GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A number of Swiss trains, including Intercity trains between Zurich and Basel and Zurich and Bern, have been running late for most of the day due to a break in the line at Deitikon, in canton Zurich. Trains have had to alternate on the same line in some areas, causing delays of up to 30 minutes. The main Geneva-St Gallen trains have been affected.
CFF rail company authorities say cold may be the culprit, affecting some electric lines. Monday night was Switzerland’s coldest night to date this winter.
Update, 15 January weather forecast for the week, for skiers:
Dawn in Zermatt 12 January (photo ©2012 William Olenick)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – If you’re able to ski during the week, concentrate on getting up to the slopes at the start of this week, with temperatures hovering around zero, some cloudiness mornings but clear skies and sunshine in the afternoons.
By late Wednesday some rain is likely in warmer areas, with intermittent light snow in the mountains and the snow line at 1,000 metres, highs of 4C.
Thursday: expect winds to pick up, rain and snow with the snow line moving up to 1,500 metres before falling to 600 metres on Friday, with the high Friday around 1C and gusting winds.
Jura skiing, 13 January, a half-hour from Geneva
The huge piles of snow dumped on Switzerland and neighbouring France are turning ski resorts into winter wonderlands and there is an amazing mix of things to do.
Our Jura correspondent, Shirley Curran, was skiing on the mountains you pass over as you fly into Geneva, Friday afternoon, and she says the weather was good (just a few clouds), the snow fantastic, and too few people in Geneva seem to realize that fast chairs, excellent snow and very good slopes are just 20-30 minutes from home.
Weather forecast should send you to the hills
Temperatures hovering around 0C with some cloudiness in the mornings in the mountains and on the plains, sun in the afternoon Saturday and Sunday in the Alps. Gusting winds are a possibility in the Jura.
For those interested in Swiss mountain life, two bits of news are worth checking out.
Avalanche update
More evening trains on weekends on the newly renovated track 1 out of Geneva
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Check your train schedules carefully in the next few weeks if you’re used to stopping at either Cointrin or Vernier-Meyrin on the Geneva-La Plaine route, for both are changing their names.
The stops’ new names go into effect with the new CFF Swiss rail schedule 11 December.
Cointrin will in future be called Vernier and Vernier-Meyrin will be called Meyrin, at the request of the canton.
One of the reasons behind the change is to avoid confusion on the part of travelers heading for Geneva Airport, which used to be called Cointrin Airport.
It changed its name officially to Genève Aéroport in April 2011.
Other changes for Geneva travelers:
- a fast train from La Plaine to Geneva will be added in the morning, when the trains carry students heading to school, leaving at 07:11 and arriving at 07:26
- the Coppet-Lancy-Pont Rouge line will run every 30 minutes until the trains stop for the night, on Fridays and Saturdays.
More on the 2011 train schedule changes, including improved service for some communes on the Lausanne-Geneva line.
Swiss soldiers travel on Swiss trains for free when on duty (photo: Morges station, November 2011)
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The 2012 train schedule that goes into effect 11 December will offer travellers better connections for trips abroad. Some parts of the Lake Geneva region will also see improvements. But the best news for many working travellers is that mobile connections are being improved, as is the online sales service.
The CFF rail company presented highlights of the new schedule to the press Thursday 17 November.
You’ll be able to plug in and connect better in 2012
All the new trains will have electric plugs and existing intercity trains will also get them. “All the new Duplex trains on the intercity trains will be equipped with WLAN,” says Jeannine Pilloud.
A major improvement could be the installation of equipment that amplifies signals received inside and outside the train cars, giving better access to the cell phone and Internet network.
1.8 million cell phone tickets ordered and number growing
The CFF app for ordering online tickets via cell phone is proving popular, with 1.8 million users since it was introduced in 2010, and the number is growing steadily, says the rail company.
Users of the small pocket timetables will find that some of the international ones are disappearing, in favour of online information, and that smaller stations’ stops are no longer listed, but are incorporated into regional listings. All details will be available online, however.
French-speaking Switzerland, especially commuters, to see significant improvements
A host of changes for trains in the Lake Geneva region will have a significant impact:
More double-decker trains will be used on the Geneva airport/Lucerne line, offering more seats
An additional InterRegio train will run between Neuchatel and Lausanne at 07:53 and the Neuchatel/La Chaux-de-Fonds/Le Locle line will have additional service during rush hour and a pair of trains is being added to the Neuchatel to Bienne line
Canton Vaud: the S4 line is being extended from Morges to Allaman, stopping in Saint Prex and Etoy, which will now have trains every 30 minutes instead of once an hour, Monday to Friday.
Geneva: La Plaine/Geneva, more trains will run during rush hour. Coppet–Geneva–Lancy-Pont-Rouge trains, the 30-minute schedule is being extended for weekend night and trains will run every half hour on Fridays and Saturdays until the end of the day.
New international connections, travel time cut on major links
Bags in the train luggage areas during rush hour - or risk paying for a second seat, says the CFF
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Watch where you set your bag on Swiss trains starting 11 December when the new timetable and new rules come into effect. More and more Swiss are taking the train, a mostly good thing, but for anyone traveling with a bag during peak hours, a new rule could be costly: if you set your bag on a seat during busy times you will be liable for a half-price ticket when the conductor comes by.
Ticket-takers have been trying, for some time, to improve awareness of the problem by making announcements asking people to take their bags off seats during busy times, with some trains no longer having enough seats for passengers during rush hour.
Passengers are free to use the seats near them for their gear, free of charge, during low travel times, the CFF rail company says.
Reminder: costly to take a Swiss train without a ticket as of 11 December
Another change that comes into effect 11 December is the hike in the fine for getting on a train without a ticket, which goes up to CHF90, plus the price of the ticket.
Ed. note: CNN today carries a feature article on the major construction work and changes at the Zurich train station, happily calling the Swiss “train addicted”.
Switzerland's new hybrid cargo and train maneuvering locomotives: cheaper to maintain, more energy-efficient
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – A 4,000 ton annual reduction in CO2 and a significant improvement in maintenance costs: Swiss cargo trains will have 30 hybrid locomotives starting in 2013, the CFF rail company has announced.
The new engines are made by Stadler Winterthur, whose director, Hartmut Dietrich, calls them “the most modern and most innovative on the market”.
The locomotives were presented by the two companies 14 October in Winterthur.
The CFF’s traction energy consumption has remained relatively stable for the past four years, between 1,827 and 1,879 GWh.
The new engines are based on an existing model, entirely electric, used by the CFF for maneuvers with passenger trains, the Ee 922.
The new model’s (E 923) electric traction power is twice as great, but it also has a diesel motor for rail lines that have no electric contact points, which gives it far greater flexibility.
The new locomotives have a higher speed, up to 120kph, which will allow them to free the rail lines more quickly for other trains, resulting in sharply lower operating costs, says the CFF.
CFF is paying CHF88 million for the E 923 engines, some of which will be delivered in 2012, but it notes that it will lose the high maintenance cost of older locomotives, such as the Bm 4/4s, which are being retired.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – A number of Swiss trains are delayed, cancelled or taking different routes Friday after a Thursday evening sideswipe crash between two trains left one conductor in critical condition. The cause of the crash in Olten, a major centre for Swiss trains, with several intersecting rail lines, is not yet known.
One of the trains had left Sissach and the other Basel. Twenty people were aboard the two trains, but there were no other serious injuries. The engine was badly damaged and two cars derailed in the accident.
The Olten-Basel line is closed until at least 15:00 Friday, with the CFF announcing the following changes (updates, CFF):
Derailment: Tecknau – Olten (SBB CFF FFS)
Derailment: Between Tecknau and Olten on the Basel SBB – Olten line, no train services are operating.
The Basel SBB – Chur / Zürich HB Intercity trains are being rerouted.
Long-distance trains IR Basel SBB – Luzern are cancelled between Gelterkinden and Olten.
Long-distance trains Basel SBB – Lugano / Locarno are cancelled between Basel SBB and Olten.
The IC Zürich HB – Bern trains make an unscheduled stop in Olten.
The Basel SBB – Bern – Interlaken Ost / Brig Intercity trains are being rerouted. The trains make an unscheduled stop in Gelterkinden. Please allow for approx. 30 minutes more travel time.
S-Bahn trains S3 are cancelled between Tecknau and Olten.
S-Bahn trains S9 are cancelled between Sissach and Olten.
Replacement buses operating Olten (xx:15 / xx:30 / xx:50) – Läufelfingen – Sissach.
Replacement buses operating Sissach (xx:10 / xx:35 / xx: 55) – Läufelfingen – Olten.
Passengers travelling from Basel SBB
- to Lugano – Chiasso / Locarno or vice versa travel via Zürich HB.
- to Luzern or vice versa travel via Zürich HB.
Passengers travelling from Liestal
- to Bern should take the S-Bahn S 3 to Gelterkinden and change in Gelterkinden onto the InterCity (IC) to Brig / Interlaken Ost.
- to Olten or vice versa travel via Aarau.
Passengers travelling from Gelterkinden to Olten should take the InterCity (IC) to Brig / Interlaken Ost.
Passengers travelling from Tecknau to Olten or vice versa travel via Sissach.
Please allow for a longer travelling time.
The connections are not guaranteed.
Duration of disruption expected until 07.10.2011 15:00.
For further information, please call free SBB hotline at 0800 99 66 33.
Lausanne train station
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A 32-year-old ticket checker on a CFF train suffered a broken nose and facial lacerations when he was attacked by a man without a valid ticket last Friday, 15 July. His aggressor fled and police, who have a witness, turned the case over to judicial authorities, who have opened a criminal investigation.
The man’s ticket had earlier been checked, shortly before Vevey on the Brig-Geneva airport train, and it was valid as far as Vevey. When the conductor spotted the man in the last car of the train from Vevey to Lausanne, at 13:30, he asked to see the ticket again, remembering that it was not valid.
He was starting to write out a fine when the man suddenly grabbed his ticket back and became “violent and uncontrollable” according to Vaud Police. He grabbed the CFF employee by the collar and began punching him in the face and kicking him.
The two fell to the ground and the conductor, whose colleague was elsewhere in the train, tried unsuccessfully to hold onto the man at the Lausanne train station.
The Lausanne train station gendarmerie is in charge of the investigation.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Police were contacted by people at the old Prangins train station who observed a woman who appeared troubled, hanging around the station at 12:40 Wednesdday 15 June. But the emergency team was unable to save her from being hit by a train. The woman sat down on the edge of the quai and a passing train badly injured her lower limbs, leaving her in serious condition at the Chuv university hospitals in Lausanne.
Police say the woman, of African descent, has no known address.
Zurich's Bahnhof "guardian angel", by Niki de Saint Phalle, might need to help pad travellers pocketbooks in 2012
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Hospital as well as some train fares in Switzerland are expected to rise significantly in 2012, based on preliminary remarks by a Swiss health organization and the CFF rail company Tuesday 3 May.
Santésuisse 3 May announced that it expects to see hospital costs rise by 1.6 percent overall in Switzerland, but with some significant differences around the country: Genevans can expect to pay 4.5 percent more and residents of canton Vaud 1.5 percent more, while Ticino is the rare canton that can expect to see hospitalization cost considerably less, down 7.6 percent.
Cantons will share costs
The change is due to an agreement just reached by the cantons and that goes into effect in January 2012. Hospitals have until now charged based on the cost of services delivered, but they will in future charge a fixed amount for a service, based on calculations of overall services provided throughout the country, with the cost shared and spread by the cantons. The new agreement will share hospitalization charges more equitably across the country.
Track 7, first class, year-round subscription and commune tickets to go up
Electric bikes are easy and cover longer distances with less work, so are the perfect partner for public transport, suggests new Swiss partnership
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Three Swiss groups are coming together to offer the first national bike sharing system, which will be put into operation this summer. Rent-a-Bike, Switzerland’s largest bike rental company, is partnering with the CFF train company and Swiss Post’s postal bus system to offer regular and electric bikes in 20 locations, to start.
Swiss Post has been increasing its use of electric vehicles for some time and one-third of Basel’s scooters for postal deliveries are now electric.
They are calling the project “the country’s first national bike sharing network”, with bikes available around the clock.
The group says the rationale is to develop a solution for the “last mile” in the Swiss mobility system.
“Bike sharing is the ideal addition to short-distance private and public transport, helping to reduce traffic congestion in city centers and encouraging a healthier way of life.
Some delays in Switzerland due to German strike
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A strike by Germain train conductors Thursday 10 March is provoking some delays in Switzerland, of up to 30 minutes for some trains arriving in Zurich. The strike has, however, affected about 40 percent of intercity rail traffic in Germany, news agencies are reporting.
New trains will link Geneva, Lausanne to Paris in 3 hours
Next stop, Paris: 3 hours 4 minutes by December 2012
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss rail company CFF and the French SNCF will spend CHF100 million, they announced Wednesday 16 February, to buy 19 new TGV high speed trains that will be put into service in December 2012.
The buying bonanza will result in 27 daily high-speed connections between Paris and Swiss cities.
Geneva will have nine daily TGV runs to Paris instead of the current seven, making the trip in 3 hours 5 minutes, thanks to higher speeds for the new trains. Zurich to Paris will be cut by more than a half hour, with the trip taking 4 hours 3 minutes.
The new trains are being purchased by Lyria, the joint-venture between the Swiss and French rail companies. Lyria in 2010 saw its earnings rise by 17 percent to CHF340 million. The company carried 40 million passengers, some 40 percent of them on international trains.
Basel to Paris will also become faster, just over three hours, which is expected to give airlines serious competition for this run.
Lausanne train station: another set of tracks heading towards Geneva is on the books for 2018
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Canton Vaud Tuesday 1 February approved the funds that will allow a third rail line for the congested Geneva-Lausanne tracks to be built in 2018 instead of four years later, as the federal government had planned.
The area’s population has been growing rapidly for the past 20 years and projections are that the rate of increase will remain strong: the area west of Lausanne is expected to grow by 20,000-30,000 people by 2020.
Cantons Vaud and Geneva in December 2009 signed an agreement with the Federal Transport Office to find the funds for loans to the CFF rail company to advance several critical projects.
Yesterday the canton approved nearly CHF200 million for four projects: additional crossings in Mies and Chambesy, pre-financing for the Lausanne-Renens third rail line, modernization of the Renens train station and feasibility studies for the Geneva-Lausanne additional rail line.
Geneva financing approval en route
Line closest to the station in Geneva, right, is reserved for Geneva-Coppet traffic, where the CFF wants to have 4, not just 2 trains an hour each way
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Mies and Chambésy could soon be home to two new crossing points for CFF regional trains, residents learned Wednesday evening.
The Tribune de Geneve reports that the Swiss rail company met with residents to explain about the works that need to be undertaken in the area to handle the rapidly growing traffic on the Geneva-Coppet rail line.
Trains currently run every 30 minutes but traffic has become so dense, particularly at each end of the work day, that trains are needed every 15 minutes.
The two trains currently meet at Creux-de-Genthod but an additional line and two extra crossing points are needed to increase the frequency.
The new line, lake side of the tracks, would later become part of the RER regional system, Suva, and the trains will continue on to Annemasse.
According to the Tribune, the CFF would like to see the works, which will take 2.5 years, completed by 2015, but negotiations that began with landowners in 2010 are not yet completed.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Police in Lausanne are calling “suspect” the death of a youth whose body was found at 09:00 Friday 17 December on the CFF rail tracks in Lausanne, under the bridge at the bottom of the rue de Tivoli, and they are asking the public to help clarify the circumstances of his death. The victim was an athletically built young man in his early 20s, 180cm, with short, dark hair. He was wearing a khaki brown anorak, dark beige trousers, a white shirt and black dress shoes.
Police believe he left a bar around Sébeillon, in the Flon area of Lausanne in the early hours of Friday, at about 01:30, to return to his home in Renens. They are trying to find anyone who may have seen him between 02:00 and 05:00 in particular, who can describe h is behaviour and shed any light on why he took this path from the centre of Lausanne to Renens. They are asked to phone police at +41 21 644 44 44 or go to the nearest police station.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rail traffic on the main Geneva-Lausanne line and up to Biel-Bienne has been disrupted Friday morning 17 December by a “person accident” in Renens around 09:00. The term is used to refer to an accident involving a person on the rails, either accident or suicide.
The CFF warns travellers to expect delays, but trains should be running on a full schedule again by shortly after noon.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A “person” accident, CFF rail and police euphemism for a person who has been hit by a train, often a suicide, resulted in eight trains being cancelled early Sunday afternoon between Lausanne and Geneva, reports the Tribune de Geneve.
CFF rail traffic disrupted Monday afternoon
View Larger Map
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two people were seriously injured and had to be cut from their car and a third person was slightly injured in an accident that disrupted Lausanne-Bern trains for nearly four hours Monday afternoon 6 December. The two cars collided and one of them fell 10 metres from a bridge, onto the rail line below. The accident occurred when a car going up the Avenue du Léman was hit by a car coming from Chemin de Bonne-Espérance. The first car slid and went into the bridge railing, which gave way.
Emergency authorities promptly alerted the CFF rail company, which halted train traffic on the line.
Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Trains between Geneva and Lausanne, including intercity trains to the rest of Switzerland, were delayed for more than an hour starting around 20:00 Wednesday evening 24 November, due to a technical problem. Service was back around 21:15, with trains gradually getting back on schedule afterwards.
Paleo special trains, Geneva-Lyon cuts, Migros 2 for 1
Port Elizabeth, South Africa group Ubuhle plays Tuesday night at Paleo
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Regional trains between Geneva and Lyons are out of service from Monday 19 July to 30 July, due to French rail company SNCF repairs. Buses are replacing the train service. The buses from Geneva are behind the Cornavin station, at Place Montbrillant. Details: phone 166 (CHF.50/min) for an automatic message, and if you need to speak to an agent: 0900 300 300 (CHF 1.19/min) from Switzerland.
Paleo: 20% discounts on train tickets
The CFF is working with the Paleo music festival to cut car traffic to Nyon during the festival, which runs from 20-25 July, by offering rail tickets at a 20 percent discount. RailAway prices, if you have a half-price card: round-trip (return) in second-class, Geneva-Nyon CHF6.60, from Lausanne, CHF11.20, from Fribourg, CHF25.60.
Swiss trains
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The 2011 train schedule will cut the travel time between Paris and Geneva to three hours, a reduction of 25 minutes starting in December, the CFF rail company announced Friday 4 June.
The new schedule will significantly improve service between Geneva and La Plaine.
Lake Geneva region residents will also find new rail cars on many trains when the new schedule goes into effect.
Canadian company Bombardier CHF1.86 billion train deal creates Vaud jobs, will ease passenger crunch
New CFF InterCity trains, scheduled for 2013 Geneva-Zurich
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The good news is that train travel in Switzerland is about to get better, but the bad news is that it won’t happen fast enough to suit many impatient Swiss, who travel on average 2,422 km a year by train, making them the world leaders in train use.
The CFF Swiss rail company has just bought 59 new trains with the first rollout in 2013. The purchase of 36,000 new train seats is just a start: in the next 20 years the CFF will need to replace 120,000 seats and add an additional 60,000 because of growing passenger demand and new lines.
Bombardier, a Canadian company, fought off Siemens and Stadler Rail to get a CHF1.9 billion contract with the CFF to supply 59 new double-decker trains. The contract could lead to the purchase at a later date of an additional 100 trains, for a total package worth close to CHF6b.
Passengers to see tangible benefits
For travelers, the new cars will offer a number of advantages: electric plugs and Internet for all passengers, the cars at the front and back of the train will have extra doors, to speed up passsenger movement, first and second class will be completely separated, not the case with at least one of the other offers, according to Le Temps.
The trains will carry 1,300 instead of the 1,100 currently handled by InterCity trains. The extra 200 passengers will be accommodated even with more comfortable stairs which will have a different shape to those in today’s trains, but the seats will have the same space and distance as in the IC2000 trains currently running.
Check the service before heading to France
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The French rail strike is not expected to affect trains between Switzerland and France this weekend 9 to 11 April, but if you’re traveling to France, plan ahead.
“The situation is getting better,” says a spokesperson for the SNCF, the French rail company
The Swiss rail system, the CFF, posts latest train service interruptions or slowdowns: check regularly for updates on Switzerland-France traffic.
And for all the information within France see the SNCF Transilien site.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The French SNCF railway workers are on strike, with numerous trains between Switzerland and France not running Wednesday 7 April. Media predictions earlier were that one in four TGV trains between Geneva, Lausanne, Basel or Zurich and Paris might not be running Wednesday, but in the end TGV service is very restricted. There are considerable slowdowns on non-TGV routes, reports the CFF Swiss rail company.
The CFF posts latest train service interruptions or slowdowns: check regularly for updates on Switzerland-France traffic.
The SNCF site appears to be more optimistic about the number of trains running: check the train where you hold a reservation if you’re scheduled to travel today.
Swiss army soldiers: no getting out of line on the train home
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Army will be sending its police into train stations and onto Swiss trains regularly, to keep a closer eye on its soldiers, most of whom are part of the citizen militia. The military police, who will not intervene with civilians unless there is an imminent danger, will work closely with existing police forces: primarily the CFF rail company security teams and cantonal police. The increased surveillance of soldiers is partly a public relations exercise, with growing complaints from the public about unacceptable behaviour of soldiers on public transport systems: soldiers travel for free when in uniform, en route to or coming home from duty.
Nyon train station, CFF controllers will be helped by new transport police
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss transport police, who will have the right to make provisional arrests, will become part of the CFF rail system starting in 2011.
The Federal Council Wednesday 27 January approved legislation drawn up by a parliamentary transport commission which will create two security systems for public transport companies. The transport police, who will be identifiable by their uniforms, will be employed only by the CFF, and they will have greater policing powers than those given to security officers, who will be used by smaller transport companies.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Lausanne-Yverdon rail line was out of service for technical reasons from 06:45-07:45 Tuesday morning 12 January, due to a problem with the lines in the Yverdon station, but the line is working again, the CFF has announced. The problem forced Swiss main train line travelers to be rerouted through Switzerland via Bern, and four Intercity trains were canceled, with five regional trains replaced by bus service.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Trains between Vevey and Lausanne were delayed during the morning rush hour, with no service from Vevey towards Lausanne for an hour. An “accident to a person”, the CFF and police euphemism for someone being run over by a train, was the cause of the delays. The police have not confirmed if it was a case of suicide, as reported by local media.
Be sure to buy a ticket before getting on a Swiss train
Bern and Bellinzona, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Train passengers without tickets or sitting in first class when they have only second class tickets will be treated alike by Switzerland’s CFF rail company, following a decision by a Swiss court: subject to CHF80 fines plus the missing fare or the difference between classes. Travelers should be aware that the fines are collected on the spot and that tickets must be purchased before getting on a train.
The Swiss administrative high court ruled Wednesday 23 December in favour of the CFF rail company, which had appealed against a decision of the Swiss Transport Office.
