Swissmetro signals the end of the line

The company behind an adventurous project to build fast-speed underground rail links in Switzerland has said it is going into liquidation because of lack of support.

Swissmetro said around SFr11 million ($10.77 million) had been invested in the project, with federal authorities paying around half. It added that the scheme could not be realised in the foreseeable future.

The company said the rights would now go to the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), which was also involved in the high-speed train system.

Swissmetro had argued, for example, that the rail journey from Zurich to Bern could be reduced to 12 minutes from the present time of just under an hour.

It said the service would be “silent”, “invisible”, “energy-efficient” and could be run “every six minutes”.

A statement from Swissmetro said that “unfortunately there was not enough political will to go ahead with the project”.

A group supporting the project, Pro Swissmetro, said it did not agree with Swissmetro that it could not be realised in the foreseeable future. It also noted that the existing rail network was at its capacity.

swissinfo.ch and agencies