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”.
French Alps, view leaving Geneva airport
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The UK-based travel company Thomson, has issued the following statement for passengers who lost their luggage when a small group of baggage handlers went on strike in Geneva 2 January. Thousands of bags were misplaced 2-3 January and many are still being returned, to Thomson customers but also those of some airlines.
“Customers returning from Geneva Airport (GVA) Saturday 2 January 2010
We regret that due to an unofficial handling strike by ramp agents at Geneva Airport (GVA) on Saturday 2 January 2010, ski baggage was not returned to the UK.
Update 12:30, 11 January 2010
We can confirm that all bags from the 2nd of January 2010 have been returned back to the UK from Geneva for onward processing by our Baggage Handling Teams. The remaining bags are currently being matched and tagged for onward delivery.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Travelers’ woes in Geneva continued Sunday 10 January, when Cointrin Airport closed for six hours, the longest closure in 25 years, thanks to snow. The airport is now open again, after 10cm of snow was removed.
Geneva airport, vacation week
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A very small number of Geneva airport’s Swissport baggage handlers remain on strike after lengthy negotiations with cantonal officials failed to bring about a settlement by 8 January. Airline passengers took little interest in the striket, faced with their own concerns about lost bags and missed flights: bags misplaced a week ago have still not all been found and UK weather forced scores of flights to be canceled.
GenevaLunch has been flooded with e-mails and comments on our articles about the chaos at the airport 2-3 January, which resulted in thousands of bags going missing for most of the week.
For those who have still not received their bags, or who were bumped from canceled flights to the UK, due to weather, this week, Swiss law provides the same compensation as European Union law. Details are available in German, French and Italian, the national languages, on a federal government site. Key points include:
A couple in a western suburb of Phoenix, Arizona were detained Tuesday, 3 November by police who found more than a thousand of items of luggage on their property. All the luggage was apparently taken from carrousels at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor international airport. None of the bags had identification tags on them. One of the arresting officers said in a court document: “The amount of luggage being stored inside of the residence was almost surreal”.
Police stopped Keith Wilson King at the airport three weeks ago with a piece of luggage that did not belong to him and became suspicious when they saw him again. They then followed him home and discovered pieces of luggage throughout his home.
Neighbors say that King and his wife, Stacy-Lynn Legg, had frequent garage sales. CNN, Sydney Morning Herald
