Financial results published this week present a mixed picture for Swiss Rail. For the first time in three years the company made a profit. After transporting an average of 1.32 million people a day in 2023, the company made a profit of CHF 267 million. The year prior it made a loss of CHF -245 […]
Search ends for sixth person missing near Zermatt
On 9 March 2024, six people left Zermatt on skis bound for Arolla on a high mountain path that links Zerrmatt and Verbier known as the Haute Route. Upon reaching the region near the Tête Blanche pass at around 3,500m bad weather rapidly set in. At around 4pm, one member of the group alerted search […]
Swiss public transport revenues up 7% in 2023
In 2023, Switzerland’s public transport system generated 7.2% more revenue than it did the previous year, reported Alliance Swiss, the umbrella organisation that connects ticketing across the whole network. Higher ticket sales were a big contributor to the rise in revenue which reached CHF 6.4 billion across the sector. During the year, 248 million tickets […]
This February Switzerland’s warmest on record
This February in Switzerland was the warmest since records began in 1864, with an average temperature of 2.7 degrees, 4.6 degrees above the average recorded for the month over the last 30 years. High temperatures have been driven by strong air currents from the west, said Meteo Swiss. The next warmest Februarys were recorded quite […]
Swiss set to vote on a climate fund
This week, the Socialist and Green Parties submitted sufficient signatures to trigger a popular initiative, reported RTS. According to the organisers, nearly 130,000 signatures were submitted to the Federal Chancellery on Thursday. The initiative aims to create a climate fund that would help all levels of government to invest in actions to meet international climate agreements. […]
Lake Geneva threatened by record water temperature
Lake Geneva is getting warmer and hit a record high in 2022, according to a recently published report by the International Commission for the Protection of the Waters of Lake Geneva (CIPEL). Since 2012, the average water temperature at the bottom of Lake Geneva has risen by one degree, while the average surface temperature has […]
Top 10 most popular electric cars in Switzerland in 2023
Electric car sales continue to rise in Switzerland. In 2023, the percentage of total new cars registered that were electric rose to 20.9%, up from 17.3% in 2022, reported Swiss eMobility. At 1 January 2024, 163,511 electric cars were registered in Switzerland, around 3% of the total cars on Swiss roads. German-speaking Switzerland was the […]
Solar will cover 10 percent of Swiss electricity consumption in 2024
Solar power production will make up 10% of the electricity consumed in Switzerland in 2024, estimates the association Swissolar. 2023 was a good year for the expansion of Switzerland’s solar power capacity, which rose 40% from 2022. The strong performance was partly driven by sharply rising electricity costs. The median price across Switzerland shot up […]
2023 Switzerland’s second warmest year since measurements began
The weather in Switzerland in 2023 was volatile. 2023 began mildly with highs of around 20 °C and a pronounced lack of snow in the mountains. Spring brought record rain, and summer began with the lowest rainfall since measurements began. Heat waves followed by heavy rainfall fell on southern and eastern Switzerland in July and […]
The Swiss company using car batteries to store solar
Households typically need most electricity in the evening after the sun has set. This means the solar electricity created during the day needs to be stored somewhere. The challenge with car batteries is the need for high performance. Cars need range and rapid power delivery. This means car batteries with less than 80% of the […]