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That's just about the only way I could see it happening. The track record (no pun intended) of the Swiss rail system is very different to the UK, although is it really as great as everyone says? Because the Swiss seem to constantly add FFS to SBB CFF which I can only presume is an expression of their frustration at the poor service.
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although is it really as great as everyone says?
Pretty much, yes. It's not perfect, but it's bloody good. Cycliste is thinking about finally buying a car in Switzerland, cos Covid. For the last 15 years she hasn't even considered it, the train system is so good. It's not amazeballs fast. But it's reliable, relatively cheap (particularly if you have a Carte Demi Tarif) and immensely comfortable and civilised. The wine and cheese selection in the restaurant cars is pretty good too.
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the Swiss seem to constantly add FFS to SBB CFF
That's just the Italian speaking bit. It's a bit more, well, Italian. Lots of shouting and the occasional loud bang. As I experienced in Domodossola when they forgot to switch the voltage in the overhead cables. Much switch-flicking and power-recycling all the way to Montreaux. Boy, did they try turning it off and turning it on again. On pretty much every incline, as the train slowly ground to a halt.
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Because the Swiss seem to constantly add FFS to SBB CFF which I can only presume is an expression of their frustration at the poor service.
I follow a few Swiss train related tags on social media (mainly for finding out about avalanche closures in the winter) and have noticed that while there are lots of expressions of frustrations at service quality online, they are usually due to very minor reasons. Last time I saw a swiss person mouthing off about the rail service on Twitter was because the train information display wasn't working in their carriage. Before that it was because the rail replacement bus bypassing a rock slide was five minutes late leaving.
It could be done. The CFF/SBB upgraded the Simplon line to take double-decker trains to increase capacity. It was a massive job, including increasing the height of the 489m long tunnel at St Maurice, increasing the height of the Simplon tunnel by lowering the rail bed, and raising various bridges, including the one at Vevey. Took 10 years or so, but the disruption was minimal, and the works on the St Maurice tunnel came in 11% under budget and ahead of schedule. I do sometimes wonder whether, if the government is going to out-source the running of the UK's rail network, they wouldn't be better off just sub-contracting the entire thing to the SBB/CFF and letting them get on with it.