Viaggiatori su un treno SBB CFF FFS in Svizzera

CH & EU: equal rights in public passenger transport

On June 30, the delegations of the European Union and the Swiss Confederation agreed to amend Annex 1 of the Agreement on Land Transport

Switzerland and the European Union recognized equal rights for public transport passengers.
At its meeting on June 30, 2021, the Swiss-EU Joint Committee on Land Transport integrated their respective rules into the annex of the existing Agreement.
From the beginning of 2021, public transport passengers in Switzerland are entitled to compensation in the event of long delays.
Until now, compensation for failure to keep to the timetable has been provided by transport companies on a voluntary basis.
With the Federal Act on the Organization of Railway Infrastructure (RIO), Parliament created the legal basis for this right and, in May 2020, the Federal Council regulated the provisions in an ordinance.
At the 39th meeting of the Swiss-EU Joint Committee on Land Transport on June 30, the two delegations decided to integrate the new passenger rights into Annex 1 of the Land Transport Agreement.

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Optimising interoperability and traffic flow

In doing so, the European Union recognises the equivalence of the Swiss standards.
The Joint Committee has also decided to continue updating the technical specifications for interoperability (TSIs) in rail transport, which are also part of Annex 1 of the Agreement.
Switzerland and the EU member states aim to reduce the specific national requirements or to integrate them into harmonized European requirements and thus to further optimize the interoperability and fluidity of rail traffic between Switzerland and the European Union.
The 39th meeting of the Joint Committee, chaired by Kristian Schmidt, Director for Land Transport at the European Commission, took place in the form of a videoconference due to the limitations caused by the pandemic.
The Swiss delegation was led by Peter Füglistaler, Director of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT).
The next meeting is scheduled for December in Brussels.

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