NextGen Swissrail at the Swissrail Mobility Day 2025
Young professionals speak up – engaged and future-focused
How does the young generation want to shape tomorrow’s mobility? What must we give up, and what can we look forward to? These were the central questions of the NextGen Swissrail workshop at the Swissrail Mobility Day 2025.

Around 40 young professionals from the rail sector, industry, and public authorities came together in four expert groups – Infrastructure, Safety Technology & Automation, Services, and Rolling Stock – to discuss ideas, challenges, and visions.
In the evening, they presented their findings in a humorous short performance on the Main Stage.
Here’s a summary of the results by topic:
Infrastructure
Sustainability should be promoted by increasing the use of recycled materials such as processed ballast. The goal: a leaner, lower-maintenance infrastructure – by reducing physical installations (e.g. cables or line signalling) and shifting their functions into rolling stock via intelligent systems.
Safety Technology & Automation
Standardisation is the key to automation – not just in operations, but throughout the entire process: from bureaucracy to the engineering of safety systems. Participants emphasised the importance of conscious risk assessment, simplified market access for new products, and openness to open-source solutions.
Services
Given the cost development in the rail system, participants imagined a 2050 scenario where comfort, predictability, personal contact, or regional coverage may have to be scaled back – depending on road-based competition. In return: simplified and fully digital ticketing, stronger integration of intermodal and international travel chains, and more flexible service frequencies.
Rolling Stock
From realistic to visionary: ideas included bike and work trains, foldable seats, integrated AI for dynamic schedule adaptation, automated driving, and modular vehicles – flexible, energy-efficient, and demand-oriented.
What’s next?
– 28 August 2025: Afterwork meetup in Zurich
– 8 October 2025: Expert session at Siemens Mobility
NextGen Swissrail – because connection matters
We give the young generation a voice and a platform to think, co-create, and stay engaged in the industry for the long term.
Note on the translation: this text was translated using AI and checked by us. If you find any mistakes or something that is not clear, please let us know.
Discover interesting topics

- Training & research
- Nationally

- Globally

- Globally