page_title: Swiss Federal Railways
section_title: Languages
hierarchical_section_title: Swiss Federal Railways / Languages
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the geographical distribution of the official languages of Switzerland (2000)
context_page_description: Swiss Federal Railways is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usually referred to by the initials of its German, French, and Italian names, either as SBB CFF FFS, or used separately. The Romansh version of its name, Viafiers federalas svizras, is not officially used.
  The company is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a government institution, but since 1999 it has been a special stock corporation whose shares are held by the Swiss Confederation and the Swiss cantons.
  SBB was ranked first among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for its intensity of use, quality of service, and safety rating. While European rail operators such as French SNCF and Spanish Renfe have emphasised the building of high-speed rail, SBB has invested in the reliability and quality of service of its conventional rail network. In addition to passenger rail, SBB operates cargo and freight rail service and has large real estate holdings in Switzerland.
context_section_description: SBB uses three official languages. The Romansh-speaking canton of Grisons of Switzerland is served mostly by the RhB. Stations are named usually with the abbreviation corresponding to and signposted exclusively in the language of the locality: Basel SBB, Lausanne CFF, Bellinzona FFS. Trains are branded "SBB CFF FFS".
  Announcements in stations are made in local languages, the announcement jingle is also different in each part of the country. On board of national trains welcome announcements are made in German, English and any other local language. Then the stops are announced in the local language of the town with the exception of big hubs where the train driver takes the microphone to announce in the local language and English that the train is arriving, if the train is on time or not, and next connections at the station. Announcements for local trains are made in the local language. Long-distance trains at major stations also have announcements in English if there are many foreign travelers or in tourist regions (i.e., Zurich Airport, Interlaken, Aigle, etc.)
caption: Distribution of Languages in Switzerland
exif: {}