why rail investment is so important

I've just started a new Facebook group and needed a shot of somewhere on the Rhatische Bahn in Switzerland, as I was doing a feature on the Vereina Tunnel. This is the RhB's longest rail tunnel and the longest metre gauge tunnel in the world. Yet if you look at a map of Switzerland you have to wonder why it was ever built, because it seems to link one branch of the railway to another. But look deeper and the main reason it was built was to provide a second route to St Moritz which is not reachable occasionally due to avalanches. The road to St Moritz via the Albula pass (which the other rail route uses) is closed during the winter, so everything has to come in by rail.

We stayed at St Moritz for four days in December 2009 and just by chance the area to the north of St Moritz WAS struck by avalanches and the Albula route was closed! So we travelled via Davos to the Engadine Valley via the Vereina Tunnel, doing exactly the job it was supposed to do!

My point was that what perhaps seemed from our perspective here almost a crazy piece of investment actually does the job it's supposed to do. I wonder what would have happened if we'd visited St Moritz say in 1989, before the Vereina was opened? We'd have been stuck somewhere unable to reach it, or perhaps have to use a mix of road and rail via Italy or Austria. But with very little fuss the railway did its job. Remember that the Rhatische Bahn is not merely narrow gauge but also a private company. It does an amazing job in south eastern Switzerland and shows us exactly what a railway - private and even narrow gauge - can do.

And the cost? Bear in mind the tunnel is just short of 20km and has been built in one of the most expensive countries in the world? Just 812 million Swiss Francs, small change for say a few miles of motorway. Switzerland has its priorities right, and investing in things that have a future. The UK could learn a huge amount from the Swiss. I suspect the whole S&D could be rebuilt, electrified and stocked for a similar price. Let's get going!