Switzerland and Italy sign pact to boost cross-border public transport
By Jan de Boer
From 2025, passengers looking to travel between Switzerland and Italy will benefit from simpler, more user-friendly public transport connections, the government has confirmed. The new agreement will make it easier for Swiss and Italian passengers to use buses which cross the border.
Switzerland simplifies cross-border public transport services with Italy
Speaking at a press conference, Transport Minister Albert Rösti (SVP) announced that together with Italian Vice Minister of Transport Edoardo Rixi, he had signed a new agreement on cross-border public transport. The agreement is due to come into force at the beginning of 2025.
Currently, transport firms and those who use cross-border bus services between Swiss cantons and Italy face several restrictions. For example, if Swiss travellers use an Italian bus running from Sion to Milan, they cannot get off the service until it crosses the Italian border.
The same applies in reverse - Italians riding on a (theoretical) PostBus between Milan and Lugano would not be able to get off at Milan Malpensa or Varese but instead must wait until the bus crosses into Ticino. Thanks to the new agreement, all passengers will be able to get on and off cross-border buses as they please.
New agreement will lead to expansion of services, says Transport Minister
"With this agreement, we are laying the foundations for a simpler and more attractive public transport in border regions,” Rösti wrote in the statement. Thanks to the pact, Italy joins Germany, Austria, France and Liechtenstein in allowing travellers to freely use cross-border services with Switzerland, with the hope the agreement will lead to a bevvy of new services between the two countries.
Rösti predicted that "regular bus connections between Lombardy and the canton of Ticino, between Aosta and Lower Valais, and between Chiavenna and the Engadine will benefit" from the agreement. However, the Federal Office for Transport added that it does not apply to bus services run by international providers such as FlixBus and Eurolines.
Thumb image credit: Michael Derrer Fuchs / Shutterstock.com
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more