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La Faucille, Jura (photo, ©2010: Shirley Curran)

Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Snow began to make a serious appearance in the Swiss Alps and the Jura mountains over the weekend, leaving the first layers that are needed for a good skiing base. Jura skiers were already out Saturday and Sunday 20-21 November, at La Faucille. Cross-country skiers from the Lausanne area began training, while in Saas-Fee early season skiers have been having fun for a couple weeks.

GenevaLunch Friday 3 December begins its popular Friday winter weather and snow sports reports. Here’s a warm-up:

Geneva has a skiing first!

The Monts Jura will be hosting a women’s event, the FIS Coupe d’Europe de Ski Alpin Dames. This major event in the skiing calendar is coming to Geneva for the first time. The success of the Monts Jura resort in hosting the French championship competitions in 2009 and 2010 encouraged the European cup organizers to plan one stage of their competition there. The Swiss Ski Federation will be organizing Friday’s Super-Géant race and the French Ski Federation the Super-Combiné on Saturday in Crozet-Lélex, less than half an hour from the centre of Geneva.

Exceptionally, on Friday 11 February, skiers will be able to buy their day pass for 1€ at the Crozet lift. Pedestrians will be able to watch 140 world class skiers, travelling via Lélex on the Friday and the Saturday, also for 1€. Details on the Monts Jura web site.

Winter tires and chains reminder

Vercorin, canton Valais, Switzerland 21 November 2010, snowy peaks above village

Winter tires are not obligatory in Switzerland, but if you are in an accident and your summer tires or winter tires with worn treads are considered a factor, your insurance company and the judge might see fit to give you the bill.

France does not require them either, although some mountain districts do. Austria and Italy are the same. Winter tires are obligatory in Germany.

Make an appointment now, if you don’t yet have winter tires or want someone to change them for you, as garages get very busy with this work by the end of November.

Read more…

Video, CGT union site: http://www.cgt.fr/

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Up to 50 percent of French flights were reportedly cancelled Thursday 23 September as workers in France held rallies and went on strike for the second time in less than two weeks. The protests are against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposal to raise the retirement age.

Train service between France and Switzerland was virtually normal Thursday. According to Swiss newspaper Le Temps the number of protestors varied hugely depending on who you were asking, with the police saying 65,000 people marched in Paris, while the unions insisted it was 300,000.

Swiss voters likely to have their say on more public transport funding

Popular initiative for public transport: 140,000 signatures handed to Bern

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss voters will probably have their say about increasing funds for public transport. A group called ATE (Transport and Environment Association) and 20  partner groups Monday 6 September handed in 140,000 signatures, an unusually high number for a popular or citizens’ initiative, that calls for more money to be spent on public transport and less on highways. The signatures were handed to the federal chancellery.

The federal tax on mineral oils is currently cut three ways, with the general federal budget taking a slice. The remainder is divided between highways, with 75 percent, and public transport, which receives 25 percent. The new initiative would redistribute that money: the remainder would be shared 50-50 by roads and public transport.

ATE details on the initiative (Fre)

Map of the changes to Cornavin station, to improve pedestrian traffic flow

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A six-year-old girl was hit by a tram in front of Geneva’s main station late Saturday and, according to the Tribune de Geneve, she remains in serious condition at the hospital. Details of the accident, under investigation, are sketchy, but the Geneva newspaper raises the question of safety in front of the station, where in 2008 the city created a 20-kph-zone with pedestrians given priority.

The area is crisscrossed steadily with tram, bus, taxi, bicycle and pedestrian traffic, raising public complaints about too many distractions for people crossing the area.

Major renovations at the station, part of which are designed to improve the flow of pedestrian traffic inside but also around the station, are an additional distraction.

The growing number of bicycle riders in the city, who often ignore traffic rules, has been cited by the TPG on a number of occasions as a problem for tram drivers. The Tribune reports that since the start of 2010 Geneva has had seven tram-bicycle collision, one of them fatal to the bike rider, and 11 tram-pedestrian accidents.

Mercedez Benz impounded - Photo Fribourg cantonal police

Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – A Swedish driver was arrested and his Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG impounded after pushing the 570-horsepower engine to 290 kilometers per hour on a Swiss highway.

The 37-year-old Swede traveling on A12 from Bern to Lausanne, was spotted by Vaud cantonal police at around 13:00, arrested and turned over to the police in the western canton of Fribourg on Friday 6 August.

The driver, whose license was seized, could face a CHF1 million fine.

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show, is a luxury grand touring car and reaches a top speed of 317 km/hr.

The car is well known among video-game fans for being featured in a new PlaySyation 3 racing game.

Vehicle sales began only recently in Europe. Its base sticker price is CHF245,000.

Trains expected to run by Sunday

Last three cars of the Glacier Express that crashed 23 July

Update 24 July 16:40  Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The Glacier Express train crash that killed one person and injured 42 others Friday 23 July in the Goms Valley could have been due to technical problems, possibly linked to warm weather, say officials of the company that owns it, MGB.

One hypothesis is that the rails may have been deformed by dramatic shifts in the weather in the hours preceding the crash. After days of very hot dry weather the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees and heavy showers fell along the Alpine ridges in the area. An investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred at noon Friday 23 July. A 64-year-old Japanese man from Osaka has been identified as the one person who died, but two women, both Japanese, remain in critical condition. Among the 42 injured, most were Japanese, but the group includes five Swiss, four Spanish, two Austrian and one Indian traveller.

The trains are likely to be running again Sunday, once the derailed train is placed back on the track and removed, and the line checked, according to the company. It said Friday evening trains on the line could be operating by Saturday but work has taken longer than expected. The cars involved in the crash are being set aside for investigators.

The Glacier Express carries some 250,000 people a year. It went into operation in 1930 and this is its first accident. The train has an average speed of 30kph, earning it the nickname of the “slowest train in the world.”

It runs on a single track and between Zermatt and St Moritz it goes through 91 tunnels and crosses 291 bridges, covering some of Switzerland’s most spectacular Alpine scenery in the process, making it a hugely popular tourist attraction.

The city of Ngari, at 4,274 metres altitude in western Tibet, now has the world’s third highest airport, after those in Bamda Airport in Qamdo in eastern Tibet and Kangding Airport in Sichuan Province in China, reports Xinhua. An inaugural flight to the new airport from Chengdu took place Thursday 1 July. Air China will fly four times a week between Ngari and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province and a major connecting point to Tibet, with a stop in Lhasa. Ngari and Lhasa have until now been connected only by road, a distance of 1,600 km, and the flight shortens the trip to the regional capital Lhasa to one and half hours from three or four days by car.

Children say goodbye to the school year in 2009 - Photo Celestial Pilgrim at flickr

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Several streets will close in Lausanne tomorrow 30 June during the primary school annual parade and celebration.

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.

Hiking in the Swiss Alps, among the vines near Salgesch/Salquenen in Valais

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Federal Council has approved a four-point plan to strengthen the tourism industry in Switzerland in order to increase revenue and create more jobs. The Alpine regions are a large part of the new focus.

Tourism accounts for 3 percent of Switzerland’s economic activity and 4.2 percent of the workforce, or the equivalent of 151,000 fulltime jobs.

The finance ministry, Seco, has been given the task of developing specific programmes to carry out the strategy, with the first programmes ready for 2012.

The strategy centres around four areas:

• to increase market share in the Alpine region, taking into account sustainable development
• create high quality jobs
• increase the added value for regions
• framework for tourism firms needs to be improved and the tourism offer in general made more attractive.

Trains between Switzerland and France affected by the strike

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The French train strike has forced the cancellation of all TGV Lausanne-Paris trains, five Geneva-Paris connections and several Zurich- and Basel-Brussels trains.

The Swiss national railway, CFF, says about 60 percent of trains between France and Switzerland have been canceled and the service will not resume normal operation until after 25 June.

The Associated Press is reporting that French aviation authorities have also asked airlines to reduce their traffic.

French unions planned their one-day strike to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to lift the minimum retirement age to 62.

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – An “enhanced” US-Swiss open skies agreement was signed in Bern 21 June, that gives Swiss airlines several new privileges:

• restrictions lifted on route planning, pricing and capacity for carriers in both countries
• Fly America restrictions lifted, enabling Swiss carriers to pursue air deals with US civilian agency-funded government contractors
• both countries will have the right “to operate all-cargo flights to third countries without a connection to the home country.”

Zurich Airport

The US State Department announced the agreement Monday 21 June, saying it replaces a 1995 bilateral agreement. The US and the EU recently signed a similar agreement, but Switzerland, not a member of the European Union, has its own bilateral aviation agreements.

The new agreement states that Swiss airlines may be owned by companies based in the European Union, effectively extending to them the rights of EU airlines, a potentially important change for Swiss, which is owned by German company Lufthansa.

The US now has open skies agreements with 90 partners, according to the State Department.

Link to US State Department fact sheet on open skies agreements

Fresh snow at 2,000 metres, Valais, Monday morning 31 May

Canton Uri, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Furka Mountain Pass, which had just re-opened, is closed again.

The reason? Heavy snow 31 May!

According to authorities in Canton Uri, the pass that connects Uri and the Valais had just re-opened last Thursday.

Drivers thinking of taking the Klausen or the Oberalp Passes will need to put chains on their tires.

Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Customers of Swiss who are flying to Shanghai or Hong Kong this summer will notice that the flight takes longer, and the usual view of vast stretches of Russia is no longer there: the airline has been told it cannot fly over Russian air space. No explanation is being provided by the airline, which Sunday confirmed to TSR television a report published by NZZ am Sonntag, that the fly-around to the south has been taking place since March. TSR hints that it may be the result of Russia demanding a higher tax to fly over its territory.

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A crane at work on the A1 autoroute between Villars-Ste-Croix and Cossonay early Friday morning knocked an overhead signage system when it moved without lowering its arm, forcing the busy road to close from 07:00-10:45 while equipment was called in to stabilize the system.

Links to other sites: TSR (Fre), Vaud Police (Fre)

American tourists should be back, even if euro spenders are down

Lucerne and its Four Cantons lake is a favourite with US tourists

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The latest tourism forecast for the Swiss government by BakBasel shows overnight stays expected to drop slightly during the May-October summer season, down 0.7 percent, mainly due to the weak euro and unemployment in Europe. But American tourists are expected to return after a 2009 summer where they were scarce on the ground. The latest figures for the winter season that has just ended show what Bern describes as a surprising increase, up 0.2 percent.

The tourism industry will remain in something of a slump in 2011, but should see growth again, 17 percent, in 2012.

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.

Read more…

Fun to drive to the beach, but how quiet is it? Anti-noise day: 28 April

Date correction, 18:50  Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - More than half of all traffic in Switzerland is due to people traveling for leisure purposes – more than commuter traffic, according to the federal government. And it is noisy – too noisy.

Bern is marking Anti-noise day Wednesday 28 April by pledging to reinforce measures against noise created by traffic, whether on roads, rail or near airports, with the idea that we’re all heading off to relax, but some of us can’t because of the noise the rest of us make.

Government riot police in Bangkok confronted red-shirt protestors Friday morning on the main Rama Iv road before stepping back, following a grenade attack late Thursday that killed one commuter and sent 75 to hospital with injuries. The government has blamed unnamed terrorists for the attacks.

Tensions have been running high as the red-shirt protestors have stepped up resistance to the government, and several foreign governments, including Australia, Britain and the US are recommending that travelers avoid Thailand. A number of business along Silom Road, the Wall Street of Bangkok, were closed Friday in the wake of the violence.

Links to other sites: AP, BBC, Bangkok Post, Xinhua

Airplane over Switzerland

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Five people died in Switzerland in airplane crashes in 2009, the lowest figure since 1998, records released Tuesday 20 April by the Swiss Federal Transport Office show. There were fewer pilots, 3,685, down from 4,039, but they had an additional 100,000 hours of flying time in total.

Sixty percent of the accidents involved small planes up to 2,250 kg, with helicopters responsible for 21 percent of serious accidents and gliders for 11 percent.

CNN video added

USEFUL LINKS FOR SWISS AND FRENCH TRAVELERS: Geneva Airport, Zurich Airport, Swiss airline, CFF Swiss trains, SNCF French trains, MeteoSwiss, Eurocontrol, and World Radio Geneva updates

Morning haze or a hint of volcanic ash over the Swiss Alps and Rhone valley (18 April)?

Alternative travel services: car rental addresses in Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich and long-distance bus station in Geneva

Update 17:10  Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss airports are closed until at least 14:00 (2pm) Monday 19 April.

The next update from Swiss civil aviation authorities is scheduled for 09:00 Monday.

CNN video: flying close to Iceland’s erupting volcano while Europe’s airspace is shut down (may need a moment to load)

Rail, bus and car rental services are all being heavily used in Switzerland. Avis has announced that during the airport closings period it will not apply its usual fees for non-cancellation.

If you’re sneezing, don’t assume it’s volcanic dust: the pollen level in central and western Switzerland is high Sunday 18 April.

More details, including train information and the health impact of Iceland’s volcanic ash, Swiss air travel update 17 April.

© Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) -  WRS public radio (101.7 FM and online) will have a special live programme with Mark Butcher to update listeners on the air travel situation, Saturday 17 April starting at 07:00. The programme will offer live reports from Geneva and Zurich airports, as well as weather and traffic information.

Background: Yahoo, “Volcanoes and planes: survival in the sky”

Taking off - not today, though

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland has joined the countries to the north of it in closing its airspace as of Friday afternoon 16 April, due to the ash cloud that has moved in  from Iceland. The Swiss Federal Aviation Office and SkyGuide have agreed to close Swiss airspace, with the cloud expected to reach Switzerland around midnight Friday. The space will remain closed until 09:00 Saturday, with the two agencies monitoring the situation during the night, but at the moment they do not expect to prolong the closure.

More than 40 countries have now warned their citizens of the danger of traveling to Thailand, according to CNN/Financial Times, the stock market was hit hard Monday, with Thai Airways shares falling more than 13 percent. “The Ministry of Finance said growth in gross domestic product, once estimated at 3.5 to 4.5 per cent for 2010, would be cut by 0.2 to 0.5 per cent because of the unrest. “More than 20 people are reported to have died in weekend clashes, with the Red Shirts opposition group saying the time is past for talk, as it steps up efforts to remove the prime minister from office.

Links to other sites: CS Monitor, Huffington Post essay on travel to Thailand and Kyrgyzstan

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The city of Geneva is registering a trademark, a new logo and branding project put together for it by Saatchi & Saatchi at a cost of CHR200,ooo, according to Geneva’s tourism office, which unveiled the logo Monday 1 March.

“Genève, a world of its own” is the new trademark phrase in its English version, with a logo in blue, white and gray that shows a stylized jet d’eau. The French: “Genève un monde en soi”.

The rationale for the new trademark is to boost tourism and give the city a clearer identity, but also to coordinate the image marketing efforts of various groups that promote Geneva, says the tourism office. The city’s mayor, head of the Palexpo exhibition centre, tourism office and the hoteliers’ association all participated in the launch of the new identity kit.

The phrase has already been used, less formally, in city tourist marketing materials. Geneva has been running a teaser campaign for the past two weeks to raise public awareness, with a photo contest (still running, until the end of Monday 1 March) and gifts, discounts and prizes offered by Geneva companies at www.rejoignez-nous.ch.

The idea behind the phrase and the art is to underscore the variety the city has to offer and to reflect Geneva’s image as a city that is “traditional, modern, natural, sophisticated, multicultural and cosmopolitan,” the tourism office notes.

Photo: a band practises in a side street before the Monday afternoon parade

Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Fasnacht, Switzerland’s largest carnival celebration, started at 04:00 Monday 21 February. The usual loud “Ooooo” of the crowd as the city’s lights went out was promptly followed by the daunting sound of pipers and drummers from 500 groups, and the eery light of the traditional “lanterns” carried on marchers’ heads. GenevaLunch brings you a feature story later Tuesday on this satirical event that involves 10,000 people every year for three days, marching in the streets and partying but most of all using it as a means to make fun of themselves and the world.

Switzerland's autoroute stops are heavily used by truck drivers taking their legally required breaks. Here: above Montreux, Vaud

Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A truck driver from one of the former Yugoslavia regions, stopped Monday 15 February near Gentilino on the A2 autoroute for speeding, ate his tachometre, say cantonal police in Ticino. The man was stopped for speeding, but it was discovered that he had driven 1,054 kilometres without pausing for a break over the course of 18 hours. Truck drivers are legally required to take regular breaks, and Ticino police, at the border with Italy, say they have noticed a growing lack of respect for the rule, so they’ve stepped up controls.

An ambulance had to be called for the 34-year-old man, who was later released from hospital but had to pay CHF2,000 in bail pending charges.

Carneval march in Miege, canton Valais, February 2009

Lucern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Carnaval, a festive time before the sombre period of Lent, called Fasnacht in most Swiss German-speaking areas, kicked off early Thursday morning in Lucern and Soleure, with marches and music in the streets. Swiss cantons and villages celebrate their carnivals at different times around the start of Lent, the period leading up to Easter. The Catholic cantons generally start earlier and end before Lent, on Ash Wednesday, 17 February this year.

Canton Valais’s Carnaval begins tomorrow, Friday 12 February. Festivities continue until 17 February, although some of the German-speaking areas celebrated early.

The most famous of the Protestant cantons’ carnivals are in Basel, 21-23 February and Bern, 18-20. Bern’s fete is relatively young, started only in 1982, but it’s a colourful event.

Links to: Valais dates, Basel Fasnacht (Ger) and city tourism office in English, Bern Fasnacht (Ger)

Grindelwald, Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The annual snow sculpture contest in the Bernese Alpine resort of Grindelwald ends Saturday 27 January with awards being handed out in the afternoon. The American team says the Italian team is tipped to win, according to Jungfrau Zeitung, which carries a video and several photos as part of a feature story on the event. It adds that Canadians have a good chance as well, with the best track record, having won 8 of the past 28 contests. Ten national teams are entered. Event details on GenevaLunch