Plans for Bern’s West railway expansion project are on the table
With the expansions of the "Bern West Performance Enhancement", SBB is creating more capacity for rail traffic in Switzerland, especially in the Bern area. For example, a tunnel and a new Europaplatz Nord stop are being built in Holligen. The project is now open to the public.
Bottlenecks occur time and again at the Bern railway junction, which have an impact on all long-distance traffic in Switzerland. With the Federal Expansion Plan 2025 (AS25), such bottlenecks will be eliminated and rail operations in Switzerland will be further optimised: There will be more stable and more connections between Bern and Zurich, a half-hourly service to Lucerne and Neuchâtel, and more trains on the Bern-Thun line. In future, there will be an S-Bahn train every quarter of an hour between Bern and Münsingen, and there will also be more connections between Bern and Burgdorf.
Various projects planned
Five sub-projects are planned for the overall AS25 project “Performance improvement Bern West”:
– the Holligen disentanglement with the 1.7 km long new Holligentunnel
– the Aebimatt stabling facility
– the west end of Bern railway station
– the Europaplatz Nord stop
– the Steigerhubel passerelle for pedestrian and bicycle traffic
The new Europaplatz Nord stop also includes a new pedestrian subway for the city of Bern. A separate planning approval procedure will be submitted later to the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) for the west end of Bern station.
Construction work will take twelve years
Construction is scheduled to start in spring 2025. The new station with the project name Europaplatz Nord will go into operation in 2028 and will thus replace the existing Stöckacker stop located a few hundred metres to the west. Passengers are expected to travel through the Holligentunnel for the first time in 2034. As things stand today, it will take until 2036 for the entire project to be completed.
In February 2023, SBB submitted the dossier for the planning approval procedure to the Federal Office of Transport. The public consultation will take place in Bern from 15 May 2023 to 13 June 2023.
As things stand today, the estimated costs for the “Bern West service enhancement” amount to around CHF 750 million (+/- 10%). The project will be financed through the federal government’s extension step 2025 (AS25).
Information room opens its doors
An information room will be open during the planning period so that residents and interested parties can obtain comprehensive information about the project. It is located in the BLS building at Stöckackerstrasse 25 in 3018 Bern.
Further information on the project can be found at sbb.ch/bernwest