Thurgau-based rolling-stock manufacturer Stadler Rail announced on 6 April 2026 that it is withdrawing its appeal against the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) decision to award a CHF 2.8 billion contract for 200 double-deck intercity trains to Germany’s Siemens Mobility. The move ends months of legal uncertainty and allows SBB and Siemens to sign the final order, unlocking design work that had been on hold since September 2025. Stadler had taken its case to the Federal Administrative Court after finishing a narrow second in the competitive tender. The company argued that the evaluation criteria lacked transparency, but said in Monday’s statement that the court-released files were so heavily redacted that continuing the challenge was futile. Chairman Peter Spuhler conceded that “we have to accept the decision on the basis of the information available to us.”
![Stadler Rail Drops Legal Challenge, Clearing the Way for Siemens to Build SBB’s 200 New Double-Deck Trains]()
For international suppliers, consultants and business travellers following the rail tender closely, arranging the right travel documents for on-site meetings or future service work is another box to tick. VisaHQ’s Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) provides a quick, step-by-step interface for checking visa requirements, assembling the correct paperwork and submitting applications online—saving project teams valuable lead time as they coordinate with SBB, Siemens or Stadler.
For corporate mobility planners—and the 125,000 passengers who use Switzerland’s intercity network each working day—the withdrawal is good news. Siemens can now keep to SBB’s ambitious timeline: the first eight-car «Desiro HC CH» test units are due to arrive in 2029, with full fleet rollout scheduled between 2030 and 2034. The trains will add roughly 30 percent more seating capacity on the high-demand Zurich–Bern, Basel–Geneva and St Gallen–Lausanne axes, easing peak-hour overcrowding that has forced many firms to stagger employee travel. The contract stipulates a minimum of 50 percent Swiss value-added, guaranteeing assembly, maintenance and parts supply work for plants in Bussnang, Winterthur and Yverdon. Siemens will partner with Swiss component suppliers for bogies, HVAC and passenger-information systems, partially offsetting Stadler’s lost order. From a regulatory perspective, the episode underscores the importance of providing bidders meaningful access to evaluation documents—a point the federal procurement watchdog is expected to address in forthcoming guidance. For now, mobility managers can plan around a modernised intercity timetable from the early 2030s, with on-board 5G coverage, low-floor accessibility and 200 km/h cruise speeds that could shave up to ten minutes off Zurich–Bern journey times.
For international suppliers, consultants and business travellers following the rail tender closely, arranging the right travel documents for on-site meetings or future service work is another box to tick. VisaHQ’s Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) provides a quick, step-by-step interface for checking visa requirements, assembling the correct paperwork and submitting applications online—saving project teams valuable lead time as they coordinate with SBB, Siemens or Stadler.
For corporate mobility planners—and the 125,000 passengers who use Switzerland’s intercity network each working day—the withdrawal is good news. Siemens can now keep to SBB’s ambitious timeline: the first eight-car «Desiro HC CH» test units are due to arrive in 2029, with full fleet rollout scheduled between 2030 and 2034. The trains will add roughly 30 percent more seating capacity on the high-demand Zurich–Bern, Basel–Geneva and St Gallen–Lausanne axes, easing peak-hour overcrowding that has forced many firms to stagger employee travel. The contract stipulates a minimum of 50 percent Swiss value-added, guaranteeing assembly, maintenance and parts supply work for plants in Bussnang, Winterthur and Yverdon. Siemens will partner with Swiss component suppliers for bogies, HVAC and passenger-information systems, partially offsetting Stadler’s lost order. From a regulatory perspective, the episode underscores the importance of providing bidders meaningful access to evaluation documents—a point the federal procurement watchdog is expected to address in forthcoming guidance. For now, mobility managers can plan around a modernised intercity timetable from the early 2030s, with on-board 5G coverage, low-floor accessibility and 200 km/h cruise speeds that could shave up to ten minutes off Zurich–Bern journey times.
