Today, 63 percent of passengers travel accessibly through and around SBB railways stations.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) provides for travellers to have accessible access to platforms and to be able to board and alight trains independently by the end of 2023. This is the case today for 63 percent of travellers at SBB railways stations.
Our aim is for passengers with reduced mobility to be using SBB services as independently and as accessibly as possible. This is a benefit to passengers with reduced mobility and older people, as well as to passengers with pushchairs or a lot of luggage, for instance. This is why SBB is continually adapting railway stations by raising platforms, installing lifts and building ramps. The information for travellers is also continually improved and adapted to the needs of people with reduced mobility.
The DDA came into effect in 2004 and intends that after a transition period of 20 years, accessible access to platforms and boarding of trains will be possible. SBB has received over one billion Swiss franks from the Swiss government for this. The DDA stipulates that public money is to be allocated proportionately: at certain stations, structural solutions can only be implemented with unreasonably large financial efforts. For this reason, the DDA allows alternative measures under certain preconditions. At all stations where conversion does not meet the deadline or is not undertaken, SBB will provide alternative solutions, usually in the form of assistance from staff.
Already today, 63 percent of travellers can move around SBB railway stations without obstacles, thanks to ramps and lifts, and can board and alight trains via level access from raised platforms. This is currently the case at 363 out of a total of 747 SBB railway stations. By the end of 2023, travellers at 542 railway stations will be able to board and alight independently. This corresponds to 86 percent of all travellers. At the remaining stations, conversion measures will be implemented after 2023 so that, in the longer term, 99 percent of travellers will be able to change trains accessibly. According to current planning, only around 30 railway stations will not be converted for reasons of proportionality.
At around 50 railway stations, more in-depth discussions with the Federal Office of Transport are required as to whether and/or how they are to be adapted. One of the reasons for this is because the railway station is curved: at these stations there is sometimes a larger gap between the sliding step on the train and the platform edge, which makes independent boarding and alighting difficult for people with reduced mobility.