SBB is in excellent financial health. This was communicated on 11 March 2024 with the 2023 annual accounts. Only subsidiary SBB Cargo is still considered a problem child and is to receive financial support. We at the VAP think so: This must not be tantamount to permanent subsidisation of single wagonload traffic (EWLV). And the proposed financial injection of CHF 1.25 billion is invalid in view of the 2023 annual accounts.
That’s the point:
- 2023 results: black and record-breaking
- Eternal problem child remains in deficit
- Record results and billions in aid – how does that fit together?
- Corporate responsibility required
2023 results: black and record-breaking
1.3 million travellers, CHF 269 million profit, 9.9 % additional revenue from passenger transport, 92.5 % punctuality despite 20,000 construction sites, debt down to CHF 11.3 billion, all investments financed from cash flow: SBB’s 2023 financial year is bursting with good news and superlatives. For the first time in the post-Covid era, SBB is back in the black. This pleasing performance is primarily due to a record number of passengers and substantial profits from SBB Real Estate. It is therefore not surprising that those responsible are looking to the future with confidence.
Eternal problem child remains loss-making
The financial situation in the freight transport division of the re-nationalised SBB Cargo looks much less rosy. Although the 2023 result of SBB Cargo Switzerland improved by CHF 148 million compared to the previous year to minus CHF 40 million, this is mainly due to impairments from 2022. Transport performance fell by 7.5 % compared to the previous year. According to SBB, the main drivers were price pressure, the structural deficit in the EWLV and the economic slowdown.
The only thing that remains unclear is how high this so-called structural deficit should actually be quantified. In the political debate, SBB speaks of CHF 80 to 100 million, while the 2023 Annual Report states CHF 40 million. Has SBB Cargo generated a profit of CHF 40 to 60 million in block train transport?
Record results and billions in aid – how does that fit together?
Peter Füglistaler, Director of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT), gives a plausible answer to this question in his comment on LinkedIn: «I don’t know». The fact that SBB is doing well financially is indeed commendable. After all, shippers want strong partners in the transport business. Nevertheless, we at the VAP are sticking to our position: SBB Cargo’s financial difficulties should not be confused with the necessary modernisation and restructuring of EWLV. In January 2024, the Federal Council rightly requested measures for the modernisation of the nationwide EWLV in its «Message on the Freight Transport Act» (see blog post «Setting the right track for inland freight transport by rail»). Instead of a reorganisation contribution to the EWLV, we are calling for targeted, degressive and temporary bridging funding for a sustainable transformation of the EWLV towards self-sufficiency. Only in this way can the EWLV modernise and grow.
Entrepreneurial responsibility required
Parliament is currently discussing the «Dispatch on the amendment of the Federal Act on Swiss Federal Railways (sustainable financing of SBB)». According to this, the federal government is to cover SBB’s pandemic-related deficits in long-distance transport. VAP President and Councillor of States Josef Dittli commented: «Why should the federal government, which has just announced linear cuts and plans to make cuts, use taxpayers’ money to support a state-owned company that is achieving record results? This is where I make an urgent appeal to the corporate responsibility of those involved.»
