The Swiss Parliament has decided not to allocate federal subsidies for the planned night train from Basel in Switzerland to Malmö in Sweden, forcing SBB CFF FFS to cancel the project.

Both chambers – first the Council of States and now the National Council – removed the ten million francs earmarked for the service from the federal budget. 

Without this financial support, SBB CFF FFS stated that the planned night connection to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö cannot be realised. The operator had made federal funding a condition for launching the route, arguing that night trains are popular but not commercially viable due to high operating costs.

Refunds

SBB CFF FFS confirmed that all customers who had already bought tickets will receive a full refund. Ticket sales had opened in early November, and demand for the new service had been strong. The company said preparations for the scheduled April 2026 start were well under way before the parliamentary decision.

In the National Council, opposition to the subsidy came from a minority of the preparatory committee, which ultimately secured a narrow majority in the chamber. 

Critics argued that the CO₂ Act allows but does not require such subsidies, and that supporting a largely tourist-focused route would amount to unnecessary public spending. Supporters of the project, meanwhile, emphasised that the train would have provided an environmentally friendly alternative to air travel and strengthened international rail links via major stops such as Hamburg.

With the withdrawal of funding, SBB CFF FFS has confirmed that the night train to Malmö and Copenhagen will not go ahead.

Unimpressed

Independent railway commentator and cross-border rail specialist Jon Worth says on Bluesky: “Smallish pot of money not allocated to run a poor train. Be it Basel-Malmö or Paris-Vienna, the problem is the same. Old carriages, messy operations, no way to scale. We need to fix some fundamentals here.”

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