SBB to supply 100 million francs in reductions over two years
The nationwide railway firm, SBB, mentioned on Thursday that it’s going to ‘provide’ a complete of 100 million francs to commuters by way of discounted ’supersaver‘ tickets for 2025 and 2026.
This sum — 50 million francs for 2025 and the identical quantity for 2026 —was agreed between the SBB and the federal government’s value monitoring service. It’s greater than the 37 million francs earmarked for reductions final 12 months.
These tickets will permit commuters to learn from decrease fares on some journeys and at sure occasions, in change for the shoppers’ dedication to make use of these reductions just for the particular trains; in any other case; they’d lose their validity.
Stefan Meierhans, Switzerland’s official value monitor, mentioned that the discounted tickets are “efficient and honest” instruments for selling the usage of public transport and attaining the specified incentive results.
This Swiss metropolis has the bottom rents — however there’s a catch
A comparability of the typical rents in 10 Swiss cities reveals the place you possibly can reside cheaper than elsewhere in city areas.
That place, in line with newest figures from actual property analysts at Wüest & Associate, is St.Gallen.
A four-room, 100-square-metre condominium within the northeastern municipality prices on common simply 1,650 francs — lower than half of what tenants must pay in Zurich, which is simply 45 minutes away.
There’s additionally no housing scarcity on this metropolis and hardly any queues for condominium viewings. By comparability, in Zurich, about 14,000 functions have been obtained lately for the 193 vacant flats within the new Tramdepot housing growth.
There’s, nevertheless, a cause why that’s.
Robert Weinert of Wüest Associate attributes low rents to town’s „below-average financial growth.“
St. Gallen creates few new jobs, and little is invested in current buildings by way of renovations, he mentioned.
Commercial
Survey: Switzerland’s picture overseas is ‘very optimistic’ (although there are exceptions too)
In 2024, foreigners “continued to see Switzerland in a really optimistic gentle general,” in line with a survey revealed on Thursday by Presence Switzerland, an organisation liable for disseminating the federal government’s technique overseas and monitoring how overseas media portrays the nation.
It discovered that many foreigners “have a optimistic, however usually clichéd, picture of Switzerland as a affluent nation with stunning mountain surroundings. Folks additionally routinely affiliate Switzerland with high-quality merchandise like chocolate and watches.”
Particular areas, equivalent to Swiss banking and neutrality, are additionally considered positively.
The research additionally famous that the farther a given nation is from Switzerland, the extra folks there assume by way of stereotypes and clichés.
Perceptions of Switzerland in neighbouring nations, alternatively, “are sometimes extra nuanced and attitudes considerably extra sceptical than in nations additional afield. For instance, folks in Germany and Austria usually affiliate Switzerland with excessive costs,” Presence Switzerland reported.
Commercial
Journey alert: For those who plan to take a practice to Italy this weekend — don’t
Quite a few trains are circulating between Switzerland and Italy every day, however a few of these companies could also be disrupted over the weekend.
That’s as a result of state-owned rail operator Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), which incorporates Trenitalia and Trenord, in addition to non-public firm Italo, plan to strike for twenty-four hours — from 9 pm on Saturday, February twenty second, to 9 pm on Sunday, February twenty third.
You possibly can discover out which (if any) cross-border companies might be affected earlier than you go.
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