SBB awards framework contracts for digital interlockings worth CHF 1.4bn

About 80% of the almost 500 interlockings are to be digitised within 20 years, with the first installations entering service from 2029; the whole programme runs for about 40 years, and SBB says most of the value added arises in Switzerland

On 7 October 2025 SBB awarded the contract to digitise its interlockings to Hitachi, Siemens and Stadler Rail: framework agreements for ten years with three five-year extension options and 25 years of maintenance, with a procurement volume of about CHF 1.4 billion. Individual installations will then be awarded continuously in competition among the three partners; the almost 500 existing interlockings are to be modernised (about half are still relay installations from the 1950s), roughly 80% of them within 20 years, with the first commissioning planned from 2029 and the whole programme lasting about 40 years. Siemens Mobility reported signing its framework agreement in early November 2025 (Signaling X concept, with interlocking logic moved into central data centres); SBB put the final signing with all three firms in the week before 17 December 2025 and stressed that most of the value added arises in Switzerland. (LOK Report, 7 Oct, 5 Nov and 17 Dec 2025; second source: Bahnonline.ch, 7 Oct 2025)