The Federal Council regularly submits to Parliament development programmes aimed at extending the road, rail and urban traffic networks. In early 2025 the Federal Council launched the Transport \u201945 project. This seeks to coordinate transport infrastructure developments and set them in order of priority out to 2045 and beyond. The planned construction work was put out for consultation in June 2026 and the various projects will be presented to Parliament in early 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Swiss Federal Audit Office has examined whether the projects under Transport \u201945 have been put in a logical order of priority. It welcomes the principle of, for the first time ever, examining and presenting inter-departmental development projects and reconsidering old projects. However, the SFAO notes major weaknesses: the essential foundations for establishing a logical and sensible order of priority are lacking, especially as regards new developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SFAO informed the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) and the Federal Council of these weaknesses before the consultation opened. The SFAO called for the project to be halted until the key issues have been resolved. The call by the SFAO went unheeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n types of transport infrastructure prioritised by Transport \u201945<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n billion francs of projects prioritised by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich -ETHZ<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n billion francs of projects planned out to 2045<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n billion francs of projects submitted to Parliament in early 2027<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n There are major weaknesses in the way the profitability of rail and road projects are calculated. These cast doubt on the evaluation and prioritisation of the projects proposed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n The ETHZ study is significantly constrained by the terms of reference set by DETEC. Dynamic speed limits and repurposing the hard shoulder are effective in reducing capacity problems but have not been re-examined in any systematic way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n There is no guarantee that the CHF 50 billion or so of expenditure planned to realise projects out to 2045 will be available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","audit_category":[48],"audit_type":[51],"class_list":["post-46363","audit","type-audit","status-publish","hentry","audit_category-transport-and-environment","audit_type-audit"],"acf":{"audit_lang":null,"audit_numbers":[{"audit_number":"26718"}],"audit_office":[1383],"audit_office_text":"","audit_date":"20260914","bgo":false,"keywords":"","audit_office_local":"GS-DETEC"},"yoast_head":"\n3<\/h2>\n
112<\/h2>\n
50<\/h2>\n
11<\/h2>\n
\n Main conclusions <\/h2>\n \n
\n
Profitability of projects probably lower than announced<\/h3>\n
Prioritisation is largely based on limited external expertise<\/h3>\n
\nAlthough useful, it remains too incomplete to provide a substantive foundation for the country\u2019s transport policy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n <\/ul>\n \n
No systematic examination of the alternatives to extending the motorway network<\/h3>\n
No evidence that the projects planned out to 2045 can be financed<\/h3>\n