The NRLA has been a European project for Switzerland since at least the 1980s. On 2 and 3 March 1989 a congress devoted to European solutions for rail transport across the Alps convenes in Frankfurt am Main. Participants from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy meet to hammer out cross-border solutions to the expected rise in trade and goods traffic after the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. In the years that follow, there are discussions on a high-speed rail network for Europe.
« A change in transport infrastructures may lead to an improvement in regional development in the future. »
Chambers of Industry and Commerce, Frankfurt am Main and Milan, Policy document for the congress in Frankfurt, p. 68, 2nd und 3rd march 1989
