How the railways brought Switzerland together
The development of the railways has been a driving force behind Switzerland as we know it today. It standardised the time, connected regions and language communities, and mobilised the population. Public transport arrived in the Federal Constitution via a popular mandate and became part of Switzerland's national identity. Today, it is densely networked, punctual, and an emblem around the world of Swiss precision.
Different times, different time zones
A train leaves on time, but still arrives late. Not because of a problem on the line, but because ‘punctual’ means different things in different places.
We are in Basel, around 1870. Two clocks hang side by side on the station façade. The one on the left shows Bern time – railway time in Switzerland. The one on the right shows Paris time – for trains to France. Which one is right? Pick wrong and you'll miss your train. Switzerland was one country, but not yet ticking like one.
Before the railways came, each town ran on its own time. Midday was when the sun was at its highest. While that sounds reasonable, it was a problem for the railways. When the first steam trains chugged through Switzerland in the 19th century, depending on the route the crew had to keep a number of different times in mind. What seems absurd now was common practice then, and it resulted in a timetable that bears no resemblance at all to today's regular-interval timetable, introduced in 1982.
No jet lag, no problem
The solution came from abroad. In 1847, Britain was the first country to introduce Greenwich Mean Time as a reference point to ensure that clocks everywhere ticked in time with each other. From 1853 onwards Switzerland set all post, telegraph and rail traffic to ‘Bern time’, before adopting Central European Time as the national standard in 1894. It is thanks mainly to the railway boom that people in Zurich and Geneva today enjoy their teatimes at the same time, and don't have to worry about adjusting to another time zone after a long train trip. More about how Switzerland came to be such a railway nation in this story.
Four languages, one timetable
Public transport gets Swiss people going in more ways than one. Switzerland beats Europe – and most of the rest of the world – when it comes to the distance its residents travel by rail each year. For many people it is the easiest way to get to work, but public transport is much more than the fastest means of getting from A to B.
Its real significance becomes clearest in the intercity from St. Gallen to Geneva. In just under four hours the train crosses the country on the diagonal, from the German-speaking north-east across the language border to the French-speaking south-west. Inside the carriage you'll hear Swiss German, French, and sometimes Romansh. Outside, the hills of Appenzell give way to the Swiss Plateau and the southern foothills of the Jura before Lake Geneva comes into view. It is worth listening out for the linguistic nuances as people from the different cantons join the train. Nowhere else offers such a real-life microcosm of Switzerland.
The same principle applies on the network's panoramic routes. The Glacier Express, Bernina Express and GoldenPass do more than connect one place with another. They make the experience itself reason enough to take the train. It is about the journey as much as the destination, and that's not just the philosophy – it's the timetable.
The Swiss public transport system is not limited to trains and buses, either. It also covers boats. Anyone boarding a morning service on Lake Zurich or Lake Constance is travelling by public transport.
A popular mandate
It is no coincidence that public transport enjoys such special importance in Switzerland. In fact, it was a collective decision. The Confederation and the cantons are obliged by Article 81a of the Federal Constitution to ensure that an adequate range of public transport services is provided on rail, roads, water and by cableway in all regions of the country. Public transport is not a commercial product, but rather a fundamental government mandate rooted in a democratic process.
That is also reflected in the figures. In 2025, 94.1% of all trains were on time. The standards are strict, with a train classified as late if it is more than three minutes after its scheduled arrival. Despite the high bar, 94 out of every 100 trains make the grade, 365 days a year, even amid snow and ice.
The clock that travelled the world
When the railways began there were two clocks on Basel station. Now one Swiss railway clock hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It is the 1944 design by engineer and SBB employee Hans Hilfiker, with its white face, black hands and red second indicator. It is simple, easily readable, and exact. In 1986 the SBB station clock also became available in watch form. Originally intended as a functional object, it has long since acquired timeless design status. In Switzerland, precision and style have always spoken the same language.
Same time, different Switzerland
The two clocks are still there on the front of Basel station, but they have both shown the same time since 1894. “Why wouldn't they?”, you might think, but for many years it wasn't so. Take the intercity that passes by Basel every day and you will experience why the arrival of standard time mattered so much. Despite four languages Switzerland runs to a shared timetable and a high level of punctuality. Public transport hasn't just connected Switzerland, it has brought it together in a very palpable way.