In mid-September, Switzerland introduced new rules relating to freight wagon wheel safety. The measures follow an investigation into the Gotthard Base Tunnel accident, where a broken wheel was the cause of major infrastructure damage. Rail freight stakeholders reacted with dismay to the disruptive rules. However, Bern is now allowing just a tiny bit of wiggle room.
A spokesperson of the Swiss Federal Office for Transport (FOT) told German publication DVZ that FOT held new consultations with the industry following the strong reactions to the new rules for freight wagons with composite brake blocks and tread-braked wheelsets.
Industry parties had identified a number of issues resulting from the measures: the rules would burden wagon owners and maintenance providers disproportionately, reduce maintenance intervals and thereby threaten wagon and maintenance supply security in Switzerland, and reduce international interoperability. Moreover, they pointed to a lack of resources at maintenance companies that makes the tight implementation deadline of 1 January 2026 unrealistic.
Industry consultations
Recent consultations with the industry have “yielded new insights into the potential implementation of the measures”, FOT told DVZ. The outcome is that FOT is now partially conceding on that last point – the timeframe for implementation. It has postponed the deadline for one measure by a year to 31 December 2026.
This concerns the requirement for all freight wagons to undergo a technical inspection, for which there simply is not enough capacity. According to the FOT, the bodies responsible for the maintenance of freight wagons had estimated that only 20% of the fleet could be inspected by the end of this year. Upscaling and growing maintenance capacity before that time is not an option due to staff shortages, training requirements and equipment procurement.
Deadlines for other measures remain unchanged, including those that seem to fall under the same chapter in the new FOT order: thermal overload checks on tread-braked wheelsets, requirements for the average wheel diameter on particular wheelsets and sound tests for tread-brakes wheelsets with composite brake blocks.