Advertisement

Swiss MPs ‘shouldn’t get free first-class travel’

The Local
The Local - [email protected]
Swiss MPs ‘shouldn’t get free first-class travel’
Photo: SBB

A Swiss politician has said that MPs should only receive a second-class rail pass instead of a first-class pass in order to reduce the burden on the federal budget.

Advertisement

Lukas Reimann, a Swiss People’s Party (SVP) MP from St Gallen, said if all politicians were given a second-class annual GA travelcard – which allows unlimited travel in Switzerland – instead of a first-class one, the government would save 600,000 francs a year, reported 20 Minuten.

“If someone wants to travel in luxury class they only have to pay the price difference,” he said.

Lodging a bill on the subject, Reimann also proposed that civil servants and Swiss federal railways (SBB) employees should no longer receive the first-class GA, which on December 11th goes up to 6,300 francs a year.

If all those currently receiving the first-class pass as part of their job got a second-class one instead, the country could “save millions of francs,” he told the paper.

Any MP in the two houses of the Swiss parliament is entitled to the first-class GA, as well as civil servants who travel for work more than 90 days a year.

According to the paper 34 out of 246 MPs have refused the pass.

Last year 17,000 SBB employees also received a first-class travelcard, which SBB told 20 Minuten “formed part of their taxable salary”.

Some MPs were unimpressed by Reimann's suggestion, saying such a move would only add to the problem of over-crowding in second-class train carriages.

Kurt Schreiber, president of the Pro Bahn association, said it could push certain MPs to take the car instead. “And that’s not the point”.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also