Four teenagers have been fined 75 francs each by the Zentralbahn in Lucerne for entering and standing in the first-class carriage on their way home from school. Even though they did not sit down and had a valid second-class ticket, the public transport provider asserted that they were breaking the rules.
Our story, as reported by SRF, starts at midday, when the four 15-year-olds were looking to travel the four minutes from their school at Lucerne Allmend to Lucerne central station. However, when the train arrived it became clear that all the second-class carriages, including the vestibules, were completely full of people.
Therefore, to try and get on before the train departed, the four moved to the next door which happened to be for the first-class carriage. But as they walked through the entrance, the group were confronted by two ticket inspectors, and despite not sitting down and possessing a season ticket for the route (in second class), all four were issued with a 75-franc fine for simply entering and briefly standing in the carriage.
This drew the ire of one of their mothers, who called on SBB and other transport providers to show more leniency in future. Speaking to SRF, she said that inspectors shouldn't fine the behaviour, considering "that in a hurry people take the first entrance they find and then fight their way through to the second class."
The incident highlights what to many commuters is an unknown rule: Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) confirmed in a statement that even if you don’t sit down, standing in the entranceway, corridor or vestibule of a first-class carriage without a first-class ticket is forbidden.
Boarding through a first-class carriage with a second-class ticket is only acceptable if you immediately make your way to second class. Passengers can travel through the first class carriage, but cannot stop.
Swiss transport providers’ attitude to the practice has become significantly stricter in recent years. In 2016, SBB told Watson that "on regional trains, passengers with a second-class ticket are allowed to stay in the entrance area of a first-class carriage" and that it is only prohibited on long-distance services. What’s more, they assured that few would be fined for standing in first class: "The train attendants will kindly point [the rule] out and usually do not charge a surcharge."
In response, SBB told SRF that it could not recall this answer, as its archives do not go back as far as 2016. The Luzerner Zentralbahn added in a statement that its workers acted correctly in fining the teenagers, adding that all passengers must abide by the rules whether their journeys last an hour or five minutes.
However, perhaps hinting that their reaction may have been too extreme, both companies agreed to reduce the teenager’s fines by half as a gesture of goodwill.
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