Road and Rail Competition in Switzerland
Page 69
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FOLLOWING the example of the 12 German State Railway Exploitation Co., the authorities of the Swiss Federal railways have recently issued a booklet dealing with the effect on the railways of the growing competition of motor road vehicles, both as regards passengers and goods transport
It is estimated that road vehicles are reducing the railway receipts by between 1400,000 and 1600,000 per year in the
passenger-carrying business, and from £800,000 to 11,000,000 in goods transport, and that the loss, having regard to the respective lengths of the railway systems, is greater in Switzerland than in Germany.
The Swiss railway authorities urge that to meet the competition they should be given greater freedom in fixing passenger fares and freight charges.
It is also pointed out that, whereas the railway department has to bear the full cost of the maintenance of the track, coach and lorry operators, through the annual motor taxes, provide merely 63 per cent. of Swiss road charges.
As one solution of the railway authorities' difficulties, they suggest higher motor taxes, keener supervision • of buses, coaches and goods vehicles by Cantonal authorities, and some restrictions in the hours of motor drivers.