Sustainability.

Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, noise protection, stock consumption or waste – SBB is proud to be one of the most environmentally friendly railways in Europe, and puts this on display with transparency.

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2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
 
Energy consumption within Switzerland
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Energy consumption within Switzerland


Footnote

Data on SBB AG and SBB Cargo Ltd (Switzerland).
Electricity and fuel consumption in Switzerland
GWh 2,502 2,383 2,472 2,456 2,384 -2.9%
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Electricity and fuel consumption in Switzerland


Traction current
GWh 1,734 1,578 1,646 1,692 1,660 -1.9%
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Traction current


Footnote

SBB’s point of view as a railway undertaking; including SBB Cargo International Ltd.
Own use for traction current supply
GWh 140 190 189 145 140 -3.7%
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Own use for traction current supply


Diesel for rail traction
GWh 110 102 107 106 96 -9.2%
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Diesel for rail traction


Fuel for road vehicles, machines and equipment
GWh 31 29 28 31 28 -8.3%
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Fuel for road vehicles, machines and equipment


Electricity for buildings and facilities
GWh 280 285 298 290 281 -3.0%
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Electricity for buildings and facilities


Thermal energy for buildings and facilities
GWh 207 198 204 192 179 -7.0%
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Thermal energy for buildings and facilities


Heating oil
GWh 53.1 50.7 46.0 58.9 43.3 -26.5%
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Heating oil


Natural gas
GWh 78.8 59.9 60.9 47.8 44.5 -6.9%
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Natural gas


Propane
GWh 6.3 4.4 11.1 7.6 5.8 -24.4%
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Propane


Biogas
GWh 2.0 5.0 6.3 3.5 2.3 -33.6%
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Biogas


Wood
GWh 13.8 17.1 18.9 20.8 22.6 +8.7%
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Wood


District heating
GWh 53.1 61.5 61.0 53.5 60.3 +12.5%
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District heating


Specific energy consumption of railway passenger transport
kWh/100 Pkm 7.90 12.13 11.86 9.01 7.77 -13.8%
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Specific energy consumption of railway passenger transport


Footnote

SBB’s point of view as a railway undertaking; including standard gauge subsidiaries of SBB Regional Services.
Specific energy consumption for railway freight traffic
kWh/100 net tonne-km 4.35 4.05 4.09 4.11 4.07 -0.9%
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Specific energy consumption for railway freight traffic


Footnote

SBB’s point of view as a railway undertaking; including SBB Cargo International Ltd.
 
Greenhouse gas emissions within Switzerland
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Greenhouse gas emissions within Switzerland


Footnote

Data on SBB AG, SBB Cargo Ltd and SBB Cargo International Ltd.
Greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption
t 75,669 68,773 70,985 70,271 62,053 -11.7%
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Greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption


Footnote

Direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2, excluding Scope 3).
Traction current
t 1,508 1,309 1,344 1,391 1,361 -2.2%
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Traction current


Footnote

SBB’s point of view as a railway undertaking; including SBB Cargo International Ltd.
Own use for traction current supply
t 0 0 0 0 0
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Own use for traction current supply


Footnote

The generation of electricity for the railway does not result in any direct or indirect greenhouse gas emissions.
Diesel for rail traction
t 30,322 28,308 29,487 29,289 26,587 -9.2%
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Diesel for rail traction


Fuel for road vehicles, machines and equipment
t 8,444 8,106 8,571 8,538 7,884 -7.7%
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Fuel for road vehicles, machines and equipment


Electricity for buildings and facilities
t 255 259 272 264 256 -3.0%
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Electricity for buildings and facilities


Thermal energy for buildings and facilities
t 35,140 30,791 31,311 30,789 25,964 -15.7%
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Thermal energy for buildings and facilities


Specific greenhouse gas emissions of railway passenger transport
g/100 Pkm 14.5 22.2 21.7 16.5 14.2 -13.8%
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Specific greenhouse gas emissions of railway passenger transport


Footnote

SBB’s point of view as a railway undertaking; including standard gauge subsidiaries of SBB Regional Services. The calculation of these specific emissions follows the EN 16258 standard (“Well-to-Wheel”, without shunting and without construction, maintenance and dismantling of energy producing plants). Calculated on the basis of 90% hydro power and 10% nuclear power.

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Long-Distance Services
g/100 Pkm 11.3 18.1 17.2 12.7 11.1 -13.0%
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Long-Distance Services


Regional Services
g/100 Pkm 23.1 31.4 32.2 26.0 22.0 -15.4%
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Regional Services


Footnote

Excluding Zentralbahn.
Specific greenhouse gas emissions of railway freight traffic
g/100 net tonne-km 188.0 189.6 186.5 185.4 191.4 +3.2%
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Specific greenhouse gas emissions of railway freight traffic


Footnote

SBB’s point of view as a railway undertaking, including SBB Cargo International Ltd. The calculation of these specific emissions follows the EN 16258 standard (“Well-to-Wheel”, without shunting and without construction, maintenance and dismantling of energy producing plants). Calculated on the basis of 90% hydro power and 10% nuclear power.
 
Noise protection
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Noise protection


Footnote

Fleet at year-end.
Low-noise rolling stock SBB Passenger Services
% 97.8 98.0 98.3 98.5 98.6 +0.1%
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Low-noise rolling stock SBB Passenger Services


Low-noise freight wagons SBB Cargo Ltd (Switzerland)
% 97.3 98.0 98.8 98.8 98.8 +0.0%
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Low-noise freight wagons SBB Cargo Ltd (Switzerland)


Noise barriers and walls
km 404 412 417 422 425 +0.7%
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Noise barriers and walls


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Construction length.
of which SBB infrastructure
km 403 411 416 421 424 +0.7%
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of which SBB infrastructure


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Construction length.
 
Stock consumption
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Stock consumption


Footnote

Data on SBB AG and SBB Cargo Ltd (Switzerland).
Track construction materials
t 674,051 617,496 643,583 642,251 625,166 -2.7%
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Track construction materials


Gravel
t 41,574 49,612 63,996 59,349 64,215 +8.2%
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Gravel


Ballast
t 510,261 460,729 466,495 465,499 449,960 -3.3%
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Ballast


Line sleepers
t 54,573 50,335 55,072 61,186 59,905 -2.1%
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Line sleepers


produced from concrete
t 47,836 45,773 50,478 56,308 55,363 -1.7%
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produced from concrete


produced from wood
t 4,302 2,557 2,913 3,057 2,257 -26.2%
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produced from wood


produced from steel
t 2,434 2,006 1,680 1,821 2,285 +25.5%
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produced from steel


Points sleepers
t 13,670 12,154 16,188 13,092 12,719 -2.9%
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Points sleepers


produced from concrete
t 11,492 10,356 14,287 11,152 10,512 -5.7%
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produced from concrete


produced from wood
t 2,178 1,798 1,901 1,940 2,207 +13.7%
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produced from wood


Rails
t 53,973 44,665 41,832 43,125 38,368 -11.0%
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Rails


Liquid fuels and propellants
1,000 l 19,448 18,275 18,109 19,617 16,840 -14.2%
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Liquid fuels and propellants


Fossil diesel
1,000 l 14,094 13,178 13,459 13,506 12,315 -8.8%
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Fossil diesel


Diesel-biodiesel blend
1,000 l 0 0 8 0 0
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Diesel-biodiesel blend


Fossil petrol
1,000 l 138 120 120 324 269 -17.1%
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Fossil petrol


Fossil heating oil
1,000 l 5,216 4,977 4,523 5,787 4,256 -26.5%
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Fossil heating oil


Lubricants
t 612 589 568 472 461 -2.3%
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Lubricants


of which switch and pin lubricants
t 16 18 17 17 19 +16.2%
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of which switch and pin lubricants


of which wheel flange oil
t 40 43 44 42 39 -5.5%
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of which wheel flange oil


Herbicides
t 1.9 1.4 1.9 1.4 0.8 -41.4%
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Herbicides


 
Waste
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Waste


Footnote

Data on SBB AG and SBB Cargo Ltd (Switzerland).
Industrial waste
t 339,402 254,124 243,275 266,171 250,255 -6.0%
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Industrial waste


Track excavation waste (ballast, sand and gravel)
t 242,669 165,459 149,496 181,835 175,903 -3.3%
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Track excavation waste (ballast, sand and gravel)


Footnote

Quantity of track excavation waste that cannot be cleaned on site and immediately reused as ballast. It is handed over to Swiss waste management companies, which process and reuse around 80% of it, for example as chips for concrete; the remaining 20% has to be landfilled. To these quantities must be added the portion of the track excavation waste that is so heavily polluted that it must be disposed of in hazardous waste landfills (see section on hazardous waste).
Metals
t 77,140 72,947 71,798 63,821 59,883 -6.2%
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Metals


Footnote

Waste disposal: recycling.
Concrete sleepers
t 11,898 9,798 16,453 14,393 9,399 -34.7%
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Concrete sleepers


Footnote

Waste disposal: recycling.
Building materials, excavation
t 3,865 2,401 2,149 2,172 1,882 -13.4%
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Building materials, excavation


Footnote

Waste disposal: recycling, thermal recovery or landfill.
Wood
t 1,667 1,667 1,519 1,324 1,153 -12.9%
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Wood


Footnote

Waste disposal: thermal recovery.
Paper, cardboard
t 805 835 825 810 760 -6.2%
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Paper, cardboard


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Waste disposal: recycling.
Plastic, rubber
t 513 393 222 225 283 +25.6%
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Plastic, rubber


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Waste disposal: recycling or thermal recovery.
Electronic waste
t 326 235 322 424 287 -32.3%
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Electronic waste


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Waste disposal: recycling.
Organic waste, compost
t 55 32 35 73 40 -45.3%
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Organic waste, compost


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Waste disposal: composting, fermentation.
Glass
t 166 184 196 207 147 -29.2%
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Glass


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Waste disposal: recycling.
Other industrial waste
t 299 174 261 886 520 -41.3%
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Other industrial waste


Footnote

Waste disposal: recycling, thermal recovery or landfill.
Hazardous wastes
t 45,939 30,625 49,746 65,979 57,612 -12.7%
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Hazardous wastes


Heavily contaminated spoil
t 19,435 15,819 33,195 39,566 39,611 +0.1%
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Heavily contaminated spoil


Footnote

Waste disposal: landfill.
Contaminated old wood (wooden sleepers)
t 22,419 11,237 12,565 22,913 14,900 -35.0%
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Contaminated old wood (wooden sleepers)


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Waste disposal: thermal recovery.
Cleaning residue
t 1,097 966 793 774 707 -8.6%
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Cleaning residue


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Waste disposal: recycling, thermal recovery or landfill.
Chemicals
t 807 792 1,203 754 419 -44.5%
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Chemicals


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Waste disposal: recycling or thermal recovery.
Used oil, transformer oil
t 768 534 595 550 473 -14.0%
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Used oil, transformer oil


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Waste disposal: thermal recovery.
Slurry
t 560 527 694 634 551 -13.1%
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Slurry


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Waste disposal: thermal recovery.
Accumulators, batteries
t 394 334 255 262 336 +28.4%
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Accumulators, batteries


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Waste disposal: recycling.
Contaminated containers
t 50 47 42 46 49 +7.3%
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Contaminated containers


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Waste disposal: recycling or thermal recovery.
Other hazardous waste
t 408 369 404 481 566 +17.6%
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Other hazardous waste


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Waste disposal: recycling, thermal recovery or landfill.
Public refuse
t 12,866 9,617 10,088 10,641 10,834 +1.8%
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Public refuse


Footnote

Volume of waste sent by SBB for disposal.

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Combustible waste
t 11,429 8,662 9,201 9,724 10,024 +3.1%
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Combustible waste


Footnote

Volume of waste sent by SBB for thermal recovery.
Paper, cardboard
t 849 489 443 345 391 +13.4%
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Paper, cardboard


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Collected and reused by type.
Glass
t 58 46 35 59 71 +20.4%
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Glass


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Collected and reused by type.
PET
t 384 302 274 354 188 -46.8%
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PET


Footnote

Collected and reused by type.
Aluminium
t 146 119 135 160 160 +0.0%
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Aluminium


Footnote

Collected and reused by type.