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.
Update 2, 22:45 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Years of arguing and debate over the need for the Lake Geneva region to rapidly develop its train service were brought to a close Monday 21 December with a framework agreement signed by the federal and cantonal governments and the CFF rail company. The agreement acknowledges that the Geneva-Lausanne area is one of the fastest-growing in Switzerland and states the intent of the signing parties to develop a rail network and service that match the rapidly changing need for public transport in the area.
Third and possibly fourth rail line planned
The two cantons have agreed to put up CHF312 million in pre-financing for several projects, designed to speed up the project. The 20-year plan, to 2030, will increase the frequency of trains to one every 15 minutes between Lausanne and Geneva. The number of seats will double by 2020. Several congestion points are targeted: Mies in Vaud and Chambésy in Geneva plus the freight passing line between Nyon and Coppet. The three-phase plan calls for the main lines and RER regional system to be improved first, then the third rail line between Renens and Allaman to be built during a second phase, when the system will also be extended in the area west of Geneva. Main train stations will be modernized.
The third phase will involve building a fourth rail line and improving public transport access to Geneva’s airport.
Swiss trains in real time
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Every CFF passenger train moving along its scheduled path on a mashed-up Google map is now accessible to see via the internet thanks to the inventiveness of a Dutch programmer who lives near Lausanne. Swisstrains.ch combines the Swiss national railways’ timetable and a Google map to bring a realistic and informative virtual ride on the trains. It only works because of the well-deserved punctuality of Swiss trains.
Hover the cursor over one of the red dots that represents a train floating along a red railway line, and the train’s number, its point of departure and departure time, as well as its destination, destination time and average speed comes up. A pop-up dialogue box provides information on each train currently going to or from a determined station. Click on the “follow” button and the train whips you along its path in satellite view in real-time.
Fewer Geneva roadworks, as tram goes into service
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – If you haven’t yet done so, be sure to shift your radio settings to find World Radio Switzerland in its new FM home: 101.7FM. And this is the weekend when the TPG (Geneva public transport) puts its new schedule into effect, including the new line to Meyrin and more frequent buses and trams on several lines, so doublecheck your travel plans if you’re heading across town. Monday 14 December the new CFF rail schedule goes into effect for all of Switzerland, so make no assumptions about when your train is leaving. Two additional trains should make life easier for urban commuters: an extra late afternoon train from Bern to Zurich (16:14) is designed to ease pressure on that often-packed line, as is an 18:31 regional train from Lausanne to Geneva.
Links for details: CFF, TPG (note: Sunday night the site was being updated), WRS
Update 01:00 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - An accident involving a person on the rails near Roche-Aigle in canton Vaud stopped most train traffic between Martigny and Sion late Saturday night, according to a 21:45 CFF notice. Several trains were cancelled: update – service has been resumed. Link to CFF alerts
One ticket fits all at Mobilis
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canton Vaud’s common transportation agreement, Mobilis, which allows passengers to use multiple forms of public transport with a single ticket, is to be extended end 2010, Lausanne newspaper 24 Heures reports 1 December.
Mobilis currently joins five separate transport companies – tl, MBC, CFF, LEB, CarPostal – over almost 870km of railway lines, bus routes and metros. But most of the canton is not covered by the Mobilis agreement. This will change in December 2010 when additional agreements and technical solutions will extend network coverage by almost 80 percent throughout the canton.
Cornavin train station, Geneva 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Tribune de Geneve reports 1 December that an agreement is “imminent” for a solution to the Lausanne-Geneva rail line, which will reach capacity in 2018. Discussions in the past appeared to have broken down between the cantons of Geneva and Vaud, and the federal government, whose ZEB rail development plan to 2030 has little room to consider a third rail line or other solution. The cantons, federal government and the CFF rail company are now reportedly close to an agreement that will allow them to study compromise solutions.
The newspaper reports that the CFF’s preferred solution is a better use of the train lines for France at Geneva’s Cornavin station, with an extra line built. Geneva is opposed to this, given the impact it would have on the Les Grottes neighbourhood behind the station.
Job cuts at Swiss rail
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s national railway company CFF plans to cut between 300-350 administrative jobs in the infrastructure division, its spokesperson Reto Kormann said 20 November. It hopes to save CHF60 million a year. The company will not lay off anyone: the jobs will be eliminated by attrition and internal reassignment.
Links to other sites:Le Temps, Romandie News
No more worries about keeping an eye on your luggage at the back of the train car if you check it in
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Air Berlin has announced that its passengers can check their luggage in at more than 50 railway stations in Switzerland, get their boarding pass there and be assigned their seats as of 1 December.
Air Berlin is Germany’s second-largest airline.
Links to other sites: Air Berlin, CFF information on air/rail baggage checking system
Swiss trains: play by the rules, please
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Users of the “pyjama train”, the late night train service that the CFF Swiss rail company runs between Villeneuve and Morges on weekends for night owls, will have to pay a fine of CHF80 if they do not have a valid ticket.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A freight train has come off the tracks in Chavorney, canton Vaud, the Swiss national rail company, CFF, says. No one was hurt in the incident that occurred before 09:00 28 October, but trains between Lausanne and Yverdon-les-Bains have been suspended until further notice.
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Cisalpino II, July 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A Cisalpino II train made its maiden Geneva-Venice voyage Thursday October 1, leaving Geneva’s Cointrin Airport at 07:33 and bringing back its first passengers from Venice at 16:20. The trains have been running on the Geneva-Milan stretch since July, on a test basis, and with the positive track record of the tests, the company has moved to putting the sleek passenger trains into service as part of the regular timetable.
Cisalpino will operate the trains until 13 December, when the parent Swiss and Italian companies, CFF and Trenitalia, will operate the Swiss-Italian service.
CFF mobile ticketing is one of several changes boosting Swiss rail traveler numbers
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Discounted tickets, a new venture by the Swiss rail company starting in May 2009, appear to have paid off: the company says that 60,000 people took advantage of the tickets, designed to encourage people who are not regular users to discover the Swiss rail system. Half of them used the train during non-peak hours to take advantage of bargain prices, a boon particularly to tourist lines. The CFF plans to offer another discount promotion starting in October. The figures were part of the financial results published Thursday 10 September by the company, which show a surprising 26.8 percent increase in turnover, given the economic climate, of CHF132.8 million.
We're not going anywhere
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The planned light rail line connecting Cornavin-Eaux Vives-Annemasse (Ceva) was delayed again by Switzerland’s administrative high court, in a decision made public 8 September. Two of the project’s partners, canton Geneva and CFF, Swiss federal railways, had asked the court to lift about 60 injunctions against the project, arguing that the delays were costing money. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument, stating that the project must address the 318 different objections to the plans before it can proceed.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Zurich is preparing for the Jamaican superstar sprinter Usain Bolt to show whether he can improve on his recent world record at Berlin. Friday evening 28 August he will be the chief attraction at the Weltklasse Zurich meet. The 100-metre final is scheduled for 21:10.
In the meantime locals will have the chance to race against a paperboard “double” that will race at his world record speed at RailCity, Zurich’s main station, Thursday 27 August between 11:30 and 13:30.
Details: iaaf.org
Not long to wait
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Opponents to the planned light rail extension known as Ceva, which will link Geneva’s Cornavin and Eaux-Vives stations and Annemasse, handed in 12,700 signatures, almost 5,000 more than necessary, to force citizens in the canton to vote on it. Voters will decide on a supplementary credit of CHF 113 million towards the project that Geneva’s parliament voted for in June.
The referendum’s date has not yet been fixed.
Paleo crowd, 2009
What it is: The largest outdoor music festival in Switzerland, started in 1976, with over 4.3 million concert-goers since then. In 2008, the audience was 227,000 strong, and there were 146 performances on six stages.
Volunteers, all 4,062 of them, helped to make the experience a great one for all. According to a survey in 2008, 59 percent of concert-goers came from the Lake Geneva region.
new Cisalpino II train, inaugural trip July 2009, Lausanne-Sion, Switzerland
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The inaugural run of the new, ultra-sleek Cisalpino II trains that link Geneva to Milan, Italy via Lausanne, saw the high-speed train journey from Lausanne to Sion. The ride itself was easy compared to the latest problems faced by the company. Cisalpino was under threat of losing its contract with the Swiss rail company CFF early in 2009 because of breakdowns and delays.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A two-hour cut in train service on the key Bern-Zurich lines starting at 11:15 Tuesday 14 July was due to a power failure at a points station in Olten, says the CFF rail company. No intercity trains ran during that time, resulting in a major disruption of international train service because of Switzerland’s key position.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Discounted train tickets designed to attract people who don’t normally use the online train sales service are proving so popular that the CFF rail company has decided to extend its Swiss travel campaign by a month. Some 25,000 of the tickets have been sold, reports 20 Minutes (Fre).
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The federal government will provide CH 1.148 billion to the pension fund of the Swiss national railway company, CFF, by the end of 2009, it announced 24 June.
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Train traffic between Geneva and Lausanne has been stopped since around 09:00 Friday morning due to problems with the power lines. 20 Minutes reports that the lines should be repaired by mid-morning but the CFF site says delays are indefinite.
Geneva-Coppet and Lausanne-Allaman trains in service
Trains are running between Geneva and Coppet as well as between Allaman and Lausanne. The rail company suggests that travelers allow an extra 120 minutes travel time for inter-city trains. CFF updates in English and map of the area affected
Swiss rail premium class: more than a place to hang your coat
Bern, Switzerland (Sonntagsblick, Ger and ats/TSR, Fre) – Swiss rail company CFF is studying the possibility of creating a “premium” class that would provide the same kind of luxury travel that first class on airplanes affords.
Renens, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The first team of volunteers at the train station in Renens went to work 3 June to help travelers and keep the calm. The volunteer project is part of the CFF rail company programme to reduce vandalism and violence. Renens, canton Vaud police and the CFF rail company joined forces to train the volunteers, who will work at the station every evening.
Similar systems have been in place in Yverdon and Aigle for several months and are linked to a larger CFF programme that includes Big Brothers working on trains, particularly evenings, to reduce violence.
Zurich, Switzerland (ats/romandie, Fre) – First-class travellers on Swiss CFF trains will have access to the rail company’s first lounge, in Zurich, starting 8 June. The lounge, with four rooms, is designed for 50 people and is open from 05:00 to 21:00 seven days a week. It is on the first floor of the train station building.
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Trains between Geneva and Lausanne have suffered several delays since Thursday due to a problem with one of the tracks in Geneva that began Thursday afternoon. The CFF is alerting passengers that traffic disruptions will continue until noon Friday. Updates from the CFF and Trains online provides real time train information
Bern, Switzerland – The CFF Swiss rail company is set to spend CHF2.1 billion buying 59 double-decker trains. Monday it published the news in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (le Feuille officielle suisse du commerce), launching the largest call to tender in Swiss rail history. The new trains, to be put in service by 2013, will be used for Intercity and Inter-regio rail service.
