Public transport firms to draw up national list of fare dodgers

An inspector checks commuters' tickets on a train from Lausanne to Brig Keystone

Anyone caught without a valid ticket on public transport in Switzerland will end up on a national register from April 2019, Swiss public radio, SRF, reports. The aim of the list is to improve the coordination of fines handed out by public transport companies. 

CH-direct,External link an association responsible for public transport in Switzerland, confirmed to SRF on SaturdayExternal link that a fare-dodgers register would be gradually introduced in Switzerland to cover the entire country. An individual’s name will remain on the list for two years, it said. 

The aim of the register is to improve firms’ ability to prosecute people who repeatedly refuse to buy tickets on different public transport in Switzerland, and to impose higher fines. 

At present, transport companies and transport associations – such as the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF), Bern Mobil or Postbus Switzerland – only keep individual registers of ticket dodgers. In the future, if someone is caught without a valid ticket on a Bern tram for the first time, they will pay the lowest fine there. If they are caught again without a valid ticket on an SBB/CFF train, they will be charged a higher-level fine.

A CH-direct spokesman told SRF that the national register had been jointly agreed by all transport companies in Switzerland. This move represents as change, as until recently many regional transport companies had opposed a national register, SRF said. 

CH-direct is in touch with the Federal Data Protection Commissioner to ensure the national list complies with data protection requirements, SRF reported.