After announcing that the cost of public transport tickets would rise by 4,3 percent on average by the end of 2023, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has now revised its plan for the end of this year. It follows a new deal between rail authorities and the official price monitor for Switzerland that will see prices rise less than planned. Here's what you need to know:
Back in April 2023, the national public transport provider announced that for the first time in seven years, the cost of rail tickets in Switzerland would be rising. It followed reports that SBB suffered losses of 245 million Swiss francs in 2022, and with government subsidies also set to fall, SBB General Manager Vincent Ducrot said at the time that price rises would be inevitable.
Now, an agreement has been reached between the official price monitor for the Swiss government, Alliance SwissPass - the ticket regulator - and SBB itself. While the deal will still allow SBB to raise rates, some of the rises will be scrapped or reduced.
From December 10, 2023, price rises for national public transport will be capped at an average of 3,7 percent, instead of the 4,3 percent announced in April. The biggest change announced is the new expected cost of a second-class GA travel card: instead of rising by 5,7 percent, the cost of the GA will increase by just 3,5 percent, meaning an annual subscription for someone over 25 years old will cost 3.995 francs a year instead of 4.080.
First-class GA holders will only see fees increase by 3,5 percent at the end of the year. In all, according to the price monitor, holders of all access GAs will save a total of 12 million francs a year thanks to the deal. The price monitor has also been able to eliminate price rises on savings, children’s, school, junior, dog and luggage tickets.
However, price increases of 4,2 percent will still apply to standard fare, day, multi-journey and class change passes. The cost of the Half-fare travel card (Halbtax-abo) will also rise by 5 francs a year, meaning a new card will cost 190 francs, while annual extensions will cost 170.
Finally, the deal will see SBB make a commitment to offer more second-class saver tickets for long-distance travel between Swiss cities. The company will put 37 million francs towards offering a limited number of tickets at a cut price, and they must provide evidence that they are selling said tickets by the end of January 2025.
In a statement given to Watson, the official price monitor admitted that it was “not enthusiastic” about the deal. They argued that SBB's price rises come at exactly the wrong time, as people continue to deal with the higher cost of health insurance, food, fuel, rent and the rising cost of living in general.
They added that it seemed “incomprehensible” that the cost of second-class tickets would rise faster than first-class, concluding that for the sake of the climate, public transport should take steps to make itself more affordable and attractive for users.
In response, like in April, Alliance SwissPass argued that ticket prices in Switzerland have not risen for seven years - the longest time Swiss rail companies have gone without an increase. At a time when SBB has expanded its services, inflation continues to be an issue and federal support is being reduced, price rises are somewhat inevitable.
What’s more, while the deal with SBB has now been concluded, several regional transport firms have also submitted their own price rises for approval. The official price monitor told Watson that they will be examining proposals from Passepartout (Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden), LIbero (Bern, Solothurn) and ZVV (Zurich).
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