Record temperatures boost ship traffic
Ferry services on Switzerland's lakes and rivers carried 13.6 million people last year, the most ever.
The Swiss public transport information service said that the figure represented a two per cent increase over 2006. It attributed the record to unseasonably warm temperatures.
Shipping on Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland saw the most traffic, closely followed by Lake Zurich.
Floods in August had restricted access to some ports and limited traffic, although an unseasonably warm spring, several perfect weekends during the summer and a warm autumn more than made up for the shortfall.
The transport information service said the month of April – the warmest in the 143 years since meteorologists began keeping records – provided a good start to the season.
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