Federal Council opens consultation on rail and national road expansion

The package provides CHF 1.68 billion of federal contributions to urban transport projects in 40 agglomerations, the deletion of 68 small to medium rail projects worth about CHF 2.5 billion and the abandonment of 31 national road projects (about CHF 16 billion). The rail expansion requires extending the VAT per mille for the Rail Infrastructure Fund, which calls for a constitutional amendment with a mandatory referendum; the consultation runs until 9 October 2026.

On 19 June 2026 the Federal Council opened the consultation on Verkehr ’45, which bundles the expansion of rail and national roads up to 2045 in a single package; it builds on the key parameters of 28 January 2026, which the Council of States' transport committee (KVF-S) welcomed in February while calling for secure financing. The package includes CHF 1.68 billion in federal contributions to urban transport projects, the deletion of 68 small to medium rail projects worth about CHF 2.5 billion and the abandonment of 31 national road projects (about CHF 16 billion); the rail expansion also requires extending the VAT per mille for the Rail Infrastructure Fund. The consultation runs until 9 October 2026, and the dispatch to parliament is planned for early 2027. (LOK Report, 22 Jun 2026)