Over half of Swiss workers use public transport to get to work – compared to 34% of Europeans – and they feel less stressed than if they had taken their car, a survey has revealed.

Around 20% of Swiss commuters who use public transport say they feel stressed when they arrive at their place of work. This compares to 32% of car drivers, a Europe-wide survey by the PageGroup recruitment company, published on Tuesday, has found.

Despite having shorter journeys to work, 24% of French-speakers said they felt stressed on their way into the workplace versus 17% of German-speakers.

In French-speaking Switzerland the average journey to work takes 38 minutes, compared to 43 in German-speaking regions. The European average is 42 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Swiss are generally delighted with the punctuality of their public transport: 94% said it was efficient, compared to 75% as a European average. The Italians are the least content with their public transport networks (only 54% satisfied), ahead of the French (64%), Germans (77%) and Austrians (89%).

The PageGroup survey questioned 12,485 people in Europe, including 1,558 Swiss residents in various parts of the country.