According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), nearly 35,000 new vehicles were put into circulation across Switzerland in March 2024. And while this figure is 5% below the number in March 2023, the size of private vehicles rose, a now well established trend. The only group of private vehicles rising in number was non-plug-in hybrids […]
Swiss government surprised by ECHR climate change ruling
This week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled the Swiss government violated the Human Rights Convention on climate change in a case brought by a climate organisation and four Swiss women claiming to be victims of insufficiently mitigated climate change. Eight years ago, a group of Swiss senior citizens, known as the Climate […]
Federal Council rejects anti-fur and anti-fois gras initiatives
Switzerland’s Federal Council, or cabinet, announced this week that it does not support two initiatives aimed at banning the importation into Switzerland of fois gras and fur products produced cruelly. In December 2023, the Swiss Animal Alliance submitted the two popular initiatives, one aimed at banning the import of foie gras and one aimed at […]
Swiss has no plan to end flights between Geneva and Zurich
Airlines are under pressure to cut short flights between locations that are well connected by rail. The logic being that trains have lower emissions that planes. Regular flights between Geneva and Zurich have long been criticised by environmentalists. However, this week, Swiss said it has no plans to cut flights between Switzerland’s two main cities, […]
Avalanche kills three in Zermatt
On Monday 1 April 2024 shortly after 2 pm, an avalanche at the ski resort of Zermatt killed three people and injured a fourth, reported Valais Police. The avalanche occurred in an off-piste area in the Riffelberg area on the Gornergrat side of the resort. The victims include a 15-year old American, a 25 year […]
The Swiss canton with the highest crime rate
Data published this week reveal Switzerland’s cantonal crime hotspot, a phenomenon connected to geography. In 2023, after a sharp rise, the canton of Basel-City recorded the largest number of violent crimes and the highest per capita rates of theft and burglary. The rate of violent crime reached 13.2 per 1,000 residents in the city in […]
No price rises for Swiss public transport in 2025
Alliance Swisspass, an organisation that stitches together Switzerland’s various public transport providers to create tickets and passes that work across the network, announced this week that there would be no ticket price increases in 2025, reported SRF. A recent rise in the number of people using the network is bringing in more revenue. This is […]
Some relief on Swiss electricity bills in pipeline
When we pay electricity bills we also have to pay for the infrastructure that brings it to our homes. Part of this infrastructure is run by Swissgrid. On 20 March 2024, Swissgrid announced a cut in what it charges from 2025. In 2025, a household with an annual consumption of 4,500 kWh will pay an […]
Swiss Rail struggles with debt despite high growth
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 […]