Timetable
The TVS is responsible for the timetabling of Switzerland’s interoperable standard-gauge railway network, plus the Emmenbrücke-Hübeli – Lenzburg and Zürich-Selnau – Zürich Giesshübel (branch line) routes. This entails, first and foremost, planning the annual timetable, but also involves dealing with additions and alterations to the running timetable as well as with orders received during day-to-day operations. The TVS does not, however, plan the timetable itself; it asks the 13 infrastructure managers (IMs) under its responsibility to draw up the provisional timetable and train path allocations for their networks. By allocating train paths, the TVS approves the draft timetables prepared by the IMs.
The timetable is generated by the train path design, which is carried out in accordance with regulatory requirements and takes into account as far as possible the needs of all network users and different types of traffic. Timetabling involves several steps, with the different concepts planned well in advance and more detailed timetabling completed as time progresses.
The TVS participates in all of these steps and, as a result, is also involved in the federal government’s strategic planning and medium-term planning. TVS comments on the drafts of the network utilisation concept and the network utilisation plans and publishes the train path catalogues for transalpine transit freight traffic.
The timetable may be subject to alterations. These are usually caused by temporary capacity restrictions due to engineering work or operational disruptions. If these capacity reductions necessitate replacement timetables, the TVS oversees the preparation of these timetables, ensures non-discriminatory planning and allocates the revised train paths.