BERN. Rail passengers will pay 3.6 per cent more for their tickets from the December timetable change, not the 4.39 per cent the industry wanted. Documents released on Monday show that the Price Supervisor, Stefan Meierhans, spent months negotiating Alliance SwissPass down from its original demand, a correction the transport companies had agreed among themselves to keep quiet.
The number that matters to households is smaller and harder. The GA travelcard, the flat-rate key to the country’s trains, buses, trams and boats, rises by CHF 100 to CHF 4,095 in second class when the new timetable begins on 13 December. The industry had asked for CHF 200. As reported when the rise was first announced, the increase carries the GA across the CHF 4,000 line for the first time in its history.
The supervisor’s office justified the cut with the elasticity of demand: the assumption, built into the industry’s pricing model, that passengers keep paying roughly whatever is asked. The documents show Meierhans unconvinced that a model calibrated before the home office era still describes how commuters respond. Alliance SwissPass and the supervisor will now recalculate the elasticity together, with results due by mid-2029, in time for the next round of negotiations.
What the industry conceded
SwissPass accepted the lower figure without public protest. The railways point to energy, staff and fleet costs that have all climbed since the last adjustment, and to an investment programme that includes the largest fleet renewal in SBB’s history. Passenger associations reply that the industry chose its moment poorly: premiums, rents and food have all risen at once, and the season ticket is the one bill commuters can see coming.
The supervision itself is a Swiss peculiarity. The Price Supervisor cannot forbid a price rise in a deregulated market, but public transport fares are not one of those: federal law gives the office a formal seat whenever the licensed carriers adjust their tariffs. A halved rise is the visible outcome of a negotiation that usually leaves no trace at all.
What changes in December
From 13 December the new prices apply across the network, including the half-fare card and the zonal tickets. A GA bought before the change keeps its old price until it expires, which is why the renewal desks at the end of November are always the busiest of the year.
The mid-2029 review is the part to watch. If the recalculated elasticity shows that passengers are more price sensitive than the industry assumes, the argument that fares can rise a little every year loses its foundation. If it shows the opposite, December’s halved rise will look, in retrospect, like the cheap one.