By Peter Hulm Sion’s driverless public shuttle buses celebrated their first anniversary of experimental operation in the mainly pedestrian precincts of the Valais capital on 23 June 2017. Switzerland’s PostAuto/PostBus, responsible for the 11-seater yellow electric vehicles built by the French company Navya, said the two SmartShuttles carried more than 21,500 people through the Sion […]
Archives for June 2017
New figures reveal British racing to apply for Swiss citizenship
According to Swiss broadcaster RTS, the number of British citizens applying to become Swiss has risen sharply. The steepest rise was in the canton of Vaud, where the number rose 71% in 2016. 473 applied in 2016, compared to 276 in 2015. In Geneva the number rose 60% from 90 to 145. In 2015, there […]
Swiss Rail to launch app that lets you pay when you arrive
Swiss Rail plans to test a new smartphone app that will charge you when you arrive. The app will automatically search for the cheapest fare once the journey has ended, promising users the lowest possible fare. The new app, which will be added to Mobile Preview, will be tested in 2018. Two companies, Lezzgo and […]
Higher Swiss health premiums for those with big deductibles
Switzerland’s Federal Council announced plans to reduce the discounts offered to those willing to risk paying the first chunk of their annual medical bills. It also plans to adjust deductibles in line with shifts in medical costs. This will be discussed until 19 October 2017. Switzerland’s compulsory basic health insurance can be bought from a range of […]
Swiss government says no wind turbines within 300m of homes
After the Swiss public voted in favour of a new energy strategy on 21 May 2017, the government has been busy fine tuning its plans. Switzerland has only constructed 34 wind turbines over the last 20 years, which produce around 0.15% of the nation’s electricity, according to three experts at EPFL and UNIL, two universities in […]
American model does nude base jump in Switzerland
No comment. The jump was made in this valley, in the commune of Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Would you pass the test to graduate from Swiss school?
An online test put together by Swiss broadcaster RTS based on past school exams has drawn a crowd of online test takers. The test, aimed at French speakers, includes sections testing French, Maths and German, three of the four core school subjects – the fourth is science. There are ten questions on each subject. The quiz is a […]
Zurich allows Quran distribution on streets against advice of canton
At the beginning of May this year, on the basis of a legal opinion, the canton of Zurich’s head of security advised all municipalities in the canton to ban Quran distribution by the controversial organisation “Lies!”, which translates to “Read!” in English. The organisation has been accused of using Quran distribution as a pretext for recruiting people […]
Two suspected terrorists arrested in Vaud
24 Heures. Two people were detained by the police on Saturday afternoon in the car park of a retail park in Aubonne in Vaud, Switzerland. The arrest was part of an antiterrorist operation, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. The police arrested a man and a woman at around 3pm. Members of the public told […]
Swiss road tax vignettes set to become electronic
Switzerland’s federal council, or executive branch of government, has made further progress on coming up with an electronic replacement for the nation’s motorway tax sticker, or vignette. It released a report last week with details that bring its plans closer to reality. The sticker, which costs CHF 40 a year and was introduced in 1985, is […]