Public transport sector warns against dismantling

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At the end of March, the BAV informed the carriers in a memorandum about the effects of the savings targets set by the Federal Council. These also have consequences for regional passenger transport (RPV).

The original RPV credit amount of CHF 1,101.6 million was reduced to CHF 1,079.5 million, a reduction of 7.8 percent from the 2023 credit. Compared to 2023, the RPV has 91.8 million francs less available. At the same time, the transport companies were asked to submit corresponding offers for the year 2024 by the end of April.

Federal regulation “simply not feasible”

From the point of view of the Association for Public Transport (VöV), the short-term adjustments to the specifications by the BAV contradict the planning certainty sought with the four-year commitment credits. On the other hand, short-term adjustments are not possible with serious planning, the association said on request: “The adjusted RPV offers that the BAV required for the entry at the end of April were not feasible due to the time frame alone.”

Almost ten years ago, the VöV had required four-year commitment credits to be approved for compensation for regional passenger transport. The BAV then created a corresponding legal basis as part of the minor revision of the Federal Passenger Transport Act. The amendment was accepted by Parliament.

Only possible by reducing the offer

Short-term cuts on loans approved by parliament – as now for the 2024 budget – would contradict this, according to the VöV. In addition, short-term savings targets are inefficient, since a large part of the costs is already available and practically only variable costs can be saved.

From the point of view of the VöV, the savings targets can only be achieved by reducing supply. “It is not clear to us how the requirements can be implemented without reducing supply,” says the VöV. A reduction in supply would result in a drop in sales and fewer customers. Ultimately, however, the orderers (BAV and cantons) should make decisions about the supply and be responsible for it. (SDA)

Source:Blick