Swiss public transport faces demographic crisis as mass retirements loom

Various public transport providers in Switzerland are facing a wave of retirements in the coming years, which could lead to reduced services and staff shortages. In some cases, a third of the workforce will retire in the next five years.

Up to a third of BVB employees will retire by 2030

In comments given to national broadcaster SRF, many of the major public transport operators in Switzerland have warned of a demographic crisis. In Basel, the Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB) confirmed that approximately one-third of its workforce will reach retirement age by 2030.

"A situation like this has never happened before," BVB spokesperson Matthias Steiger told SRF. He noted that the wave of retirements poses “major challenges” for all parts of Basel’s transport network, with a large chunk of the region’s drivers, conductors, and technical staff soon set to hang up their boots. Baselland Transport confirmed that 15 percent of its drivers are also nearing 65 years old.

Across the country, other providers have also warned that they may soon face staff shortages and disruption. The main transport authorities in Lucerne noted that a quarter of its workers are close to retirement, Swiss Federal Railways reported that 8.000 employees, a quarter of its workforce, will reach retirement age by 2035, and 30 percent of Zentralbahn (ZB) employees are over 55 years old.

Swiss public transport too reliant on elderly workers

In addition, SRF noted that Switzerland’s trains, trams and buses already rely heavily on workers to continue clocking in after they reach retirement age. This has been facilitated by the “FLEXA” model, which allows older transport workers greater flexibility over working hours if they don’t want to retire.

However, many see this system as unsustainable: the director of the Olten Gösgen Gäu Bus Company, Roman Fischer, told SRF that the government should act to make transport training schemes more accessible and attractive, to help young talent join the sector. 

For instance, authorities could lower the minimum age of bus drivers, which currently stands at 21. Easing the language requirements of some positions could also coax more expats into roles, an essential move given that a majority of population growth in Switzerland will be because of immigration.

Though the demographic challenges faced by public transport seem bleak, there are some spurts of light on the horizon. SRF noted that the number of new bus drivers being trained in St. Gallen has risen significantly, while bus driver courses in Zurich are all full until the start of 2026.