Alpine Rules, European Trains: Why Wagon Keepers Are Worried

The Gotthard derailment’s shadow still hangs over Europe’s rails. Switzerland’s latest decree trims one deadline but keeps bespoke rules that industry fears could splinter cross-border operations.

A week of regulatory zigzags in Bern has spilled into Europe’s freight lanes. Wagon keepers warn of a supply-chain shock after Switzerland revised, but did not retract, its national decree on freight-wagon safety, leaving operators facing a separate rulebook when trains transit the Alps. According to the International Union of Wagon Keepers (UIP), the fix still "keeps the unilateral measures on the table", and should be withdrawn in favour of the pan-European process run by the Joint Network Secretariat (JNS) at the EU Agency for Railways.

What Changed in Bern

The Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT) issued a new decree dated 23 October 2025 that removes the annual inspection deadline introduced earlier this autumn, after industry said it was unworkable. But the text keeps and tightens other technical obligations for wagons with tread-braked wheelsets, including: treating such wheelsets as non-thermostable; raising minimum in-service wheel diameter for defined types to 864 mm; mandatory periodic wagon-technical inspections at kilometre-based intervals; and field "hammer tests" where practicable.

The decree also explicitly replaces previous versions from 11 September and 9 October and pulls forward multiple implementation dates into 2025/2026, with no suspensive effect for appeals. These changes are framed as risk controls following the 10 August 2023 freight derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel and subsequent SUST safety recommendations, while noting that no EU-wide measure will "eliminate the hazard in the near term."

According to the decree’s reasoning, Switzerland argues it must act nationally given dense mixed traffic, population exposure along key corridors, and residual uncertainty about further wheel-break events; appeals are possible but do not automatically halt enforcement. 

UIP’s Warning Shot

UIP says the new text "confirms that Switzerland is taking serious safety decisions without an impact assessment or consultation," and that persisting with national add-ons risks cost, confusion, and cross-border disruption for trains carrying everything from aviation fuel at Zurich to everyday foodstuffs. It urges the FOT to withdraw the decree entirely, return to the JNS process, where harmonised recommendations on wagon safety are due by year-end, and honour the spirit of the EU–Switzerland Land Transport Agreement. UIP also stresses that safety improvements have already been progressing under JNS since the Gotthard incident, making unilateral divergence unnecessary, according to UIP’s press statement.

Context from the Swiss Text

Bern’s file sets out the chronology: ERA/JNS Broken Wheels work (2017/2019), the 2023 accident, JNS Task Force meetings from December 2023, ERA report v2.0 (July 2024) and v3.0 (April 2025), SUST’s final report (May 2025), and two industry roundtables in June/August 2025. It documents appeals lodged by VTG Rail Europe and MFD Rail and notes that only around 20% of affected wagons could have met the earlier first-inspection deadline, one reason the annual cut-off was scrapped, yet the new decree still mandates kilometre-based inspections and documentation before wagons are accepted into trains on Swiss standard-gauge lines.

"Safety is achieved through collective action. In Europe, safety must be based on evidence, coordination, and trust, not on isolated national decrees," UIP says, adding that Switzerland "cannot and should not attempt to impose rules on an entire continent."

What Happens Next

As reported in UIP’s statement, JNS is finalising EU-wide recommendations; sector players will watch whether Bern aligns once those are published, or whether operators will need dual compliance for trains crossing Switzerland. The FOT decree itself signals it may adjust measures when new evidence emerges, but underscores that companies remain responsible for ensuring wagon safety and acting where data are missing.