End of the Road: Trans-Alpine Freight Service to Conclude This Year

EUROPE: RAlpin, a collaborative venture, has revealed that its ‘Rolling Highway’ service—designed to transport trucks via rail through the Alps—will be shutting down this December. This decision comes in light of numerous unexpected restrictions affecting the rail network.

Despite a solid demand from customers and an impressive capacity utilization rate of 80% on the Rollende Landstrasse, which connects Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany to Novara near Milan, RAlpin is grappling with important financial hurdles. The Swiss government continues to provide support, but it hasn’t been enough to offset the challenges.

This year alone saw around 72,000 trucks transported; however, about one in ten scheduled trains had to be canceled due to planned engineering projects.This disruption resulted in a loss of SFr2.2 million. In early 2025,engineering work caused train operations to drop by roughly 20% compared to early last year—a situation attributed largely to ongoing issues with german rail infrastructure.

The proclamation on May 5 confirmed that operations would cease sooner than anticipated—originally set for late December 2028—and rather will wrap up this year. to facilitate an orderly shutdown, the Swiss government plans to boost compensation for each truck transported until service termination.

A Shift in Transport

The rola initiative was launched as a way to transition road freight traffic across the Alps onto trains. Trucks are loaded onto specialized low wagons while drivers enjoy accommodations in sleeper cars.

This service underwent modernization back in 2001 when RAlpin was established through collaboration between BLS, Hupac, and SBB. Over recent years, it has successfully moved around 80,000 trucks annually—accounting for approximately seven percent of all combined traffic traversing the Swiss Alps.

The original intent behind RoLa was as a temporary solution until completion of Switzerland’s NEAT program (Neue Eisenbahn-Alpentransversale). This ambitious project includes major tunnels like Lötschberg and Gotthard that facilitate efficient long-distance transport for unaccompanied semi-trailers and containers. In a recent decision by Swiss lawmakers in 2023, financial backing for RoLa will be extended one last time before concluding operations at the end of next year; future efforts will pivot towards unaccompanied combined transport utilizing advanced handling methods.

“With new rail connections through the Alps coming online,” RAlpin stated confidently, “the north-south corridor is poised for growth within this segment.” It’s clear that while one chapter closes with RoLa’s end, another begins focusing on innovative solutions within freight transportation across Europe’s mountainous regions.