Implementation of the transfer to rail

6 months after the adoption of the Alpine Initiative, the Federal Council (the Swiss cabinet) presented its plans for the implementation of the constitutional Article on the Protection of the Alps (paragraph 2)

Without discrimination and with compensating measures for peripheral regions

"Switzerland strives for a solution which fulfils the goal of the protection of the Alps as laid down in the new constitutional article and which also considers the interests of our European partners. …This goal is to be reached by treating all kinds of transport equally. Every lorry crossing one of the four transit routes laid down in the law on transiting road traffic (St. Gotthard, San Bernardino, Great St. Bernard and Simplon) is to be registered. All types of traffic (transit traffic, import traffic, export traffic, domestic traffic) are to be treated equally. … The principle of non-discrimination also applies to the regions of Switzerland. The implementation has to take special account of the needs of local transport and the given geographical situation. Should there be any disadvantages for individual regions they are to receive appropriate compensation."

Three specific measures: kilometre tax on heavy goods vehicle, transit tax and combined transport.

The Federal Council outlined a three-pronged package of measures which are to drive the transfer from road to rail:
"The kilometre-based heavy goods vehicle tax is to underpin this package. The Swiss people approved the necessary constitutional base with a clear majority on February 20, 1994... the aim is to implement the principle of true prices in transport."
Another part of the package is a tax which is to help transfer traffic from road to rail on the four mentioned transit routes. To achieve an adequate transfer, road and rail have to be brought into line as regards their cost-effectiveness…
A further element of the package is the programme for the promotion of combined transport. Heavy goods vehicle traffic on the four Swiss Alpine transit routes is to be transferred from road to rail and not from Swiss roads to the roads of neighbouring countries. In order to achieve this goal, measures are to be taken to promote rail and combined transalpine transport in particular and to make it more attractive. This is to be done in co-operation and agreement with the countries neighbouring Switzerland. The Rail 2000 programme and the transalpine NLFA tunnels play an important role here."

Declaration of the Swiss Government on the implementation of article 36.6 section 1 and 2 of the Swiss constitution (article on the protection of the Alps) on September 12, 1994:

Swiss government reaffirms implementation strategy

In April 1996, the Federal Council (the Swiss cabinet) confirmed its basic decisions for the implementation of the article for the protection of the Alps:

"The Swiss government states that the implementation of the Alpine Initiative is a very complex and difficult affair if both Swiss and foreign needs are to be satisfied. This does, however, not change the strong desire of the Swiss government to implement the constitutional article on the protection of the Alps and to transfer transalpine traffic from road to rail. … The economic measures are to be effective for all types of transport and are to transfer an amount of traffic which is equal to the amount of transit traffic and which is to be distributed across all types of traffic. The Swiss government is convinced that this implementation strategy can both fulfil the ecological goals and assure the quantitative obligations of transfer laid down in the Initiative. … In specific terms, the constitutional article 36.6 is to be implemented by a tripartite programme:
It comprises the introduction of true prices for freight transport by means of a kilometre-based tax on heavy goods vehicles in the whole of Switzerland as a basic measure, an additional charge on freight transport on roads in the ecologically sensitive Alpine region (Alpine transit tax) and a programme to promote the transport of transalpine freight traffic by rail. …
Furthermore the Swiss government has decided that the amount of freight to be transferred from road to rail (the amount of transit traffic) is to be fixed on the basis of the differentiated traffic census of the year 1999. According to current estimations this would amount to about 600,000 freight journeys."