Fewer trucks cross the Alps

A freight train travelling along Lake Thun in canton Bern Keystone

The number of lorries crossing the Alps has dropped below one million for the first time in more than 20 years. Although the total fell by 3.4% last year to 975,000, the target of 650,000 by 2018 – enshrined in law as part of a road-to-rail policy – looks likely to be missed.

The Alpine Initiative, which calls for alpine transport to shift from road to rail in order to protect Switzerland’s mountains, was approved by voters in 1994 but has yet to be implemented.