20 Minutes. Bern would like to discourage travel at peak times. One option under consideration is charging extra for travel at peak times. According to official figures, there were around 4.3 million commuters in Switzerland in 2014, a little over half the population. Many travelling at peak times suffer from crowded trains or traffic jams. In […]
The new Swiss trains with WiFi
At some point between now and 2019, travellers on some Swiss trains will be able to connect to WiFi. The WiFi equipment will be installed in trains used for two routes. The new Giruno trains linking Zurich, and nearby cities, to Italy via the new Gotthard tunnel, and the former Cisalpino trains linking Geneva to Italy […]
Driverless buses let loose on the streets of Swiss Alpine town
The “SmartShuttle” is Switzerland’s first driverless bus. It’s running on an experimental basis through the narrow streets of the old town of Sion, the capital of The Valais. I took a ride on Wednesday. The bus has the same appeal as the old Volkswagen Beetle: ugly as hell but so practical. PostAuto’s yellow and white […]
Traffic jams cost Switzerland 1.6 billion francs a year
The Swiss government has calculated that traffic congestion costs the country CHF 1.6 billion annually. The report, published on 23 June 2016, shows that traffic congestion costs the country CHF 1.6 billion annually (2010) in lost time, wasted fuel, environmental damage and accidents. And these costs continue to rise. The cost of time lost in […]
Heatwave warning in Switzerland
20 Minuten. The weather website MeteoNews warns of a heatwave in Switzerland. After a more or less non-existent summer in Switzerland so far this year, temperatures have shot up. Many parts of the country are experiencing temperatures above 30 degrees today. MeteoNews has issued heatwave warnings for Switzerland’s central plateau, the Basel and Rhone regions, […]
Swiss solar plane arrives in Spain after 71-hour Atlantic crossing
Both plane and pilot are well. After a 71-hour 8-minute (three days and three nights) flight, the Swiss designed 100% solar powered aircraft and its lone pilot, Bertrand Piccard, touched down at Seville Airport in Spain at 7:38am local time. The total flight distance across the Atlantic from NYC was 6,765 km. Solar Impulse 2 has now […]
Too much pesticide on Swiss strawberries, says report
Laboratory analysis of conventionally grown strawberries picked from strawberry farms in Thurgau and Bern’s Seeland region, along with samples from Switzerland’s supermarkets, shows they contain high levels of pollution. The study, requested by Greenpeace, involved testing samples of fruit and soil. Among the 20 different pesticides found across all of the samples, fungicides were the […]
Swiss solar plane takes on the Atlantic – video and live updates
Solar Impulse 2 left New York on Monday on its way across the Atlantic Ocean. The 100% solar-powered plane is expected to land at Seville Airport in Spain on Thursday 23 June, a four-day four-night non-stop flight. The Atlantic crossing is one of the most challenging legs the aircraft’s global flight. Swiss adventurer, Bertrand Piccard is […]
Switzerland’s longest day today
Switzerland’s longest day of the year is here. Every 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, the earth travelling at around 110,000 km/h, completes a circuit of the sun. The longest day occurs in each hemisphere, when it reaches the point in this annual journey where it is most inclined towards the sun. In Switzerland that day […]
All but one of Switzerland’s five nuclear reactors meet radiation targets
Every year the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) measures the radioactivity of liquid waste coming out of Switzerland’s nuclear reactors. A nuclear site emitting less than a gigabecquerel over a year meets ENSI’s target. A gigabecquerel is one billion bebecquerel, a measure of radioactive emissions named after French physicist Henri Bebecquerel. Figures released on 9 June 2016, show that […]
