Passengers on a train between Zurich and Bern were left dazed and confused after Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) staff ordered a number of them to leave the train. Many travellers found themselves stuck in Baden, Canton Aargau, with SBB explaining that there were just too many people on the train to continue.

Passengers forced off packed train in Switzerland

According to 20 Minuten, passengers travelling on the packed IR 16 service from Zurich to Bern on July 1 were told to get off the train as it arrived in Baden. At 11.22am, an announcement said that “anyone who is going to Brugg and Aarau must get off.” A further announcement simply said, “There are too many people on the train.”

After only a few disgruntled passengers left the service, the conductor came back on the tannoy and said, curtly, "We ask all travellers to Brugg and Aarau to get off again, otherwise this train will be cleared. Then the train is stopped and doesn't go any further." With the threat of the entire service being cancelled, most people going to Aarau and Brugg obliged and got off the train in Baden. The service arrived in Bern 15 minutes late.

"I have a ticket and they'll just throw me out?" an angry customer told 20 Minuten. All passengers affected were left to wait in Baden for the next service to the two cities, with most arriving at their destinations up to an hour late depending on their connection.

Can SBB eject passengers with valid tickets?

Speaking to the Swiss media, a spokesperson for SBB explained that they are well within their rights to ask people to disembark when the train is too full, even if they have tickets. The lead conductor is also allowed to force travellers to disembark if they do not comply. In justifying the move, the public transport operator added that if a train is over 160 percent full, workers need to eject passengers to make sure the escape routes are clear in the event of an evacuation.

However, many passengers have told 20 Minuten that the IR 16 was not over capacity, with one commenting that "such a load is normal from Zurich to Ticino, and I've never seen a train cleared." The SBB spokesperson countered that the conductor had assessed the situation differently and decided to ask some passengers with valid tickets, and possible onward connections to cities like Basel, Lucerne and Biel / Bienne, to disembark.

Thumb image credit: Michael Derrer Fuchs / Shutterstock.com