SWITZERLAND: The tender for up to 40 multi-system high-speed trains for international services is now planned for the end of 2026 or the start of 2027. SBB is clarifying the financing first and is in dialogue with manufacturers and leasing companies, the operator said in an update to its procurement page.
When SBB last set out the schedule, four pre-qualified leasing companies were to submit offers in the second quarter of 2026, and the trains were to be tendered at the same time.
The update also leaves the financing model open. SBB chose a 15-year operating lease over an outright purchase, citing its strained finances, and the update does not say whether that model stands, or whether the train tender remains coupled to the leasing procedure.
From market dialogue to pre-qualification
The procurement opened in March 2025, when SBB announced plans for up to 40 multi-system trains. A market dialogue closed in June 2025 with two models on the table, an outright purchase with 15 years of servicing or a 15-year lease. Pre-qualification material for a 15-year operating lease went out on the Simap procurement platform in August 2025. The selective procedure runs in two phases, and the leasing companies cleared the first in November 2025.
The four pre-qualified lessors are Alpha Trains, Beacon Rail, Rock Rail and Willow Group. SBB has not named the manufacturers it is talking to.
Fleet and routes
The new trains are to run towards Italy and France, with Barcelona and London as possible further destinations, and to replace the first series of the Astoro fleet (ETR 610) in the second half of the 2030s.
SBB carried more than 6 million international passengers in the first half of 2026, up 1.3%. The operator is separately planning a direct London service with Eurostar and SNCF.