Swiss state railway SBB has cancelled a project to introduce driverless trains in Switzerland, particularly on the Gotthard tunnel route, due to a lack of funds. SBB had originally planned to procure and test a locomotive with automatic train control (ATO) for rail freight transport, but recently withdrew the tender, citing SBB's deteriorating financial situation as the reason. The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (BAV) recently called for greater cost efficiency in public transport. A BAV spokesperson described SBB's financial bottlenecks as unclear, as the available funds are usually known four to five years in advance. As ATO is based on functions that have yet to be developed, the BAV is currently not focussing on the technology. The state funding of SBB is already a controversial topic in the Swiss federal parliament. In December 2023, the National Council decided on a one-off capital subsidy of €1.22 billion (CHF 1.15 billion) to SBB, while the Finance Commission is proposing a reduction to €635 million. However, SBB emphasises that the ATO operating trials have not been cancelled definitively, but will be continued with an optimised process and greater involvement of the industry.
