The scenic resort of Saas Fee is taking part in a ground-breaking project in Switzerland aimed at reducing the amount of visitors using their own cars to get there. The project will save a many a traveller's muscles as well.

The scenic resort of Saas Fee is taking part in a ground-breaking project in Switzerland aimed at reducing the amount of visitors using their own cars to get there. The project will save a many a traveller's muscles as well.

Under a pilot project, travellers arriving by bus or train in Saas Fee, canton Valais, will be able to have their luggage picked up for free at their point of arrival and delivered to their hotel or chalet.

Saas Fee is already one of Switzerland's car-free mountain resorts. Electric cars or taxis currently ferry guests who arrive by train or who park their vehicles in large allotments on the outskirts of their destinations. But that service usually comes at a price.

The projected new free door-to-door service will complement the scheme under which passengers can pay the federal railways and bus authorities to check in their luggage prior to departure from most locations in Switzerland and can then pick it up on arrival at their final destination's station or bus depot.

The pilot project is part of Saas Fee's policy of preserving the environment. Authorities hope the number of cars rumbling through nearby villages to get to the resort will be cut back.

The pilot project is being supported financially by the federal and cantonal authorities which are paying the lion's share of the overall SFr185,000 cost.

Similar door-to-door free delivery schemes already exist in resorts in Austria, France and Germany.

If the pilot project in Saas Fee is a success, authorities expect to introduce the scheme in time for the next winter season.

From staff and wire reports

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