Bernese Alps, the view from the Bern to Lausanne train
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Economic Forum, which organizes the annual mega-politics and business meeting in Davos, has given Switzerland another top prize in the rankings that have become a side business for the Geneva-based group. Switzerland ranks number one in the WEF’s world competitiveness report from September 2010, and now it gets the top honour for travel and tourism competitiveness, beating out Germany and France.
The travel top ranking considers the most attractive environment for developing the fast-growing tourism and travel sector. Infrastruture, travel and good use of natural resources are among the factors reviewed.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Federal Council is proposing to raise the cost of train tickets by 10 percent and to double the annual road tax for which drivers now pay CHF40, for an autoroute sticker.
The price increases would cover the long-term infrastructure of the road and rail systems, says the council.
Today’s budgets for the heavily used systems do not cover the cost of the rail infrastructure as well as the need to expand the system due to the continually growing population of passengers, the federal transport department argues.
The council’s proposals, which will need to be fleshed out and then opened to public consultation, are in response to a popular initiative “for public transport” and will serve on the ballot as a counter-proposal.
There is clear agreement that more money is needed to expand the public transport system, but as TSR points out the real question is who will pay.
Links to other sites: Bern’s proposal with details of road and rail traffic forecasts, reaction of ATE (transport and environment association, which is sponsoring the popular initiative)
Source: Swiss Department of Transport, Energy and Communications
Swiss train, moving fast, wearing out the rails
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - The cost of maintaining Switzerland’s famous railroads is about to rise, but the amount in question is up for debate. The one thing that appears clear is that train travellers, and Switzerland has the highest percentage of them of any country in the world, will foot at least some of the bill.
The CFF rail company at the start of 2010 announced that it would need CHF850 million more than predicted to maintain the rail infrastructure. The federal government asked for a second estimate, which it says is CHF500m. The federal Transport Office and the CFF have agreed to create a programme together to closely monitor the state of the rail system and more precisely determine the upkeep cost.
Machu Picchu in 2009 (photo ©2009 Claude Vedovini)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland and the United Nations Development Programme will work with Peru to improve weather monitoring around the ancient Incan site of Machu Picchu, following a disastrous series of 40 mudslides due to heavy rains. The rains continue and the Cuzco department, where the site is located, was declared a disaster area Monday 1 February, by the regional president, Hugo Gonzales.
An estimated 25,000 people have been left homeless and another 37,000 have lost at least part of their property in the past two weeks. Some 4,000 tourists were airlifted out of the area last week, and Machu Picchu itself will be closed for at least two months while broken rail and road links are repaired.
Road users get used to traffic
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Moritz Leuenberger wants to prepare the Swiss for paying more when they use transport – public or private. Mobility pricing is rearing its head. An audit of the current state of Switzerland’s infrastructure and a plan for its needs way into the future were the occasion to bring up the subject of costs and funding, in a report presented by the federal Department of the Environment, Transportation, Energy and Communications (Detec) 3 November.
Switzerland has an enviable infrastructural base, among the most advanced in the world, and a mainstay of its competitive economy. The country’s roads, rail system, electrical grid, gas and telecommunications networks contribute 6.5 percent to GDP , or CHF28 billion per year. All together infrastructure employs 198,000 people, or 6.1 percent of the working population.
