THE FUTURE OF RAILWAYS IN ZURICH | Exploring The Most EXCITING Transport Projects in Zurich!

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]Zurich is Switzerland's largest city and with over 2 million people in its metropolitan area, it also houses over 1/5ifth of the country's population.

[00:00:11]Usually, the largest city of a country is the city with the best public transportation. And this is no different in Switzerland with Zurich having an absolutely fantastic public transportation network for a city of its size. It actually has a much better public transportation network than even many cities with 10 or 15 million population. And given that Zurich's population is set to keep increasing further in the future, the public transportation network will have to keep up with it and is planning lots of interesting expansion projects as well.

[00:00:45]Welcome to the ZR Train Spotter channel.

[00:00:48]In this video, we will be looking at the top 10 most interesting railway projects that will be realized in Zurich within the next two to 15 years. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this video.

[00:01:00]And we start right away with Studelhoffen Station's fourth platform.

[00:01:05]The fourth platform is a currently ongoing project which is expected to start construction soon. And it is a much more complex project than people think because the entire Stuttle Hoffen station will be refurbished and redesigned. Additionally, they will have to build an additional tunnel right next to the current tracks with totally separate junctions. As a result, this project is expected to be finalized by 2036 at earliest, which yes, sounds insane that it takes 10 years just to build an extra platform. But this entire project includes redesigning the current station because the current station is already a mess. It is very crowded and cannot handle all the passengers that now travel to it and it has a rather outdated design. However, thanks to this project, it will become one of the most beautiful railway stations in the Zurich area because look at this platform. It is simply amazing and it reminds me a lot of the Paris RE line at stations such as Majonta Gard which also look amazing like this. Also, you can already see some progress. Just go to Stalhoffen stations platform 2 and three. And then you can already see that they're preparing the excavation site for the [music] fourth platform and the extra tunnel.

[00:02:25]Next up, we have the new startler trains for SCU. SU the Silal Zurich Yetiburg ban have ordered up to 17 startler flirt trains which will mainly be used on the S4 line between Zurich main station and Langa Gatikon. Currently operated by older double-decker DPZ trains which are expected to be replaced as soon as these trains will be delivered. Also the SU station at Zurich main station is being refurbished and expanded. This is expected to be completed in the next few years. The trains are expected to be delivered in 2028 and set to enter service in the same year.

[00:03:07]Next up, we have new seaman's trains for the Zurich Espan. Last year, SPB placed an order for6 new Seammen's double-decker trains, which will boost capacity on the Zurich Espan. These trains are also expected to replace the aging RE450 DPZ trains which are indeed coming to the end of their life cycle. Unfortunately, the new Seaman's trains will be equipped with a very high capacity configuration and will provide the necessary comfort for daily commuters. The train is expected to enter service in 2030.

[00:03:44]Next up, we have the Glatalban tram extension to Cloen. The Glatadban is a light railway that runs from downtown Zurich to Zurich airport and is expected to be extended into downtown Cloen which is the town located next to the airport.

[00:03:59]Construction is expected to begin soon and the project includes an railway bridge which will be built right over the A51 highway as well as a total urban redesign in the center of Glen. This is what the planned route looks like.

[00:04:16]Completion is set for the year 2032 as it will be a rather complex project.

[00:04:25]Another tram extension will be the one to afalter which is also expected to start construction soon in 2028. The project also features an urban redesign of the area as well as safeguards for the railway and new tram stations right on the street. The tram will bring huge benefits to the area such as an a massive capacity increase as well as travel time reductions. Completion is targeted for 2031.

[00:04:54]Next up are new tram tunnels. However, those are only proposals for now. But if these were to be approved, there will be two new tram tunnels. One under the university in Hungerberg and the other one under Vipkingan Railway Station.

[00:05:09]Because this project has not yet been approved, there is no completion date for it right now. Though I expect it, if approved, to be completed before 2050.

[00:05:21]Now we will be talking about a very exciting new project, the Britain tunnel as well as the Zurich to winter railway expansion, also known as Mir Purzik Vinttor. The project mainly aims at doubling capacity between the two cities. In order for this to be achievable, there must be a consecutive four tracks between the two cities.

[00:05:42]However, this is only achievable by building a railway tunnel. This will also significantly shorten travel times between the two cities, as the tunnel is set to be operational at at least 160 km/ hour. It will be one of SPB's most expensive and complex projects of all time, but it will definitely be worth it and is very needed. Although construction is expected to begin in 2028, there are already preparations ongoing like in these pictures taken at buses dorf station which shows a preparation for the station expansion as well additional bus stations as the old ones are getting scrapped to make way for the fourth track. Additionally, the current single track section between Cloen Balssburg and Cloen station is about to become double tracked and this is expected to happen by late 2026 aka late this year already or early 2027.

[00:06:34]Then the line will be fully double tracked and Bber Station will finally have two platforms. As you can see, construction is already in full swing at Bossburg Station. The signals have been installed and there's full construction work going on. The platforms and tracks will be installed next. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2034 with the opening of the Britain tunnel.

[00:06:59]Another similar project will be the Zimmerberg base tunnel 2. This is an extension of the current Zimmerberg base tunnel which runs from Zurich main station to Talville.

[00:07:10]This new project proposes a southbound extension of the tunnel towards Zoo. The tunnel will be designed for 160 to 200 km per hour operation.

[00:07:21]The project has not yet been approved.

[00:07:24]However, once approved, construction will start and the project is set to realistically be completed sometime in the 2040s. I would say the early 2040s.

[00:07:36]And last, but definitely not least, is the Espan 2G project, the Espan.

[00:07:42]This project would effectively turn the Zurich Espan into a metro style system unique in its own kind anywhere in the world. This would create so so-called express outer uh Espan lines as well as inner um metro style Espan lines. The so-called inner lines would run every 10 to 15 minutes and terminate at the terminal stations at the outskirts of the city such as cloten dieticon dieticon dubendorf and other similar stations for the outer uh expressbond lines. New double-decker rolling stock will be used such as the new seaman's trains or startler kiss double-decker train sets as well as current 514 train sets which are also made by seammens.

[00:08:28]Meanwhile, the inner Sbond lines would use new single decker rolling stock.

[00:08:34]These will be very high-capacity single deck commuter trains with multiple doors per side, such as, for example, a high-capacity Stadler Flourish train. It will most likely be something similar to Stumble's Marmaray, which has five doors on each side and 10 coaches, while I expect the Zurich trains to have something between six and eight coaches.

[00:08:56]With this, Zurich will be getting something that's even better than a metro. And in my opinion, this is by far the most exciting transport project in Zurich with completion expected sometime between 2035 and 2040.

[00:09:12]What do you think? Which projects are you looking forward to the most? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. As of now, thank you so much for watching this video. I really hope you enjoyed it. And if you did, then please feel free to like and subscribe as it really means a lot to me and makes me motivated to keep making more such content in the near future.

[00:09:34]Thank you so much and have a nice day and see you soon on the ZR Train Spotter channel.