A new study by Avenir Suisse has revealed which cities in Switzerland have the fastest and slowest public transport services. While Swiss trains, trams and buses are often seen as the best in the world, the study found that once all factors are considered, the network is also very slow.

Swiss public transport is the fastest in the DACH region

According to the study, the average speed of the public transport network in Switzerland is a mere 8,3 kilometres per hour, once walking commutes to and from stops and stations and transfer times are taken into account. The findings, which analysed public transport in 10 Swiss, five Austrian and five German cities, mean that unless you live right next to a stop, it is usually quicker to cycle to your destination than use the network. 

While 8,3 km / h sounds like a snail's pace, the speed of the Swiss network is faster than Germany's and Austria's (both 7,8 km / h). However, Avenir Suisse noted that this value varies by distance travelled: Swiss public transport covers short and medium distances the fastest, while German transport, especially in Berlin and Stuttgart, achieves the fastest average speeds over long distances.

Why is public transport in Switzerland so slow?

The study argued that the reason for the slow speed is that while Swiss public transport is efficient and punctual, its density means there are more frequent stops and transfers which significantly slow down journeys.

This phenomenon is exacerbated over longer distances, hence why German and Austrian services achieve faster speeds during lengthy journeys. German cities are also more likely to have suburban rail and U-Bahn systems, making longer journeys much faster than in the alpine nation.

St. Gallen found to have Switzerland's fastest transport network

On average, the Swiss city with the fastest public transport network is St. Gallen. There, the average speed recorded over a standardised distance was 9,3 kilometres per hour, the fastest out of all cities analysed. The hub of eastern Switzerland was followed by Biel / Bienne (9,22 km / h) and Lucerne (8,84 km / h), with Berlin being rated as having the fastest network in Germany (8,61 km / h).

By contrast, Geneva was found to have the slowest public transport of all cities analysed, with an average speed of just 7,23 kilometres per hour. The report calculated that a full-time employee with a five to seven-kilometre commute to work would spend 310 hours a year on public transport in Geneva, compared to just 200 hours in St. Gallen.

German and Austrian cities joined Geneva at the bottom of the ranking, namely Freiburg in Breisgau (7,53 km / h), Graz (7,58) and Ulm (7,59). In terms of waiting times for transfers between services, Lausanne was the shortest (two minutes, 34 seconds on average) while Ulm was the longest (seven minutes, 43 seconds).

Swiss public transport should focus on speeding up services, report concludes

In all, Avenir Suisse concluded that transport providers should make faster journeys a priority by expanding bus lanes in cities and creating more S-Bahn connections for longer routes. With walking to stations and stops taking up a significant chunk of journey times, the report also suggested that public transport better integrate with “last mile” services like e-scooters and ride-share schemes.

Here are the 10 cities in the DACH region with the fastest public transport (in kilometres per hour):

1. St. Gallen (9,3)
2. Biel / Bienne (9,2)
3. Lucerne (8,8)
4. Berlin (8,6)
5. Zurich (8,6)
6. Bern (8,5)
7. Stuttgart (8,5)
8. Winterthur (8,3)
9. Vienna (8,1)
10. Linz (8)

And here are the slowest:

1. Geneva (7,2)
2. Freiburg in Breisgau (7,5)
3. Graz (7,6)
4. Ulm (7,6)
5. Lausanne (7,7)
6. Salzburg (7,7)
7. Augsburg (7,7)
8. Lugano (7,7)
9. Innsbruck (7,8)
10. Basel (7,8)

For more information about the study, check out the official website.

Thumb image credit: Michael Derrer Fuchs / Shutterstock.com