Lugano Tribune, luganotribune.com
TICINO
FFS Cargo: Ticino closes ranks as cantonal parliament urges Bern to halt cuts
Resolution passed by a large majority: no to closing the Cadenazzo and Lugano-Vedeggio terminals and the Chiasso depot. Monday's rally in Piazza Governo, and FFS Cargo management comes to Ticino on October 15.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
This article was translated from the Italian edition of Lugano Tribune.
Ticino is closing ranks against the FFS Cargo cuts. At its October 6 session, the Gran Consiglio, the cantonal parliament, approved by a large majority, with only the UDC opposed, a resolution asking Bern to block the measures decided by Swiss Federal Railways: the closure of the Ticino terminals, the suppression of the Chiasso depot and the end of the rolling highway. The resolution also demands that skilled jobs be protected and that freight stay on rail, not move to road.
The vote came at the end of a day of mobilization: on Monday October 6 at 6 PM the committee against the dismantling of FFS Cargo rallied in Piazza Governo in Bellinzona, as the cantonal parliament sat. The next date is October 15, when FFS Cargo management will meet workers and cantonal authorities in Ticino to discuss the future of the Cadenazzo and Lugano-Vedeggio terminals and the Chiasso depot.
National cohesion is not built with infrastructure alone, but with a real presence on the ground
Christian Vitta, member of the cantonal government and head of the Department of Finance and Economy, at the October 6 rally in Bellinzona (areaonline.ch)
220 jobs at risk
220 jobs are at risk and not a single one must go
Luca Benato, VSLF, at the mobilization against the dismantling of FFS Cargo (areaonline.ch)
Every day 85,000 tonnes of freight cross Ticino, three quarters of it still by road: for the unions and the political front the choice is between more rail and fewer lorries, a question touching the economy, health and quality of life, especially in the Mendrisiotto, already burdened by transit traffic.
The issue sits inside the wider reorganization of SBB freight: with the December 13, 2026 timetable change a new production model for single-wagonload traffic will be introduced, requiring fewer jobs and the closure of some depots, including Chiasso. In the first half of 2026 loaded wagons fell 8 percent and FFS Cargo posted a CHF 12 million loss in single-wagonload traffic, against CHF 40 million in federal indemnities.
The Gran Consiglio resolution is a political mandate addressed to SBB management and the federal government: it commits the canton to asking Bern to halt the measures.
