20 candles for rolling highway
Rolling highway (rola) trains set off on the Freiburg (Germany) – Novara (Italy) route for the first time on 11 July 2001. As a pioneering user of the 4-m Simplon intermodal corridor, Swiss Rola operator RAlpin has since then shifted over 1.7 million heavy goods vehicles from road to rail, relieving the Swiss Alps of heavy traffic and almost 600,000 t of CO2.
In 2020, transport volumes fell by more than 35% due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The annual loss was limited to CHF 0.9 million thanks to restructuring measures and a non-refundable grant from the Swiss Confederation.
The timetable change in December 2020 saw a new service concept launched including, inter alia, a demand-oriented timetable with 96 trains per week with attractive departure times between midday and midnight as well as longer trains with two additional low-floor wagons added in 2021. (ben)