Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has reduced two key cross-border routes: EC7, which travels from Hamburg to Interlaken, and EC9, running from Dortmund to Zurich.
Going forward, both trains will only reach Basel, the Swiss border city, where passengers will be required to transfer to Swiss-operated trains. Return routes will still operate from Interlaken and Zurich, but will be exclusively run by SBB trains.
This decision follows a policy Switzerland enacted last summer, where delayed German trains are no longer allowed to enter the country. If a German train experiences significant delays, Swiss authorities turn it back at the border, ensuring that domestic rail schedules are not disrupted.
According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, in the first quarter of 2024, more than 10% of international ICE express trains from Germany were refused entry into Switzerland due to delays.
