Increasing absences lead to a tense situation at the Federal Railways. Other companies are doing even better right now. A railway boss makes a spicy suggestion for systemically relevant areas.
In the S-Bahn traffic to Italy, a subsidiary of SBB is already canceling trains.
The SBB are a well-oiled gear train that holds Switzerland together. But this threatens to stall with the increasing number of corona cases and people in isolation or quarantine. Because of the illness-related absences, the situation is increasingly tense, write the Federal Railways in a statement. The scheduled offer can currently still be used. But sometimes there are no more personnel reserves. “Individual train cancellations as a result of short-term sickness reports cannot be ruled out in the next few days,” it says.
The SBB ask travelers to consult the timetable online shortly before a trip. Because train drivers are sick or in quarantine, trains are already canceled in international traffic. Lyria, a subsidiary of SBB and the French SNCF, is reducing the number of TGV services to France. From January 10th, only four trains per day will run between Zurich / Basel and Paris.
The SBB subsidiary Tilo, which is active in S-Bahn traffic in Ticino and neighboring Lombardy, also had to restrict operations. Two lines do not run between Chiasso and Como and Mendrisio and Varese. SBB also had to cancel five early trains on Tuesday in Geneva on the cross-border Léman Express S-Bahn.
Sensitive areas
Absences due to Corona are particularly tricky in two areas at Deutsche Bahn. In addition to the locomotive staff, for whom the situation in French-speaking Switzerland was already tense before Omikron, there are operations management and control centers. The latter divide the rolling stock and the staff. The control of rail operations and customer information are now largely carried out in the four operations centers of Lausanne (west), Olten (center), Pollegio (south) and Zurich Airport (east). If a large number of employees or entire teams are absent, SBB has a problem.
The SBB and the other Swiss transport companies have plans for exceptional cases. The short-term failure of individual trains due to a lack of train drivers, for example at peak times, is your responsibility. If a railway wants to thin out the timetable because it has systematic staff shortages, it must first consult the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) and, in regional transport, the customers (cantons and federal government).
If there is a lack of staff in public transport across Switzerland, an adapted timetable would be implemented in extreme cases, as was the case in the first Corona wave. It would be up to the so-called system leaders, SBB and PostBus Switzerland, to propose measures to the federal government. Such a step is not currently planned. In contrast to the first corona wave, the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) has not issued a recommendation to stay at home – although a home office is mandatory.
For the FOT, thinning out the timetable is only an option as a last resort. The transport companies have to ensure that the connections in the travel chains are guaranteed, says the spokesman Andreas Windlinger. The SBB also emphasize that the failure of train connections will only be an issue as the last of all measures. The goal remains to guarantee mobility.
SBB and other railways have prepared as much as possible in their personnel planning. In the event of bottlenecks, employees who otherwise work as trainers or superiors of the locomotive staff in the office should also run trains. SBB conducts repetitive pool tests for professional groups who, like those who have to work in the four on-site operations centers.
Crisis system activated
As the largest national railway, the SBB are to a certain extent a yardstick for the epidemiological situation in Switzerland. At other companies, however, the situation is not yet tense. The Südostbahn (SOB) is currently not feeling any increase in corona cases and has only recorded a few staff failures. That’s what its director Thomas Küchler says. “But we are aware that the numbers can explode quickly.”
The SOB has reactivated its crisis system in order to be able to react quickly to increasing absences in consultation with those ordering regional transport. When it comes to deploying staff and rolling stock, the SOB works closely with the SBB, says Küchler. If necessary, the two railways would help each other out where possible.
Küchler welcomes the fact that almost all cantons have shortened the duration of the quarantine, as recommended by the federal government. If the situation worsens, this is helpful. As a last resort, the SOB director also suggests that individual teams can still work on site if necessary if everyone is infected with corona but has no or only mild symptoms. The system-relevant areas such as the operations control center and the transport control center in Herisau, which are crucial for rail operations, would be affected. Such a step would have to take place in consultation with the authorities of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, says Küchler.
The Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon-Bahn (BLS) is also currently able to run its service despite increasing absences. In Graubünden, the increasing numbers of corona cases, isolations and quarantines are causing problems for some hotels and restaurants. But at the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), the personnel situation is also not tense, as Andreas Bass, member of the management, says. “We currently still have a certain reserve.”
The tram and bus companies in the big cities can more easily cancel individual courses than the railways if there is a shortage of staff. This is less important on busy urban lines, especially since the number of passengers has decreased in recent weeks. Bernmobil has not yet recorded an increase in staff absences, but has scenarios to thin out the offer if necessary. The situation is similar with the Zurich Transport Authority (VBZ). With an accumulation of absences, it will be difficult to maintain the timetable, says a spokesman. The VBZ want to inform about any adjustments in the course of the week.
The example of Ticino shows what the rest of Switzerland can expect. The Omikron variant spread earlier in the southern canton than in the other parts of the country. In addition to the SBB subsidiary Tilo, the Locarno Transport Authority (FART) also had to thin out its range.