Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) will launch a tender for new high-speed trains in 2027, according to a report by International Railway Journal.

The procurement timeline places the start of the competitive process three years out, giving potential bidders — likely including major European rolling stock manufacturers such as Alstom, Siemens Mobility and Stadler — a clear planning horizon for what would be one of the largest fleet orders in the Swiss market.

SBB has not yet published details of the fleet size, seating capacity or technical specifications for the planned trains. Those parameters will shape the competitiveness of the tender and determine which suppliers can meet Swiss requirements, which typically include strict accessibility standards, high reliability targets and compatibility with the country's 15 kV 16.7 Hz traction power system.

The 2027 launch date follows SBB's established pattern of long procurement cycles for long-distance rolling stock. The operator's current flagship fleet includes Re 460 locomotives hauling IC2000 double-deck coaches and Giruno high-speed trainsets supplied by Stadler, which entered service on the Zurich–Milan route after delivery began in 2019.

A new high-speed order would extend that fleet renewal programme into the 2030s, with trains likely to enter service towards the end of the next decade once design, construction, testing and approval phases are complete. Swiss approval procedures through the Federal Office of Transport (BAV) typically add several years between contract award and revenue service.

The tender announcement comes as SBB continues to invest in expanding capacity on its main long-distance corridors, including the ongoing upgrade of the Zurich–Bern and Geneva–Lausanne axes, where journey times and frequency targets drive demand for higher-performance rolling stock.

Industry attention will now turn to the tender documents expected in 2027, which will reveal the scale of the order, the delivery schedule and the technical requirements that will define the next generation of SBB's high-speed fleet.