Milestone at Basel railway station
Basel SBB station is facing challenges with regard to capacity bottlenecks, particularly in connection with the planned quarter-hourly S-Bahn service between Basel and Liestal from December 2025. Find out more about the planned investments and possible solutions.
Basel SBB railway station is facing a problem. It is reaching the limits of its capacity. The increasing number of trains and travellers, especially at peak times, requires urgent measures to avoid bottlenecks.
From December 2025, it is planned that the S-Bahn trains between Basel and Liestal will run every quarter of an hour. This ambitious goal requires considerable investment in the railway facilities between Basel and Liestal, which the federal government is financing to the tune of around CHF 1 billion. SBB is responsible for realising these projects on behalf of the federal government, while the federal government and the cantons are jointly ordering and financing the additional S-Bahn connections.
Most of the investments are included in the 2025 expansion phase, which is part of the “Financing and expansion of the railway infrastructure” (FABI) bill that was approved by the Swiss electorate in February 2014. These expansions not only enable the quarter-hourly S-Bahn service between Basel and Liestal, but also lay the foundation for further improvements in passenger and freight transport.
Two main measures are required to create the capacity for the planned quarter-hourly service and the extended timetable.
Additional stops for trains: The planned quarter-hourly frequency will increase the number of trains at Basel SBB station. Additional stopping points and platform edges are therefore required to ensure smooth operations. This is the main objective of the “Basel SBB performance enhancement” project.
Additional crossing options for travellers: The increasing number of trains leads to more travellers and thus to higher utilisation of the Passerelle at Basel SBB station. In order to cope with this increase, the creation of additional crossing facilities is urgently required. The “Provisional Passerelle” project aims to realise this increase in capacity quickly until further crossings, such as the Margarethen platform access, can be built.
The temporary pedestrian crossing is a temporary solution until long-term measures can be implemented. The planning and construction of further crossings are planned for the 2035 expansion phase and will also be financed by the federal government.