https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Switzerland in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Holders of half-fare travel cards for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) are set to receive a modest gift in the mail. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160126/half-fare-card-rail-users-to-get-ten-franc-break Wed, 27 Jan 2016 00:41:39 +0100 half-fare-card-rail-users-to-get-ten-franc-break Federal authorities have backed down from a decision ordering Swiss Federal Railways to remove some of the tactile floor lines installed to guide the blind in Zurich’s underground train station. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160118/order-to-remove-floor-guides-for-blind Mon, 18 Jan 2016 21:58:34 +0100 order-to-remove-floor-guides-for-blind Advocates for the blind are crying foul after federal officials ordered the removal of certain tactile guide paths in Zurich’s new underground train station. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160118/zurich-station-told-to-remove-path-guides-for-blind Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:57:17 +0100 zurich-station-told-to-remove-path-guides-for-blind Bitterly cold weather in parts of Switzerland led to disruptions in rail traffic on the national network, Swiss Federal Railways SBB) said on Monday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160118/rail-passengers-face-delays-as-ice-freezes-equipment Mon, 18 Jan 2016 10:49:05 +0100 rail-passengers-face-delays-as-ice-freezes-equipment Bern is forking out more than one billion francs ($1 billion) for the underground extension of Geneva’s main train station, Cornavin. https://www.thelocal.ch/20151208/plans-for-1-6-billion-underground-geneva-station-agreed Tue, 08 Dec 2015 09:33:18 +0100 plans-for-1-6-billion-underground-geneva-station-agreed Users of Swiss trains are bracing for new schedules starting this weekend as the 2016 timetable kicks in, marking the most sweeping changes in more than a decade. https://www.thelocal.ch/20151207/swiss-train-users-warned-of-sweeping-timetable-changes Mon, 07 Dec 2015 11:54:48 +0100 swiss-train-users-warned-of-sweeping-timetable-changes Regional rail traffic was expected to remain disrupted until Monday noon on the Gotthard railway following a rockslide on the trans-Alpine line linking northern Switzerland to the southern canton of Ticino. https://www.thelocal.ch/20151122/rockfall-disrupts-trains-on-gotthard-line Mon, 23 Nov 2015 00:22:42 +0100 rockfall-disrupts-trains-on-gotthard-line In a bid to improve punctuality, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has launched a pilot project where long-distance trains arriving at a station do not wait for connecting trains. https://www.thelocal.ch/20151026/zero-tolerance-punctuality-plan-aimed-for-trains Mon, 26 Oct 2015 09:41:32 +0100 zero-tolerance-punctuality-plan-aimed-for-trains Shopping for supermarket items by smartphone and picking them up at the train station half an hour later is now possible under a pilot project introduced on Tuesday in the Zurich region. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150902/zurich-train-station-starts-online-shopping-deliveries Wed, 02 Sep 2015 10:00:23 +0200 zurich-train-station-starts-online-shopping-deliveries One of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) emblematic locomotives headed out of the country on Monday for a final trip — to a transport museum in Sweden. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150831/iconic-swiss-train-heads-to-swedish-museum Mon, 31 Aug 2015 13:52:09 +0200 iconic-swiss-train-heads-to-swedish-museum Police in the canton of Saint Gallen on Tuesday arrested a 20-year-old British man for assaulting a conductor after being thrown off a train for not having a ticket. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150819/briton-held-for-knocking-out-train-officials-teeth Wed, 19 Aug 2015 10:06:17 +0200 briton-held-for-knocking-out-train-officials-teeth Train manufacturer Bombardier and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) on Monday unveiled a model of the new double-decker passenger trains the state-owned rail operator ordered five years ago for two billion francs ($2.15 billion). https://www.thelocal.ch/20150608/bombardier-and-sbb-unveil-double-decker-trains Mon, 08 Jun 2015 22:15:11 +0200 bombardier-and-sbb-unveil-double-decker-trains The new timetable for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to be introduced in December represents the biggest change in the network’s schedule in more than a decade, the state-owned rail operator said on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150527/rail-timetable-changes-for-2016-biggest-in-decade Wed, 27 May 2015 10:30:57 +0200 rail-timetable-changes-for-2016-biggest-in-decade Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has contracted out with 80 four-footed individuals to cut the grass in areas alongside rail tracks. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150517/railways-rely-on-sheep-to-mow-grass-along-tracks Sun, 17 May 2015 22:30:04 +0200 railways-rely-on-sheep-to-mow-grass-along-tracks Reporting on suicides committed by people jumping in front of a train is a taboo subject in Switzerland but Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) this week opened a public debate in a bid to reduce the death toll. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150507/swiss-federal-railways-tackle-suicide-taboo Thu, 07 May 2015 22:17:45 +0200 swiss-federal-railways-tackle-suicide-taboo Five hundred passengers from an Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) train were evacuated on Sunday afternoon after a landslide in the canton of Fribourg cut rail traffic between Bern and Lausanne. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150503/swiss-train-passengers-evacuated-after-landslide Sun, 03 May 2015 21:41:07 +0200 swiss-train-passengers-evacuated-after-landslide Switzerland’s rail system remains the best in Europe when considering a range of measures to evaluate performance, a report issued by a management consultant on Tuesday said. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150428/swiss-trains-register-best-performance-in-europe Wed, 29 Apr 2015 00:03:56 +0200 swiss-trains-register-best-performance-in-europe Passenger rail traffic will remain disrupted for several days on the Lausanne-Yverdon route in the canton of Vaud following the derailment of a freight train carrying hazardous goods at the weekend, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150426/derailment-disrupts-lausanne-yverdon-trains Mon, 27 Apr 2015 00:48:22 +0200 derailment-disrupts-lausanne-yverdon-trains If you are a qualified train driver looking for work, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) is hiring — and in a hurry. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150420/sbb-looks-abroad-to-hire-train-drivers Mon, 20 Apr 2015 14:00:15 +0200 sbb-looks-abroad-to-hire-train-drivers Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) pledged on Thursday not to raise train fares this year following positive results for 2014 with higher ridership and increased profit. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150326/train-fares-will-not-increase-this-year-sbb Thu, 26 Mar 2015 12:07:42 +0100 train-fares-will-not-increase-this-year-sbb