Swiss say no to trucks
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• All foreign trucks will be banned completely from crossing Switzerland within 10 years, the Swiss people voted this weekend in a binding referendum.
The controversial result means that by 2004 hauliers wishing to cross the territory will have to join a piggy-back rail system currently under construction.
Many hauliers—already banned from crossing the country with vehicles over 28 tonnes—are expected to avoid Switzerland altogether, adding to congestion in the French Alps.
Gravesend-based Croome International says it will not use the piggy-back system but will re-route through France. Assistant manager Andy Park says: "The Swiss sound as if they are just getting it out of their own back yard."
The Swiss Government estimates that of the 2,500 lorries driving each working day through the Gotthard Pass tunnel half of them are in transit. By 2000 the figure is expected to rise to 6,000.
The vote cannot be overturned and because the country has no desire to join the European Union it is unlikely Brussels will be able to exert pressure.