On 29 November 1998, the people and cantons voted on the federal decree creating the public transport fund (FTP, FinöV in German). Subject to the mandatory referendum because it amended the Constitution, the text was to finance four major rail projects: the new rail links through the Alps (NRLA — the Lötschberg and Gotthard base tunnels), Rail 2000, Switzerland's connection to the European high-speed network, and noise-protection measures.
The envelope was colossal: 30.5 billion francs (1995 value) over some twenty years. The fund was fed by a share of VAT, the performance-related heavy goods vehicle charge (LSVA), the mineral oil tax and federal advances — a structure designed to shield the major projects from yearly budget fluctuations.
The project was part of the policy of shifting freight from road to rail across the Alps, enshrined in the Constitution since the 1994 Alpine Initiative. It united an exceptionally broad coalition: the left, the greens and almost all the centre-right parties, backed by economiesuisse as well as the unions.
Facing them, a small but determined opposition — the SVP and the Freedom Party — denounced a financial black hole. The stakes: should Switzerland embark on the largest railway programme in its history?
▲ Cantons that accepted 20.5 cantonal votes: Aargau, Bern, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Fribourg, Geneva, Glarus, Graubünden, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Nidwalden, St. Gallen, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Schwyz, Ticino, Uri, Vaud, Valais, Zug and Zurich. | ▼ Cantons that rejected 2.5 cantonal votes: Appenzell Inner Rhodes, Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Obwalden and Thurgau. |
Actors and personalities
▲ Yes camp • Federal Council (recommended Yes) • FDP • CVP • SP • Greens • EVP, EDU, CSP • LdU, LPS, PdA • economiesuisse (business umbrella body) • SGB, Travail.Suisse, VSA (unions) • Swiss Farmers' Union | ▼ No camp • SVP (main opponent) • Freedom Party (FPS) former Motorists' Party • Swiss Democrats • Catholic Conservative Party (KVP) • Swiss Trade Association (free vote) |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) Switzerland will gain rail infrastructure for the century ahead « With the NRLA and Rail 2000 we are building the backbone of 21st-century Swiss rail. » — Yes camp, 1998 ✓ Argument confirmed The works were indeed built: Lötschberg base tunnel opened in 2007, Gotthard base tunnel inaugurated in 2016 — the world's longest rail tunnel (57 km) — Ceneri base tunnel in 2020, first stage of Rail 2000 from December 2004. Source: FOT; AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd; swissvotes.ch (no. 445). The fund will enable freight to shift from road to rail across the Alps « These tunnels are the key to modal shift and to the protection of the Alps voters wanted in 1994. » — Yes camp, 1998 ✓~ Partly confirmed Rail's share of trans-Alpine freight rose sharply after the Gotthard opened, exceeding 70%. But the legal target of cutting traffic to 650,000 trucks a year through the Alps has never been fully met. Source: FOT, transfer reports; ch.ch. | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) The project is a financial black hole that will burden federal finances « 30 billion: a budgetary madness that taxpayers will pay for decades. » — SVP and opponents, 1998 ✗~ Partly refuted The fund held: fed by the LSVA (introduced in 2001), a VAT per-mille and the mineral oil tax, it financed the works without derailing federal finances — so much so that it was made permanent (RIF) in 2016. Costs did, however, exceed the original 1998 estimates. Source: FOT; FFA; FABI 2014. These pharaonic tunnels are oversized and unjustified « They are building absurdly expensive underground cathedrals Switzerland does not need. » — Opponents of the financing, 1998 ✗ Argument refuted The Gotthard base tunnel became the world's longest rail tunnel and a major artery of European freight, sharply cutting journey times (Zurich–Milan). Far from useless, these structures are now intensively used. Source: FOT; SBB; AlpTransit. |
Affiches de campagne (2)
Factual record
1 Confirmed | 1 Partly confirmed | 1 Partly refuted | 1 Refuted |
| ✓ | Tunnels that became reality The programme was delivered: Lötschberg (2007), Gotthard (2016, a world record at 57 km), Ceneri (2020) and the first stage of Rail 2000 (2004). Twenty years after the vote, Switzerland does indeed have the promised rail backbone. Source: FOT; AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. |
| ✓ | Financing that went the distance The fund mechanism — LSVA, VAT share, mineral oil tax, federal advances — worked. Judged sound, it was turned into a permanent rail infrastructure fund (RIF) at the 2014 FABI vote. The financial-disaster scenario did not materialise. Source: FOT; FFA. |
| ~ | Real but unfinished modal shift Rail's share of trans-Alpine freight rose markedly, but the legal target of 650,000 trucks a year was not met. And the final NRLA costs exceeded the initial 1998 estimates — without ever calling the works themselves into question. Source: FOT, transfer reports. |
On 29 November 1998, 63.5% of voters and 20.5 of 23 cantons approved the FTP fund, despite modest turnout (38.3%). Only the two Appenzells, Obwalden and Thurgau opposed it. It was a resounding green light for the most ambitious railway programme in Swiss history.
The verdict of the facts is largely favourable to the Yes camp. The four works were completed, with the Gotthard base tunnel even establishing itself as the world's longest. The financing structure, mocked as madness by the SVP, held — so much so that it was perpetuated in 2014 as the RIF fund. The prediction of a budgetary shipwreck did not come true.
The record is not without nuance, however. Costs exceeded the early estimates, and above all the central goal — cutting to 650,000 the number of trucks crossing the Alps — remains out of reach despite a real rise in rail. The major infrastructure was built; full modal shift, by contrast, remains a work in progress.