If you don’t book online, you’ll get left behind

To help the elderly use their online services, the Swiss Federal Railways has teamed up with a charity to offer training courses for their non-tech-savvy customers. (SRF, swissinfo.ch)

Saver tickets, which offer cheaper fares for specific train times, are only available online. The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) is generally becoming increasingly digital, and many ticket counters are closing. But what does this mean for older people? Pro Senectute, an organisation that supports the elderly, is running free courses with the Swiss Railways to help this generation learn how to use the public transport app. 

The aim of the course is for the participants to feel confident using a smartphone to check the train timetable, look for the best connection and buy tickets. The training is interactive and takes about two hours. 

In 2017, 84.8% Swiss Federal Railways’ tickets were sold through self-service methods and of these, 32.7% were purchased through digital channels, a trend that is on the rise.