Public transport providers across Switzerland have warned that the government’s austerity plans will have a dramatic impact on the network. Regional associations fear the proposed cuts would lead to a combination of higher ticket prices and fewer (and worse) rail services.

Switzerland braces for cuts to transport spending

According to plans proposed by the Federal Council, in future the government will cut its subsidies for regional transport (S-Bahns, RegionalExpress, RER, TER, buses, trams, etc) by 60 million francs a year, or by approximately 5 percent. They also called on Swiss cantons to reduce their spending on regional services by a further 5 percent.

On average, the federal government covers half of the subsidies given to regional transport. The rest is funded by Swiss cantons, with the amount spent varying by the economic situation in the region and the amount of services offered. For instance, Canton Graubünden covers 20 percent of subsidies for regional transport, while Basel covers 73 percent.

Cuts will likely lead to higher ticket prices

The experts who proposed the cut suggested that cantons should raise the cost of public transport tickets, increase efficiency and reduce regional services to pay for the 10 percent cut. However, multiple regional providers have said that they will not be cutting services, meaning the higher costs will either be paid by cantonal governments or travellers via even higher ticket prices.

Speaking to Watson, Zurich Transport Association (ZVV) spokesperson Cristina Maurer said while they agree that public transport should be economically sustainable, raising prices will do more harm than good. She argued that pricier tickets will make people avoid using trains altogether, hurting their profitability in the long term.

Switzerland should encourage more people to take the train, association argues

"For mobility to be as sustainable as possible, our goal should be to attract as many passengers as possible to public transport…The proposal is aimed in the wrong direction," added Lucerne Transport Association director Pascal Süess. Thierry Müller, from the same organisation in Graubünden, argued that the scope for raising ticket prices is “not very great.”

At a time when countries like Germany are endeavouring to make rail travel cheaper, an increase in costs would be “neither sensible nor effective”, Müller noted.

Swiss public transport remains far pricier than driving

St. Gallen Office for Public Transport head Patrick Ruggli told Watson that “there is a great risk of losing passengers” if rail travel becomes even more expensive when compared to driving. Indeed, the official Swiss Price Monitor revealed in September that while the cost of taking public transport has doubled since 1990, driving costs have only risen by 25 percent and have barely risen at all since 2013.

ZVV’s Maurer concluded that the government should not try to make savings by simply passing on the extra costs to cantons and consumers. She called on federal authorities to “fully comply with its legal obligation” to provide regional transport with 50 percent of its funding.

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