A railway company owns not only track and rolling stock, it also holds a lot of real estate. In fact, SBB is the biggest landowner in Switzerland, with 5000 buildings as well as land. Much of what it owns is not very valuable, but it is keen to exploit whatever it can. A new business branch, SBB Real Estate, looks after the real estate business. It even has former railway houses and apartments to rent or buy - some ready to move in, some in need of quite a lot of refurbishment - as well as sheds, parking places, building land...

The major stations are seen as money spinners with plenty of potential as shopping and office centres, as prime sites for advertisers, and even for holding events and promotions. Zurich main station, by far the biggest, already generates a turnover of 200 million francs annually. The stations at Basel and Bern were the first to be rebuilt under the name "RailCity" with the demands of shoppers in mind, and others have followed suit. They benefit from the fact that stations are exempt from the normal restrictions on shopping hours, and they can thus close much later than normal shops and also open on Sundays.

Although the SBB says there are no plans for privatisation, it admits that external partners could be invited to help manage some of the more profitable stations - a model already in operation in Italy.

Minor stations are quite a different matter. More and more are being left unstaffed since much of the traditional work of stationmasters can now be done automatically, and the SBB is under pressure to cut costs. At the same time, it has embarked on an extensive programme to restore over 600 minor stations, all according to the same basic idea: a minimalist design using glass and metal with improved lighting to make users feel more secure. Indeed, a six meter high column of light, or "railbeam" will stand in front of the station as a beacon. And as an anti-graffiti measure, the glass walls are being covered with coloured posters which will lessen any damage inflicted by taggers.

They also provide an electronic timetable, and anyone wanting further train information can use the newly installed interphone.