RAIL POLICY IN THE CONTEXT OF OVERALL TRANSPORT POLICY IN SWITZERLAND

Switzerland's transport policy, particularly rail transport policy, is a unique case in Europe. The figures are ample proof of this. Whereas a European Union citizen uses the rail mode to travel 802 km per year on average, a Swiss person travels 1,852 km by rail over the same period. The rail freight market share in Switzerland is 35% whereas it is only 8% in the EU. In Alpine freight transit traffic on the Mt-Cenis/Frejus - Brenner route (freight carried to and from Italy), the rail share in 2001 was 25% in France and 29% in Austria. Swiss transport policy is different from that of its European Union neighbours. The author describes the development of this policy in a country faced with the same problems as its neighbours, but which has devised original solutions, particularly for funding infrastructure, and ones which are adapted to a difficult geographical environment and a special political organisation. The comparison of the road and rail transport accounts and the trends in infrastructure expenditure in relation to GDP situate this transport policy in the context of a broader economic vision. (A)