This week, the Green Party and the environmental group actif-trafiC announced they had gathered enough signatures to trigger a vote to overturn a government decision to cut subsidies for overnight trains. Together, they presented 58,640 signatures to officials in Bern.
In Switzerland, a referendum can be called to overturn a government decision if at least 50,000 valid signatures are collected. By contrast, for votes aiming to initiate a change, the minimum number of signatures is 100,000.
In October, the Federal Council announced a decision to axe a CHF 30 million annual subsidy to support the operation of night trains between Switzerland, Barcelona and Rome set to start in 2025. Switzerland’s federal government has been spending more than it collects in taxes for several years and is hunting for savings.
This week, parliament agreed with the Council of States to cut the night train subsidy from CHF 30 million to CHF 10 million a year, reported RTS.
The decision was met with derision by many from the Green, Socialist and Centre parties, as well as some environmental groups.
The greenhouse gas emissions of trains are lower than planes. The environmental group actif-trafiC argues that making train travel more attractive will reduce the number of flights to these destinations, although no estimate of how much demand would fall for flights to these cities is provided.
There are aleady train links between Switzerland, Rome and Barcelona. The train journey to Rome takes 6.5 hours from Zurich and 7.5 hours from Lausanne, and the trip to Barcelona takes 10.5 hours from Zurich and 8.5 hours from Lausanne – these are the fast trains. However, travelling at night frees up most of a day, making trains a more attractive option. But without the subsidies, the service would run at a loss and rail operators are not prepared to swallow such losses. Higher ticket prices, another possibility, would probably kill demand and fail to make the service economically viable.
A key point of debate is essentially: who should pay?. Those in favour of night trains argue the CHF 30 million annual subsidy is a wise investment in the environment. Those against the subsidy argue that those taking the train should cover the cost of the service themselves rather than travelling at the expense of the general public. Why should public money be spent subsidising holidays to Barcelona?, they say.
Part of the problem is no data has so far been provided to allow an informed decision to be reached. A sensible estimate of the resulting reduced flight demand and related emissions would be a minimum. With this it would be possible to calculate the emission busting return on investment of the subsidies. This in turn would allow the investment in night trains to be compared to alternative investments aimed at reducing climate change. It may be that investing a similar sum elsewhere has a greater impact. Transport emissions are dwarfed by those from electricity, agriculture, industry and buildings – see chart. Investment in land sinks ought to considered too. In addition, spending the same money in less costly parts of the world would also be more impactful.
Swiss voters will soon be asked to decide whether to subsidise night trains. Hopefully by then quantative estimates have been provided to help the public make an informed decision.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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