SBB trialling card-only restaurant cars on trains

Swiss Federal Railways has announced that it has begun trialling cashless restaurant cars on one route in the alpine nation. If successful, the scheme might be rolled out to other lines across Switzerland. 

Cash not accepted on IC51 between Biel and Basel until mid-December

In a bid to optimise its catering services, SBB will no longer accept cash in its SBB Restaurants and SBB Bistros on the IC51 line between Biel and Basel. Only credit and debit cards and mobile payments like Twint, Apple Pay and Google Pay will be accepted, as well as public transport vouchers. 

The trial, which lasts from October 7 until December 13, 2025, is expected to reduce waiting times, speed up service, and improve hygiene through contactless payments, according to an SBB press release. 

Swiss transport operators stepping away from cash

If the trial is successful, it seems likely that the move will be rolled out on other SBB services in the future. Indeed, the public transport operator is largely stepping away from cash payments. For example, toilets in stations now only accept card payments. 

Other transport operators in Switzerland are doing the same. In Aargau, for instance, the local transport operator AVA will replace all ticket machines to switch to cashless payments by 2027. BLS also recently announced that it would switch to cashless ticket machines in Bern by mid-2026. Last year, Lucerne announced that cash payments would no longer be accepted on buses in the city. 

However, in June 2024, the Swiss parliament voted in favour of a motion that called for the development of a measure ensuring that Swiss transport companies accept cash or a simple alternative that works without the need for a smartphone. For now, the acceptance of cash still remains enshrined in the Federal Act of Currency and Means of Payment.