This is the conclusion of an analysis carried out by Stefan Meierhans, Switzerland’s official ‘price monitor.’
He found that the price of train tickets and travel cards soared in the last 10 years, while the cost of car journeys has increased only minimally during this period.
“The price/cost evolution between rail and road seen in the last 10 years continues to worsen,” Meierhans said in a report published on Wednesday, pointing out that “for some sections, the price of public transport has doubled.”
By comparison, since 1990, the cost of driving has only increased by 1.24.
“This is not a pleasing performance, clearly contrary to the government’s mobility objectives,” which privilege trains over cars.
Are Swiss trains really so expensive?
Everything is relative, of course, but studies do indicate that Switzerland ‘leads’ the world in terms of public transport costs.
One such international survey, for instance, placed Switzerland in the first place in terms of transport prices, saying that “Switzerland is known for being a really expensive place to live, so it’s not too surprising to see that it is the number one most expensive country for public transport fares.”
For instance, an annual pass (GA) for second class costs 3,995 francs a year for people over 26 years of age, 2,780 for those between 16 and 26, and 3,040 francs for pensioners.
It allows limitless travel on all modes of public transport throughout the country for a year, but for many people it is still a lot of money.
Why has the price of train tickets been going up?
There a number of reasons for that, the main one being that Switzerland is an all-around expensive country.
There is also inflation which increased the general cost of living for all products and services.
Questions have been raised in the past why fares in Switzerland can’t be comparable to Austria’s, a neighbour country where a travel pass is three times cheaper than its Swiss equivalent.
“Our rail network is more developed and offers more services and connections than Austria’s and that difference is reflected in prices,” according to Helmut Eichorn, director of SwissPass Alliance.
And its spokesperson, Reto Hügli, added that prices are justified because “Switzerland is a world leader in terms of public transport quality — for example in terms of timetables, frequency of connections, transfer options, and regional accessibility.”
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