20 Minutes. A German motorcyclist was sentenced to 19 months in prison by a court in Luzern, a canton in Switzerland. Six of the 19 month sentence must be served behind bars. The motorcyclist was flashed going 150 km/h in an 80 km/h zone between Gisikon and Inwil in the canton of Luzern. The defendant had already […]
Swiss MPs want cyclists to systematically lose driving licenses for rule breaking
20 Minutes. Hans-Peter Portman, a parliamentarian from Zurich, wants cyclists who break the road rules to suffer the same penalties as drivers. Last week, he, along with 72 other members, signed a parliamentary motion to have the sanctions stiffened for errant cyclists. According to Blick, the most common transgressions are crossing white lines, running red lights, weaving […]
Switzerland’s best drivers are in German-speaking cantons, says report
The insurance company AXA Winterthur took a database of the roughly 70,000 declared accidents that occur annually across Switzerland, and sorted them by canton to see which had the best driving record. The rate of reported accidents was highest in Italian-speaking Ticino, which was ranked last, just behind Basel-City and Geneva. Next from the bottom were Valais and Vaud. Higher […]
Regular passenger trains start running through world’s longest train tunnel
Tribune de Genève. The world’s longest train tunnel (57km) now has trains running through it. After spending CHF 12.2 billion over 17 years the tunnel is now open for business. Regular passenger trains running between Zurich and Bellinzona will now get there around 30 minutes faster, in a total journey time of 1 hour and 38 […]
Proposal to strip Swiss politicians of first class train passes
20 Minutes. National Councillor Lukas Reimann of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SG) would like to see Swiss politicians, public servants and Swiss Rail staff stripped of their free annual first class Swiss Rail passes. He thinks they should be offered second class passes instead. From 11 December an annual first class pass on Swiss Rail […]
Swiss motorway vignette could soon be a thing of the past
Le Matin. Since 1985, a sticker or vignette has been required to drive on main and secondary routes in Switzerland. This could be about to change. Currently, drivers entering Switzerland from outside must buy a vignette before using primary and secondary Swiss roads. There is no short stay ticket. Drivers must buy an annual vignette. […]
Road tolls to increase in France
According to various newspapers in France, French motorway tolls are set to increase from 1 February next year. Price increases will vary by region, increasing on average by 0.76%, a rate exceeding inflation, which has been close to zero over the last twelve months. Motorways in southern France will see the biggest hike (+1.19%), while […]
Geneva hits cyclists with fines
Tribune de Genève. Running a red light on a bicycle in Geneva will cost you CHF 60. Riding on the footpath brings a fine of CHF 40. Last week teams of police took to the city’s streets to issue fines. “We publicised our plan. We don’t want to surprise people”, officer Yann Oppeliguer, told the teams before they took […]
The new 12,200 franc Swiss Rail pass
From the beginning of next year, Swiss Rail will test a new CHF 12,200 annual pass. Called Green Class, the pass includes unlimited first class train travel, unlimited use of Swiss Rail city bikes, Mobility Car sharing (2,900 cars) and an electric BMW car, which comes with a station car park and a charge point […]
Something far worse than parking wardens arrives in Geneva
Tribune de Genève. Yesterday, a specially equipped car started sweeping through Geneva’s boulevards photographing and recording car licence plates. The owners of those found to be parked without valid tickets will be sent a fine. The car, adorned with special camera equipment invented by the Dutch firm Arvoo, is faster and more systematic than its human […]
