Swiss Locomotive and Railcar Classification - Overview and Evolution

Overview and Evolution

The Swiss classification system was created by the Swiss federal railways department, and applied originally to the rolling stock of private railways, operating under government concessions. In 1902, when the Swiss Federal Railways was founded as a government railway, that new railway also became bound by the system.

Unlike the Whyte notation and AAR system, both of which are used used to classify wheel arrangements, and the UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements, the Swiss system, in both its original and updated forms, takes into account a number of other variables, including track gauge, motive power type, and maximum speed. The Swiss system is also less precise than those other systems in the way it deals with axles, because it refers only to numbers, rather than to arrangements, of powered axles, and axles as a whole. The Swiss system is therefore more a method of classifying locomotive and railcar types and series than a method of classifying wheel or axle arrangements.

The classifications for which the Swiss system provides have always been adapted to fulfil new requirements. The last modification to the original system occurred in 1968, with the (final) publication of the Directory of the Rolling Stock of the Swiss Private Railways by the Swiss Federal Agency for Transport. For carriages and wagons, the original system was progressively replaced from 1968 by the UIC international wagon classification system. However, all of Switzerland's powered rolling stock initially retained its Swiss type classification or class designation.

In 1989, the Swiss Federal Railways introduced a new classification and numbering system, which combined the old series classification, build type number and vehicle number, but was used at its inception only for new vehicles (the first one being the Re 450). The standard gauge private railways of Switzerland soon followed the example of the Swiss Federal Railways, and agreement was reached as to the allocation of number ranges. The narrow gauge railways have largely retained the old system for locomotives, railcars and passenger carriages, but there have been some minor individual additions to the old system.