered lift, and various types of vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also hav ...

s: 1

also called Kloten Airport, located in

Kloten Kloten is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bülach District, district of Bülach in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (). History Kloten is first mentioned in 1155 as ''Chlotun''. Geogra ...

canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

, is Switzerland's largest international flight gateway and hub to

Swiss International Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines AG, stylized as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, as well as a Star Alliance member. It operates scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, ...

and

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

. The airport handled 27.6 million passengers in 2016. In 2003, Zurich International completed an expansion project in which it built a car park, a midfield terminal, and an automated underground train to move passengers between the existing terminal complex and the new terminal. Zurich International lost traffic when

Swissair Swissair (German language, German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French language, French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne, stylised as swissair) was the Flag carrier, national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and ban ...

shut down its operations (most of its assets were then taken over by the former

Crossair Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport () was a Swiss regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland. After taking over most of ...

). When

took over its successor

(SWISS), traffic grew again. Zurich Airport's railway station (

Zürich Flughafen Zurich Airport railway station () is a railway station serving Zurich Airport in Switzerland. The station is located underneath the ''Airport Centre'', the main ground-side passenger terminal of the airport, which is in the canton of Zurich and ...

) is underneath the terminal. There are trains to many parts of Switzerland; frequent

services, plus direct Inter-regio and intercity services to

, Bern, Basel and

(Luzern). By changing trains at

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened to Zürich HB or just HB, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. It is a major railway hub, with services to and from a ...

most other places in Switzerland can be reached in a few hours. The second largest airport of the country,

, handled 16.5 million passengers in 2016. The airport has a single runway, the longest of its kind in Switzerland at , built in 1960. The runway could only be built after an agreement was reached with France to exchange a piece of territory since it wouldn't otherwise fit entirely in Switzerland. In compensation, the airport has a French sector in its terminals, and therefore flights incoming/outgoing from/to France are considered domestic and a segregated road leads to the airport from France without crossing the Swiss customs. A turnaround occurred in 1996 when Swissair decided to abandon all the intercontinental routes departing from Geneva except for New York and Washington (that is, all its African destinations). The airport then requested the Swiss Federal Government to implement an open skies policy for Geneva and abolish the legal monopoly enjoyed by Swissair. Following the open skies policy, Geneva Airport now serves over 110 direct destinations from more than 55 airlines. It is the main hub for

easyJet Switzerland EasyJet Switzerland SA (styled as easyJet) is a Switzerland, Swiss low-cost airline based in Meyrin, in the canton of Geneva.Swiss International Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines AG, stylized as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, as well as a Star Alliance member. It operates scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, ...

, as well as home to the executive office of

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

Road access to the airport is provided by highways: It is directly connected to the rest of Switzerland by the A1 highway and France via the A40. It has its own railway station, Geneva Airport railway station, from the Swiss Federal Railways (CFF) located right besides the main terminal with trains regularly departing to the rest of Switzerland, towards Neuchâtel, Lausanne-Fribourg-Bern-Zürich, and Lausanne-Vevey-Montreux-Sion-Brig and stopping in all cases in Geneva main train station located in the city centre, which lies only 7 minutes away from the airport by train. Geneva train station is also connected via HSR to France, and to the

Léman Express The Léman Express is a commuter rail network for the transborder agglomeration of Grand Genève (''Greater Geneva'') in west Switzerland and the French Alps (Haute-Savoie and Ain). Six lines serve Swiss and French towns along 230 km of ra ...

rail network. The airport is also served by several Genevan public transport lines such as trolleybus line 10. The third largest Swiss airport is

which handled 7.3 million passengers in 2016 and is located entirely on French territory. In addition,

Sion Airport Sion Airport (Military: LSMS) is the airport of the city of Sion, Switzerland and is located 2.5 km southwest of Sion city in the Rhone Valley. The airport opened in 1935. Airlines and destinations The following airlines operate seasona ...

is a small airport in

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

(

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

) and St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport near

Water transport

Inland waterways

High Rhine High Rhine (, ; kilometres 0 to 167 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Lake Constance () and the city of Basel, flowing in a general east-to-west direction and forming mostly the Germany–Switzerland border. It is the first of fo ...

: between Basel and Rheinfelden and between

and

() *12 navigable lakes *The

Interlaken Ship Canal The Interlaken ship canal () is a long canal in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. It connects Lake Thun with a quay in the town of Interlaken adjacent to Interlaken West railway station, thus allowing shipping services on the lake to serve ...

*The

Nidau-Büren Canal The Nidau-Büren Canal (, ) is a -long canal that drains the waters of the river Aare out of the Lake of Biel/Bienne toward Solothurn. It was dug as an important part of the first Jura water correction. Regulating dam A temporary dam had been ...

*The

Thun Ship Canal The Thun ship canal () is a long canal in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. Together with a navigable reach of the Aare of similar length, it connects Lake Thun with a quay in the town of Thun adjacent to Thun railway station. The canal al ...

*The Hurden Ship Canal

Ports and harbours

Switzerland is a landlocked country and has only small ports on its rivers, such as the Port of Basel. There are also ports on larger lakes, such as Lake Constance (e.g.

Romanshorn Romanshorn is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Arbon (district), Arbon in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Romanshorn was probably settled in the 7th century, and is first menti ...

. Rorschach; the latter two were historically used by

train ferries A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to t ...

Merchant marine

*total: 38 ships (1,000 GT or over) 597,049 GT/ *ships by type: bulk 19, cargo 9, chemical tanker 5, container 4, petroleum tanker 1

Ship lines on lakes and rivers

*''

Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman The or Lake Geneva General Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to CGN) is a public Swiss company operating ships on Lake Geneva connecting towns in both France and Switzerland including Geneva, , , , and . History The CGN was formed in 1873 ...

'' and ''

Mouettes Genevoises Navigation ''Mouettes Genevoises Navigation'' is a private Water taxi, water bus operator in Geneva, Switzerland, operating four lines across the western end of Lake Geneva. A member of the integrated Unireso fare network, its head office is in Geneva. The m ...

'' (a

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an Urban area, urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a simil ...

) on

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

() *''

Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft The Lake Zurich Navigation Company (, ZSG) is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zurich () and the river Limmat in Zurich.The company's services connect lake-side towns between Zurich and Rapperswil/ Schmerikon, i ...

'' on

Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

() and the

Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...

Lake Lucerne Navigation Company The ''Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees'' or Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to SGV) is a public Switzerland, Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Lucerne. The company is based in the Luce ...

Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne (, literally 'Lake of the four Waldstätte, forested settlements' (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), , ) is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country. Geography The lake has a compli ...

() *''

Schiffsbetrieb Walensee Schiffsbetrieb Walensee () is a transportation company in Switzerland. It operates a small fleet of ships on the Walensee, linking communities around the lake. Services the company operates two routes on the lake: * Längskurs (): seasonal ( ...

'' on

Lake Walen Lake Walen, also known as Lake Walenstadt or (), is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland. Located in the east of the country, about two thirds of its area are in the canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the canton of Glarus. Its na ...

() *''

Schweizerische Schifffahrtsgesellschaft Untersee und Rhein The ''Schweizerische Schifffahrtsgesellschaft Untersee und Rhein AG'' (commonly abbreviated to URh), , is an ''Aktiengesellschaft'' (AG) based in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen. It operates regular boat lines (spring–autumn) between Schaffhaus ...

'' on

Lower Lake Constance The ''Untersee'' (German for ''Lower Lake''), also known as Lower Lake Constance, is the smaller of the two lakes that together form Lake Constance. The boundary between Switzerland and Germany runs through it. The lake surrounds several islands ...

() and the

*''

Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano The ''Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano'' or Lake Lugano Navigation Company (SNL) is a Switzerland, Swiss company operating passenger services on Lake Lugano. The company also operates bus routes in the same area, and is based at Cassarat ...

'' on

Lake Lugano Lake Lugano ( or , from ; ) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore. It was cited for the first t ...

( or ) *''

Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi (), commonly known as , is an Italian Public administration, public body responsible for providing scheduled public boat transport services on Lake Maggiore (), Lake Garda (), and Lake Como (), mostly in Italy but also in Switzerland. It operat ...

'' on

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided be ...

()

Car ferries

* Beckenried-Gersau ferry across

() * Horgen-Meilen car ferry across

() *

–

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

(Germany) car ferry across

()

Pipelines

In 2010, Switzerland had of natural gas pipelines, of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

pipelines, and of refined product pipelines.

Oversight

The Swiss transport system is overseen by several offices within the

Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications The Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC, , , , ) is one of the seven departments of the Swiss federal government, headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council. Organisation The department is compos ...

. The principal such offices are the: * Federal Office for Civil Aviation, which is responsible for

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, which can be both private and commercial. Most countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and ...

. *

Federal Office of Transport The Federal Office of Transport, FOT is a federal authority of the Swiss Confederation. It deals with public transport in Switzerland, i.e. railways, cableways, trolleybuses, buses and ships. It is also responsible for various aspects of freig ...

, which is responsible for public and freight transport, covering

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

cableway Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by driv ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

s and

es. * Federal Roads Authority, which is responsible for roads.

Transport in adjacent countries

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* http://www.autobahnen.ch/ — A website about Swiss motorways {{Authority control