Cisalpino AG (Aktiengesellschaft) was a railway company, referred to as CIS in timetables, operating international trains between Switzerland and Italy connecting Basel, Schaffhausen, Zürich, Geneva, Milan, Venice, Trieste, Livorno, and Florence. The company has its legal headquarters in Muri bei Bern (BE), Switzerland,[1] and is jointly owned by the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia.
It was founded in 1993 to operate fast trains across the Alps using tilting trains. In 2005, however, it also took over all daytime long-distance passenger trains between Switzerland and Italy run with conventional, non-tilting trains.
In the fall of 2009, the project was abandoned because of mounting bad press[2] over the quality of service and the fiasco surrounding orders placed for new trains. The remaining trains were split nearly evenly between the two owners.
Until December 2012 the company owned the ETR 610 trainsets and leased them to Trenitalia and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS).[3] The company still exists, but its name is no longer used for public purposes.
- ^ SBB Group, Notes to the consolidated financial statements 2013, page 132
- ^ Blick-Cisalpino Puking Passengers and Delays, Blick - Translation
- ^ Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, Annual Report 2012, page 18