The Swiss capacity allocation body TVS is a federal not-for-profit entity under public law with a sepa-rate legal personality.
We are independent and customer-driven. Our guiding principles are neutrality, quality and efficiency.
Here you'll find details of our Board of Directors and Executive Board and an organisation chart of the TVS.
The Board of Directors sets the strategic goals of the TVS every four years.
Here you can find out more about the work the TVS undertakes for the various parts of the rail network.
In addition to other tasks delegated to us, the TVS carries out the infrastructure management work needed to ensure that trains can access the rail network. This is explained in more detail here.
The timetable is generated by the train path design. The TVS is responsible for timetabling and participates in every phase of the timetabling process.
Use of the track network is based on a request or an order and the allocation of rights of use. The TVS accepts orders and allocates train paths and ancillary services.
Rail freight corridors are an important part of Switzerland’s policy of transferring freight from road to rail. The main role of the TVS here is in helping to coordinate available capacity and providing the framework conditions.
In accordance with Article 15f of the Railways Ordinance (EBV), the TVS keeps a register of the information required to operate on the rail infrastructure.
A charge is levied for use of the railway infrastructure. The TVS is responsible for ensuring that the services consumed by train path users are recorded and invoiced in a non-discriminatory manner.
The investment plans of the infrastructure managers state how they intend to undertake and fund the maintenance and expansion of their infrastructure in the future.
TVS collaborates with various European infrastructure-manager institutions and bodies to the extent that this is of benefit to the various duties it carries out and services it provides.
As a company in the rail infrastructure sector, the TVS plays an active role in Swiss rail industry bodies.
The glossary explains some of the specialist terminology the TVS uses in its work.
Here you'll find general information about the TVS as well as an introduction to the topic of railway network access.
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.
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