Recently, Switzerland’s transport infrastructure policy is under revaluation. Owed to a recent popular vote, several road infrastructure extensions are now abolished. To many observers, the dismissal of the projects came as a surprise as the implementation of large-scale transport infrastructure projects was barely scrutinised in recent history. If the upheaval leads to a realignment of road and railway infrastructure combined – rather than hampering large investments principally – this change of direction might be very sensible. In any case, the new developments require overthinking longstanding dogmas in civil engineering construction.
For a long time – much longer than I have observed the Swiss civil engineering sector as part of my dossier – large-scale transport infrastructure investments in Switzerland have enjoyed a firm standing in the population and were commonly undisputed. While individual road, railway or other public transport projects in the past certainly have caused public uproar and were disputed by some stakeholders, the broader belief that such investments are pivotal to the functioning and prosperity of this country is carried by a general consensus.
Adding to this, new transport infrastructure projects contribute crucially to the economy in terms of investments. The construction of large transport infrastructure is praised for its stabilising function as these undertakings require a long planning phase followed by many years of construction. Some might refer to them as the backbone of the construction sector – the latest example being the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when ongoing projects acted as a kind of anticyclical buffer. On the financing side, many (to most) transport infrastructure projects in Switzerland are ensured by two ample federal funds.1
Corroborated by the significance of flagship projects such as The New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA) – a pivotal piece of the north-south-axis for traffic and freight through Europe, which was completed in 2020 after more than 20 years of construction and euro 23.5 billion total costs – transport infrastructure projects have been largely spared from scrutiny or budget cuts by the public and policy makers in the recent history.
As of recently, though, this standing is shaken by a rather sudden and vigorous rejection of large investment plans from the broad public. In November 2024, the Swiss population voted against the implementation of six road infrastructure extension projects as a package of the Federal Council’s Strategic Development Programme (STEP 2023). The Federal Council justified the projects as necessary measures to eliminate bottlenecks in Switzerland’s road network. With 45 percent voter turnout, the 52.7 percent No-votes reveal a distinct opposition against the projects. Broad opposition likely arose from the fear that the extensions will increase the traffic load in the medium term. The winners see the No-vote as reinforcement for more climate protection and a transition of our transport policy, shifting investments more toward public transport.
The clear rejection was rather surprising to some, including myself, in the sense that these projects have been conceived and in planning for a long time and – in the case of the earliest projects in the package – are now dismissed relatively imminently before the ground-breaking ceremony. Against the backdrop of the buoyant expansion of road infrastructure over the past twenty years and the fundament of transport infrastructure in the Swiss heritage, the implementation of these road network extensions was – naively so in hindsight – unquestioned by me.
However, the recent dismissal of the projects must not be interpreted as a fundamental rejection of large investments in our transport infrastructure. The No-votes may be granted more nuance: They do not necessarily call into question the people’s motivation to invest now for future generations. More likely, the public demands more alternatives for transport infrastructure, rather than sticking to long determined, little scrutinised and, for some projects, in the meantime outdated plans drawn up by previous policy makers.
In any case, the recent upheaval should encourage reconsidering longstanding dogmas. For me, as an analyst of the Swiss construction sector, this entails reviewing the “safe haven” role of transport infrastructure investments in the market: Whereas the stimulus from large road and railway infrastructure projects used to be a safe bet in most forecasts and articles that I wrote for Euroconstruct in the past, the recent developments call for more diligence when it comes to assessing the impact of our current decisions on the construction market and Switzerland’s transport infrastructure in the longer horizon.
Important milestones for the multi-generation project The New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA) were the referenda of 1992 and 1998 in which the population backed the massive undertaking and its financing. In the current debates, it is important to remember that such milestones for the living standard of following generations in ten to twenty years ahead are set by us now. The most far-reaching road extension project that was rejected by the popular vote last year was set to commence in 2037.
Reference
1: Financing of railway infrastructure: Railway Infrastructure Fund (BIF), in effect since 2016. Financing of roads and agglomeration transport infrastructure: National Road and Agglomeration Infrastructure Fund (NAF), in effect since 2018.
