SBB Cargo Switzerland has opened a new command centre at Aarepark in Olten to manage its nationwide freight operations.
The command centre serves all freight customers from a single control point. Previously, operational control covered only key accounts. SBB Cargo Switzerland states that the extended planning horizon allows earlier intervention in case of deviations and faster shift handovers.
The facility forms part of a broader operational programme introduced in 2025 to stabilise performance in single wagonload traffic. In June and July 2025, punctuality in single wagonload traffic fell to 88.2% and 88.6% respectively, below the 90% target. A cross-regional taskforce introduced more than 60 measures, including revised locomotive deployment at Lausanne Triage marshalling yard to prevent delay propagation between consecutive services.
For full-year 2025, single wagonload traffic punctuality reached 90.2%, up 2.2 percentage points year on year. The programme, now managed under the “Quality Space” framework, is focusing on data quality and process compliance in 2026.
In parallel, SBB Cargo Switzerland launched a “Controlling business operations” process in autumn 2024 to adjust capacity in response to volume fluctuations. The cross-departmental team evaluates timetable adjustments, train consolidation, locomotive deployment and staffing allocation when traffic volumes change.
According to the company, measures implemented under this process generated a financial effect in the range of several million Swiss francs in 2025.
