TTR70 Swiss Express part 1- the northwest.  While not an EU country Switzerland is integral to cross-European freight traffic and has come to represent the very best in both passenger and freight transport by rail.  The national railway, the SBB, is forward thinking and well funded. In this instalment we look at the main routes from Basel – the great entry point from Germany – down through Olten to the capital Bern.  This area has one of Europe’s least known high-speed lines, recently built to reduce the journey time between Bern and Zurich and Basel to below the magic one-hour and  make the BAHN 2000 project workable. We follow the new line and discuss its implications.  We start at Basel and make the grand tour. At Bern we visit the modern station and see the BLS who now run the capital’s S Bahn trains in the city and further afield. We see a TGV near the famous Saanebrücke on the BLS line between Bern and Neuchâtel.  On the freight side we explore the three Rhine side ports in Basel: Kleinhüningen, Birsfelden and Auhafen where we see coconut being unloaded the hard way from a rail wagon!  At Feldschlösschen beer is dispatched while at Holcim, one of Europe’s largest cement producers, robot shunters assist the SBB –CARGO MAK1700.  You will see ICNs, FLIRTS, Doubledeck stock and many of your old favourites including the BLS 4/4 still in brown livery. Filmed from the ground, water and air. Running time 85 mins.