Cost

How much does Swissmetro cost??

In the context of the Swissmetro main study, costs and economic viability were also examined. The total cost for an east-west route from Geneva to St Gallen and the track Basel - Zurich were estimated at about 25 billion Swiss francs. These figures are from 1997, more recent data are not available.

An exclusive private financing is not possible for a project of the magnitude of Swissmetro. The planned financing model is therefore a combination of public corporations and private companies.

In this process a public company pre-finances the operating infrastructure. The invested capital will bear no interest, but will be paid back over a period of 40 years out of a share of the operating profit.

A private transport company finances the purchase of vehicles and equipment, providing them for exploitation to an operating company (Swiss Federal Railways and partners), in return for a share of the business revenues. The operating company itself invests no capital, but shares the revenues with the other two involved companies.
Public loans are therefore paid back; in addition they can, at least partly, be financed from savings on investment in other infrastructure projects.

The public sector makes no direct profit on infrastructure investments, but indirectly benefits from macro-economic gains. These include the time savings of travelers, the reduction of social costs due to accidents, air and noise pollution and the diminution in energy consumption.

Last but not least the cost of Swissmetro also represents an investment in the economic and research location Switzerland. Thus, directly or indirectly, Swissmetro is profitable for all involved parties.

By comparison, in 1998 the cost of NEAT was estimated at 14.7 billion Swiss francs, but the actual total cost is likely to be up to 24 billion Swiss francs. Converted into cost per kilometre, the approximately 400km of Swissmetro would therefore be about 75% cheaper than the 100km of NEAT.

That is firstly because the tunnel diameter is significantly smaller and secondly because the tunnel is mainly drilled at a shallow depth through the relatively soft molasse of the Swiss plateau, instead of the hard Gotthard gneiss and granites. Moreover, the geological conditions are better known and therefore the risks and costs can be estimated more reliably.