In 1967 a rail director and five entrepreneurs set up Hupac Ltd. The Swiss transport firm loads trucks onto railways – initially in the face of resistance from the SBB and the haulage industry, who see it as a threat to their business models. From just five wagons plying the route from Basel to Melide in 1970, by 2020 Hupac is operating almost 6,900 on a network that extends as far as China. Containers, swap bodies and trailers are delivered by road and on trucks to railway stations, where they are forwarded by rail and then offloaded onto trucks again at their destination. In 2018, Hupac conveyed 535,800 road consignments through the Alps by rail.

« Today is a full-scale demonstration of the fact that Switzerland does not simply produce words and texts, but translates them into action. »

Federal Councillor Adolf Ogi, Address on the opening of the Hupac terminal Busto-Arsizio II, 5 May 1992