Rapid escalation in Swiss fines for freight trucks
Swiss plans to reduce freight road traffic are set to miss targets.
Keystone
An increasing number of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are being pulled over for motoring offences at border crossings. Customs officials have reported 83% more violations in the last eight years, rising from 17,997 on 2010 to 32,967 last year.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch/mga
A further 24,464 fines and cautions were issued against HGVs according to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. Most infringements concerned overloaded vehicles, followed by sanctions against drivers who did not get enough rest. Some 100 drivers were caught drink-driving.
“Most drivers come from Eastern Europe, where working conditions are getting worse,” Jon Pult, president of the Alpine InitiativeExternal link told the newspaper. “It’s understandable that exploited drivers can’t take rest periods into account.”
Voters passed an initiative in 1994 to reduce the number of freight vehicles travelling through Switzerland to no more than 650,000. But last year the number still stood at 975,000 trips despite rail routes being beefed up in the alpine country, including the Gotthard base railway tunnel.
Last year the Federal Council confirmed earlier statements that Switzerland would not be able to reach the 650,000 limit by the end of this year despite more freight being transported by rail.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
This content was published on
Swiss companies are increasingly being targeted by cyber criminals. In the past quarter, every single company in this country was the target of a cyber attack an average of 1097 times a week.
Swiss households faced 21 minutes of power outages in 2024
This content was published on
End customers experienced an average of 21 minutes of electricity interruption in 2024. This resulted in 0.34 power outages per capita. The duration of electricity interruptions increased by three minutes compared to the previous year.
Swiss citizens will be voting on restricting wind farm expansion
This content was published on
On Friday, the Association for the Protection of Nature and Democracy submitted two initiatives aimed at curbing the expansion of wind farms. More than 110,000 signatures have been collected.
E-bike riders regularly break speed limit in residential areas
This content was published on
Fast e-bikes regularly exceed the speed limit in residential areas. According to a new study with data on cyclists in Zurich, they regularly reach speeds of over 30 km/h.
This content was published on
Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to find staff, a problem made more acute by the increased bargaining power of employees and increased absenteeism.
Switzerland very close to tariff deal with the US, says Roche CEO
This content was published on
An understanding between Berne and Washington in the dispute over customs barriers is close: Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker is convinced of this.
This content was published on
Late on Thursday in Geneva, pro-Palestinian demonstrators attacked the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in the international organisations district. They poured red paint over the entrance to the building.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
After 20 years, Alpine truck traffic still not on track
This content was published on
On that night of February 20, 1994, then-transport minister Adolf Ogi must have had trouble getting to sleep. The nation’s voters had just accepted the “Alpine Initiative”. The “yes” side had won with 51.9% of the votes and 19 cantons out of 26, and the popular Swiss People’s Party politician had just acquired the dubious distinction,…
Trains take on more cargo – but Swiss target will still be missed
This content was published on
Freight trucks make 975,000 trips through Switzerland each year, according to a survey released on Friday. That’s a fall of 5.6% in the period measured, between July 2015 and June 2017. At the same time, rail freight traffic grew 18.8%, reaching a market share of 71% by the end of last year. That’s almost three…
This content was published on
With five million cars and 900,000 long vehicles a year, the Gotthard road tunnel is one of the major crossing points in the Alps. 58% of vehicles crossing the Swiss Alps transit by the tunnel, which links Göschenen in the north and Airolo on the southern side. At 16.9 km it is one of the…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.