BERN: Despite reporting improved results for 2014, the Swiss Rail Group (CFF/SBB/FFS) was heavily dependent on government support. Revenues increased by CHF 223 million to CHF 8,542 million, however this revenue figure includes CHF 2,249 million of public money. Net profits at CHF 373 million were up 57% on 2013 including the CHF 2,249 million government subsidies without which the group would have lost nearly CHF 1.9 billion.
CHF 1,637 million of this public support covered infrastructure expenses, CHF 587 million was a subsidy to defray the costs of transporting rail passengers and the remaining CHF 25 million supported the freight business. CHF 328 million of the financial assistance came from the cantons and CHF 1,921 million from the Swiss federal government.
The 2014 subsidy came to an average of CHF 276 per Swiss resident, which seems steep. But is this so bad? If you are a regular member of the 1.18 million daily travellers, the average per-trip cost of the subsidy could boil down to around one franc per journey.
