High-speed trains have made reaching the European continent a matter of just a few hours. Boarding a Eurostar in London, will bring travellers to Paris in two hours, while Amsterdam is only four hours away.
However, these direct rail links are failing to take Britons to one of their favoured winter holiday destinations – Switzerland.
There are several direct flights every day linking British cities to Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Basel, but many holidaymakers are looking for greener ways to travel after becoming more conscious about the carbon emissions of short-haul plane trips.
Currently, however, one of the more convenient train options from the UK to Switzerland involves heading to London, boarding the Eurostar to Paris and changing for a TGV Lyria train.
This journey itself is already quite long, and when adding up the waiting time for connections, check-in and passport control, it can take up to 10 hours to reach Bern from Britain’s capital.
To improve travellers’ experience, boost tourism and keep emissions at bay, Swiss MP Matthias Aebischer urged the Swiss government to look at possible direct rail links between Basel and London.
He wrote: “There are already direct rail connections from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam and even with cities such as Lyon and Marseille. It must therefore be possible to do this also for Switzerland, in particular with Basel.”
The Swiss Government replied to the MP saying it is “in principle favourable to a direct rail connection between Basel or Geneva and London”. However, the rail link would need to be organised by the Swiss Federal Railways and a foreign railway company that is willing to invest, the government said.
Philipp Mäder, head of international passenger transport at Swiss Federal Railways, noted London is the “busiest flight destination in Europe”, which makes a direct rail line an appetising financial venue, as reported by swissinfo.ch.
The organisation launched a feasibility study into a direct Swiss-UK link last year. It is expected to be completed and published in 2024.
Public transport executive Vincent Ducrot stressed this connection would need to be fast to be worth pouring money into.
He told Luzerner Zeitung earlier this month: “If possible, we will introduce a train from Switzerland to London. The destination is very popular. But it has to be doable in under six hours, and only a few people take the train for more than that.”
Further raising hope this connection may soon become a reality, Eurotunnel’s owner, Getlink said last week that new direct high-speed train routes from London to – among other destinations – Geneva and Zurich could be ready for a maiden trip in five years.
One challenge that could slow down the direct rail trip from the UK to Switzerland is the fact that Britain is not part of the Schengen zone – which means airport-style security and passport control would be needed before boarding.
The Swiss Government said: “Due to the arrangements governing entry into Great Britain, costly and resource-intensive arrangements would have to be made for departure stations in Switzerland in order to meet the necessary safety requirements. Likewise, due to the high requirements for fire protection, special trains approved for the Eurotunnel would have to be used.”
The shortest distance between London and Bern, the Swiss capital, is 464 miles, while the driving distance from one city to another is 616 miles. Zurich is a few more miles away then Bern, as its distance from London is 483 miles – with the driving distance being 635 miles.
