Swiss rail travel hits a third consecutive record

Almost 24 billion passenger-kilometres in 2025 pushed Swiss rail travel to a third consecutive annual record. The figure marks another step away from the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and confirms that train travel has regained its central place in Swiss mobility.

Passengers covered 3% more distance than in 2024, according to federal public-transport statistics. The increase extends a recovery that began after the sharp pandemic-era fall in rail use. Switzerland’s dense rail network, integrated timetables and widespread reliance on public transport continue to support regular journeys across cities, towns and mountain regions.

The latest result also matters because it reflects sustained demand rather than a one-year rebound. Rail use has now exceeded the previous annual peak for three successive years. The statistics provide a national measure of activity across transport and infrastructure companies, giving policymakers a broad view of how people move through the country.

The data do not identify a single cause for the rise. They show a clear outcome: Swiss passengers are taking trains more often and covering more kilometres. That pattern places rail at the centre of the country’s transport system as population growth and everyday mobility needs continue to rise.

675 million rail trips were recorded in Switzerland during 2025, up 4% in one year. The number of journeys rose faster than the total distance travelled, showing that frequency drove most of the latest expansion.

The average journey length increased by about 1%, while the number of trips climbed four times faster than the population. Switzerland’s population grew by almost 1% between 2024 and 2025, reaching 9.1 million. In practical terms, the rail system carried a larger volume of journeys per resident than the population increase alone would suggest.

That distinction helps explain the record. Passengers did not simply take longer journeys. They made more trips, with the modest rise in average distance adding further kilometres to the national total. The figures are consistent with a transport network being used more regularly for work, education, shopping, leisure and connections between regions.

Federal statistics report national totals rather than individual travel patterns. They do not break down the increase by canton, route or passenger group in the source data. The headline remains clear: more people used Swiss rail services more often in 2025, and the additional journeys produced a new distance record.

Rail activity has recovered across three consecutive record years, turning the post-pandemic rebound into a longer mobility trend. The 2025 figures show that public transport demand continues to build after the exceptional decline in travel during the Covid-19 period.

The scale of the recovery is visible in the combination of measures. Passenger-kilometres reached almost 24 billion, while rail journeys reached 675 million. The two figures capture different aspects of the network’s workload: the first measures the distance travelled by passengers, and the second counts trips. Together, they show a system handling both high usage and a growing number of individual journeys.

The federal dataset extends beyond conventional railways. Switzerland’s public-transport statistics cover transport and infrastructure companies operating rail services, trams, trolleybuses, buses, funiculars, cable cars, passenger ships and car ferries. Passenger-kilometre data are not fully available for every one of those modes, so the headline distance figure should be read specifically in the context of the reported rail activity.

This broad statistical framework gives authorities a national picture of public transport demand while preserving a clear distinction between modes. Rail remains the strongest measure in the latest record, with other forms of public transport forming part of the wider system behind Swiss mobility.

A 4% rise in rail journeys against population growth of less than 1% gives Switzerland’s transport planners a strong signal for the years ahead. The country is adding residents, but rail demand is expanding more quickly, increasing pressure on trains, stations, tracks and connections.

The 2025 record does not by itself establish why passengers travelled more. The available figures do not provide a breakdown by purpose, route, canton or ticket type. They do show that the rise came mainly from more journeys, with average trip length contributing about 1% to the increase in passenger-kilometres.

For passengers, continued growth will be felt through the capacity and reliability of the public-transport network. More frequent use can strengthen the case for maintaining connections and investing in infrastructure, while also requiring operators to manage busy services and crowded interchange points. Those decisions involve the federal government, cantonal authorities, municipalities and transport companies.

Switzerland enters the next reporting year with rail travel at its highest recorded level. The key measure to watch will be whether passenger growth continues to outpace population growth, and whether the network can absorb additional demand while preserving the regular service that makes rail practical for daily travel.