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What Switzerland’s Railways Teach Us About Distance
At first glance, Switzerland’s rail map looks almost implausibly tidy. Lines reach into valleys, cross language regions, and converge on cities with the confidence of a system that has been there forever. But a map smooths over the hard part. It cannot show, by itself, the years of excavation, the steep gradients, or the arguments about whether a train should go over a mountain or straight through it.
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That is why Switzerland is such a rewarding place to read by rail. The map tells you where the connections are. The landscape explains why they matter.
Switzerland’s network is extensive even by the country’s own standards. The Federal Statistical Office counted 5,443 kilometres of railway and 1,772 stations and stops in 2020, including rack railways. Those figures are not a current-year snapshot, but they give a sense of how thoroughly rail reaches beyond the major cities [1].
Two maps, two ways of seeing the same country
Open a national rail map and you are looking at a practical argument for connection. The lines are simplified so that a passenger can follow them. Transfer points stand out. The geography is present, but it has been edited in the…
