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Swiss public transport smart card set for use

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
Swiss public transport smart card set for use
Photo: SBB

Users of public transport in Switzerland will have access to a smart card that serves as an annual pass or a half-price card starting late next summer.

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The Swiss union of public transport (Verband Öffentlicher Verkehr) announced on Tuesday that the “SwissPass” card would be introduced on August 1st 2015.

The technology is a “step forward in the future of public transport,” Ueli Stückelberger, director of the VÖV said in a statement.

“The introduction of the SwissPass in a little more than six months is a great challenge but our sector is ready.”

The card is designed to serve as a “key to mobility”, allowing travellers to use it seamlessly for trips by rail, bus, boat and mountain lifts.

The SwissPass will bring a uniform standard to electronic checks of public transport tickets, Stuckelberger said In Bern.

The function and use of current passes will not change and the Swiss regulations regarding the protection of personal data will be respected, the VÖV said.

In addition, card holders will be able to use it for supplementary services such as PubliBike (bike rental) Switzerland Mobility (alternative transportation such as mountain biking, skating and canoeing) and Mobility Carsharing.

The SwissCard has already been successfully tried out in a pilot project with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and Zentralbahn, a railway in central Switzerland, the transport union said.

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