Two minutes to take off! Shoot, hit the platform, a coin comes out of the sack. And buy a ticket from the machine. Your colleague keeps the door open for you. And: Oh! Made. The train is leaving. It’s still a daily scenario between Geneva and Romanshorn TG. It will soon be in the past. Because cash in public transport will soon be obsolete.
The sale of tickets at the machines is a phased out model. “This option will not be removed completely for now. It is conceivable that there are still machines in large centers or external shops,” René Schmied says in an interview with the «Aargauer Zeitung». He is Chairman of the Alliance Swiss Pass Strategy Council and Director of the public transport company Bernmobil in Bern.
No vending machines from 2035
However, it is clear that Deutsche Bahn wants to cut costs. Analogue sale of tickets on machines and infrastructures is costly. That’s why: “From 2035, tickets should normally only be purchased digitally,” says Schmied. There is a need for solutions for passengers who cannot or do not want to buy their tickets online. But: When it comes to individual tickets, the digital share has grown from one-third to two-thirds in just four years.
According to Schmied, you have to ask yourself what infrastructure is still reasonable. “Today we only have 360 terminals in the Bernmobil network. “I hope in a few years significantly less, and by 2035 it may not be at all,” Schmied tells the «Aargauer Zeitung». By 2035, very few will use cash anyway. “We no longer have to set up cash registers at every stop. These are machines that actually have the option to pay cash.” (be)