Ticino commuters miss out on the new timetable
Published: Thursday, Dec 7th 2023, 10:01
Updated At: Thursday, Dec 7th 2023, 10:01
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From Sunday, significantly more passenger trains will be running through the Gotthard Base Tunnel again. However, commuters from Ticino will not benefit from the faster connections, as the new timetable is tailored to Swiss-German tourists traveling between Friday and Sunday.
"It was a shock," says Alessandro Calò. We're not talking about the freight train that derailed last August, but about the new timetable.
The fact that SBB will once again be running 31 trains a week through the base tunnel from December 10, but all of them between Friday and Sunday, has really upset him, says Calò in unison with various other fellow sufferers interviewed by the Keystone-SDA news agency. "As a commuter who travels to German-speaking Switzerland five times a week, I'm unhappy with the situation."
Calò has Italian roots and grew up in southern Germany. He and his family decided to move to Ticino 13 years ago. For him, the southern canton is the "royal road between Germany and Italy". The qualified teacher applied several times for a job in Ticino. However, long and complicated application procedures have made it impossible for him to get a job in the southern canton to date. So he has stuck to his job near the Gotthard.
"SBB does nothing for Ticino commuters"
With the "normal", i.e. fast connections through the base tunnel, the route is easily manageable, says Calò. But since the derailment of a freight train, the 51-year-old has been traveling four hours a day instead of just under two. And that's five days a week.
The worst days are Monday and Wednesday. That's when the secondary school teacher, who teaches PE, biology, German and handicrafts, has to get on the train in Bellinzona at 5.07 am. Otherwise he won't make it to the first lesson at 7.40 a.m. in Arth-Goldau. Since the accident in the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the majority of passenger trains have been running on the old mountain route. This will increase travel times between north and south by around an hour until the tunnel reopens next September.
Calò is happy in Bellinzona, he appreciates the high quality of life in Ticino. He has long been satisfied with the service provided by SBB, he says. But now the Federal Railways are simply not doing enough for Ticino's GA travelcard customers, who pay around 330 francs a month. "We commuters contribute to the canton doing well, I pay my taxes here," says Calò. But with the new timetable, commuters are being taken for a ride.
There are certainly ways to accommodate Ticino travelers, Calò believes. For example, the rail company could open up 1st class to 2nd class GA customers. An extraordinary extension of the duration of "Ticino GAs" by a few weeks would also be conceivable. After the SBB distributed Appenzeller Biberli in the first few weeks after the derailment in order to raise the mood among passengers, there is now "no more treat" for the longer journey. That bothers Calò.
Three and a half hours to Baden
Thomas Falter takes an even longer route. The 63-year-old works as an orthopaedic surgeon in Baden and lives in the old town of Ascona. The Ticino native currently spends three and a half hours on the train each way to work. "I lose two hours every day," says Falter. He will have to make up this time at some point.
"I don't understand why SBB doesn't also run a train through the base tunnel for commuters in the morning and evening during the week." SBB is obviously a "profit-oriented company" and mainly geared towards tourism. Falter has already complained to SBB's customer service department, but so far it has been to no avail.
SBB itself justifies the focus on the weekend with the higher volume of travel on the north-south axis. In addition, demand for freight traffic is lower at this time.
Despite the longer commute, Thomas Falter is not prepared to turn his life upside down and spend the night in Baden. "The mentality in Ticino is different, you simply feel more at home there."
Less time with the family
Hans-Peter Freitag's life has also changed with the closure of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The 62-year-old spends more nights in German-speaking Switzerland due to the longer journey, which has affected his family life.
Freitag works in the Human Resources department at ETH Zurich and rents a small apartment in his home town of Zug, which is why the situation is not quite as serious for him as it is for other commuters. Nevertheless, he is annoyed by SBB's planning: "I miss that slightly 'different view' that also includes the Ticino perspective."
©Keystone/SDA
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