Rail freight totalling 12.3 million tonnes crossed the Swiss Alps in the first half of 2026, a 3.1% increase over the same period in 2025, according to the Swiss Federal Office for Transport (FOT). The regulator said growth could have been stronger, but reduced infrastructure availability and poor reliability of long-distance transalpine services held back volumes.

The two Alpine corridors diverged sharply. The Gotthard axis moved 8.4% more freight, an increase of roughly 780,000 tonnes. The Lötschberg-Simplon axis went the other way, recording a 15.3% decline amounting to about 410,000 tonnes.

These shifts reshaped the distribution of traffic between the corridors. The Gotthard axis expanded its share of transalpine rail freight by four percentage points to 81.4%. The Simplon axis fell by the same margin to 18.6%. FOT attributed the redistribution directly to infrastructural disruptions on the southern route.

Both service segments grew on the transalpine network. Single wagonload volumes rose 9.9% compared with H1 2025. Unaccompanied combined transport increased 7.1%, equivalent to around 630,000 tonnes.

Closure calendar weighed on Simplon

The Lötschberg-Simplon axis closed entirely from 29 May to 27 July 2026. Additional closure periods totalling 80 days are scheduled across the rest of the year. Renovation work in the Simplon Tunnel between Brig and Domodossola has further cut capacity for freight on the axis, compounding the effect on operators dependent on the route.

Conditions in neighbouring Germany eased slightly during the period. Based on stakeholder feedback, FOT linked this improvement to the growth in unaccompanied combined transport across the Alps. The regulator also credited expected positive economic development in Europe and Switzerland with stabilising the market.

"As freight transport also carries a large share of the intermediate goods used in industrial production, this is expected to result in modest growth in rail freight volumes," FOT said. The regulator cautioned, however, that the easing of disruptions could be reversed by planned infrastructure works in Germany, which would once again constrain paths available to cross-border freight.

Operators diverge

Market shares among the four largest operators on the transalpine route shifted markedly between H1 2025 and H1 2026.

SBB Cargo International remained the clear market leader with a 44.1% share, gaining 7.2% over the period. Its domestic counterpart SBB Cargo moved in the opposite direction, losing 10.2% and now holding only 7.1% of the market. The gap between the two SBB freight businesses has widened to more than 37 percentage points.

BLS Cargo stayed in second place with a 20.6% share, but its volumes fell 6.1%. The decline tracks the poor performance of the Lötschberg-Simplon axis, where BLS Cargo is the principal operator and where closures and tunnel renovation reduced available capacity throughout the half-year.

DB Cargo, the German national freight operator, moved into third place with a 16.4% share, up 11.6%. Its gain coincided with the easing of conditions in Germany and the strengthening of unaccompanied combined transport flows through the Gotthard corridor.

For the second half of 2026, the balance of factors remains uncertain. The 80 days of additional closures still scheduled on the Lötschberg-Simplon axis will continue to limit recovery there, while planned infrastructure works in Germany could erode the reliability gains that supported combined transport growth in the first half, leaving FOT's projection of modest volume growth dependent on both networks holding up.