Project

Planning for transshipment facility changes in Western Switzerland

Working on behalf of SBB Infrastructure, a division of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), EBP has developed a planning strategy for transshipment facilities in Western Switzerland. The aim of our assignment was to propose changes to the network of transshipment facilities so as to better enable SBB’s freight customers to transact their deliveries quickly and cost effectively.

While the Swiss cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg and Valais currently offer a number of facilities for SBB’s railway freight customers, they are not all well-calibrated to current demand. Moreover, owing to noise pollution in residential areas, many private individuals and public representatives are interested in closing a number of the existing facilities. And finally, there are not many train paths in the network that are particularly well suited to efficient freight transportation. In light of these reasons, SBB Infrastructure has been interested in reconfiguring its network of transshipment facilities in Western Switzerland.

EBP provides planning assistance

SBB Infrastructure commissioned EBP to draft a basis for the relevant planning decisions, including a weighing-up of the advantages and disadvantages associated with the relevant transshipment facilities. To do this, we carried out an analysis of all of the existing facilities and defined the requirements that will have to be met by future facilities. We also carried out a comprehensive analysis of current and future demand to establish a basis for estimating the capacity requirements that are likely to apply to the future transshipment infrastructures.

The juxtaposition of future infrastructure requirements and the capacity and location of the existing facilities allowed us to determine whether each of the existing facilities in the ten sub-regions can be expected to remain appropriate in the medium and long term. In the end, we identified a number of facilities that should be eliminated, as well as a number of other facilities in need of expansion, and also designated a number of sites where consideration should be given to the planning of new facilities. Moreover, we also took into consideration the specific needs of the transporters of sugar beets.

SBB Infrastructure now has at its disposal a differentiated basis for planning changes to its network of transshipment facilities in Western Switzerland.

Picture: Cossonay Transshipment Facility

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