SBB has set itself clear objectives in terms of the environment and operates a comprehensive ecological management policy. Construction projects are monitored from an ecological perspective from start to finish.

The sustainability department is responsible for SBB's ecological management policy. It deals above all with new environmental topics straddling divisional boundaries. The divisions additionally employ over thirty environmental specialists who deal with environmental issues in the context of construction projects, noise prevention measures and contamination cleanups, or relating to the maintenance of rolling stock.

With its environmental management policy, SBB is trying to minimise the effects of its activities on the environment: noise, energy consumption, waste etc. At the same time, it is committed to comprehensive environmental project management. Environmental specialists have reported on all of SBB's building projects from the first stage of planning through to completion - and sometimes beyond. Over 350 projects in different phases are monitored from the ecological perspective each year. With this professional eco-monitoring of construction activities, SBB takes a holistic view of the environmental aspects of construction work.

In order to more efficiently manage and oversee the environmental performance of the whole Group, SBB intends to introduce a Group-wide environment management system by 2015 at the latest. As the first important step in this direction, we implemented an environmental management system which achieved ISO 14001 certification during the year under review. The environmental management system brings together the systems already in place in the individual business areas - in Passenger Division Operating, for example, or Hägendorf Railway Technology Centre, both of which were recertified in 2010.