Zurich Airport’s Skymetro gets a mid-life overhaul beneath the runway by Doppelmayr

The cable-driven shuttle linking the main terminal with Dock E is being renewed in stages while the airport keeps operating. The work reaches beyond new controls: it includes overhauled hydraulics, safety upgrades and a redesigned train fleet.

Beneath Zurich Airport’s runway 10/28, a short, unusual railway is undergoing a major renewal. The Skymetro carries passengers between the Airside Center and Dock E, the airport’s intercontinental pier. Its 1.1-kilometre underground route takes about three minutes, and the system has been in service since 2003.

The renewal is being carried out in phases to keep the airport running. Work began in November 2025, according to an industry report, and is scheduled to continue through 2027. The planned changes include updated controls and longer trains; the same report says the journey will take about 20 seconds longer after the upgrade.

The engineering is less conventional than the passenger experience suggests. Rather than rolling on ordinary wheels, Skymetro vehicles float on a thin cushion of air and are pulled through the tunnels by cables. Hydraulic equipment maintains cable tension and supports braking—systems that must work reliably in an environment where the line passes beneath an active runway.

The overhaul is also reshaping the fleet. Bosch Rexroth, a supplier involved in the renewal, says the plan is to move from three trains of three cars to two trains of four cars. Its account describes refurbishment of the hydraulic systems on two trains in the first phase, followed by work on the principal drive units and the remaining train in winter 2026–27.

Safety improvements are central to the less visible work. A piston accumulator’s measurement setup was redesigned to provide three independent measurement methods after the original components were no longer available. The hydraulic hose lines were also upgraded with fire-resistant protection, according to the supplier’s project account

For passengers, the Skymetro is a functional link to Gates E rather than a connection to central Zurich. Its renewal illustrates the challenge of modernising critical airport infrastructure without shutting it down: much of the effort is concentrated in machinery, controls and safety systems that passengers never see, while the shuttle remains part of the route through the airport. Zurich Airport’s Dock E information confirms the terminal’s connection to the Airside Center by Skymetro and describes the trip as roughly three minutes.