Swiss Railways has fallen in the train league table, according to The Independent

Swiss Railways has fallen from second place in Europe to 11th place in a rail survey Independent It showed that the research was deeply flawed.

Last month, the Brussels-based transport and environment campaign group published a report ranking SBB, Switzerland’s national railway company, as the best in Europe for reliability. Taking into account a range of factors, but primarily train fares, Swiss Railways was ranked second best in Europe after Trenitalia – Italy’s national rail operator.

Considering the high Swiss rail fares, such as £72 for the 130-mile journey from Geneva to Basel, the result was surprising.

Independent analyzed the data and found that transport and environmental researchers had halved the actual cost of travel in Switzerland.

Fares quoted during online searches for Swiss rail travel assume the passenger has a half-fare railcard – costing £170. Many visitors do not have such a card and therefore pay double the “local price”.

The campaign team recalculated the ratings. As a result, SBB fell nine places to 11th. For fares alone, Swiss Railways ranked third out of 27 operators surveyed. Only Eurostar and Great Western Railway are rated as more expensive.

Another UK operator, Avanti West Coast, has leapfrogged SBB for its later fares Independent He noted that some ticket prices have been increased by 338 percent by transportation and environmental researchers. For some Avanti West Coast journeys between London and Milton Keynes, the fare was £17.10 for a 50-mile journey, researchers insisted the fare was £74.90.

The average fare quoted in the survey for Great Western Railway from London to Bristol is £48, which the train operator says is unrealistically high – with the average passenger less than £35.

Victor Thévenet, Director of Transport and Environment Rail Policy, said: “Despite small adjustments to the railway rankings, our conclusions remain the same: a high-performance rail system is one of the foundations of a zero-emission mobility system, but rail services are falling in Europe. . Low expectations and high prices do not guarantee high quality of service.

The differences between rail operators show that if train operators improve their services and the EU and member states support them with incentives and regulations, strong improvements from reliability to passenger rights and rail climate potential can be maximized.

Nikki Gardner, co-author Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guideis skeptical about the underlying data of this study. We have a very selective data set here, one that almost seems designed to cast certain operators in a bad light.

“In such surveys, we really need to look at the actual fares paid by passengers on actual journeys, taking into account any eligible discounts they may have taken advantage of.”