BLS Group, the Lötschberg, Switzerland-based railway company, carried more passengers than ever before last year by train, bus and boat: almost 70.2 million, 11% more than the previous year.
The BLS Group, whose transport links the cantons of Bern (Spiez) and Valais (Brigue), set a new record in 2023 and reported a profit for the first time since 2019.
Last year, 70.2 million people travelled on this company’s buses, trains and ships. According to operator officials, this is the first time the level has been exceeded since 2019, the last year before the Covid 19 health crisis.
Thus, every day 177,000 people traveled by BLS transport. And on the road transport side, the number of cars transported by train between Kandersteg (canton of Bern) and Goppenstein (canton of Valais) rose by 3.9% to 1.36 million vehicles travelling through the tunnel linking the two cantons.
Profit of over EUR 20 million for BLS Group
Thanks to this record load, the BLS Group made a profit of 20.2 million Swiss francs (equivalent to around 20.75 million euros) last year. Another indicator that caused the management joy was the punctuality rate of trains, which reached 95.6%, up for the fourth consecutive year.
Factors that had a negative impact on the Group’s activities were the opening of numerous railway infrastructure sites in Germany and the closure of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
The BLS Group operates S-Bahn Bern and Zentralschweiz trains, such as those between Bern and Payerne or between Lucerne and Langenthal. InterRegio and Regio Express trains also connect Bern with Olten, Chaux-de-Fonds and Domodossola. Within the group, 780 locomotive drivers are the most numerous. The operator has four rolling stock maintenance workshops: in Spiez, Oberburg, Givisiez and Bönigen.
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