Swiss railways’ ‘invisible disabilities’ lanyards prove popular

Ribbons for travellers with invisible disabilities are in demand Keystone-SDA

According to the Swiss Federal Railways, there is great interest in its lanyards for travellers with invisible disabilities. The lanyards have been available at selected railway stations since mid-June.

“We are positively surprised by the response and the demand,” said a spokesperson for the company on Tuesday in response to an enquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. The launch was a success and other companies have already expressed interest in the experience.

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Since June, people with disabilities have been receiving the “Hidden Disabilities Sunflower” project lanyard free of charge and without the need for proof at 16 railway travel centres in the greater Zurich and Geneva areas. According to its own information, the Swiss Federal Railways is the first Swiss public transport company to support travellers with invisible disabilities in this way.

Sunflowers on a green background

Specifically, it is a green lanyard with yellow sunflowers. It is also known as the Sunflower Lanyard and is intended for people with disabilities such as autism, ADHD or Parkinson’s disease. It is intended to signal that the person wearing it may need more patience, consideration or support when checking tickets, for example.

For the time being, 10,000 lanyards are available. In the autumn, an internal assessment will done on how to proceed. The plan is to deploy them throughout Switzerland from 2026, with CHF25,000 budgeted for the procurement of lanyards.

Political initiatives on the sunflower lanyards are pending in the city of Zurich and the canton of Basel-City. The aim is to examine whether it could be introduced in administration or schools, for example.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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