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Many people did not renew their GA travel card during the Corona period. Public transport companies are feeling the lack of income.
Before the crisis, there were more than 500,000 general fertilizers in circulation. Because many train drivers now work from home, they have either canceled their GA travel card early or are not renewing it, as confirmed by Thomas Ammann. He is a media spokesperson for Alliance SwissPass, which sells the GA travel card. “We currently assume that by the end of the year we will have about six percent fewer general season tickets in circulation,” Ammann said.
We are currently assuming that by the end of the year we will have about six percent fewer general season tickets in circulation.
The consequences for public transport companies are drastic. Six percent, or 30,000 fewer subscriptions, means about 100 million less revenue. In addition, more money comes out of the company’s coffers; either as compensation if the GA is deposited, or in the form of credits to GA owners because they should not use their subscription during the lockdown.
Hundreds of millions of francs missing
“Together this means that we will lose a substantial amount at the end of the year,” says Ammann. Alliance SwissPass cannot say how high this amount will be in the end. The failures and losses caused by the GA are roughly estimated at at least 250 to 300 million Swiss francs.
Parliament wants to cover the holes that have arisen in public transport companies. That helps for now. However, the crisis in the crown has changed the work behavior and mobility of many people, with consequences also for the GA, which has probably passed its peak for the moment.
At the moment, there will probably be fewer travelers on Swiss trains.
Keystone
New model for part-time travelers?
In the future, a new deal will be needed between GA and Half-Fare travelcard, says Ammann. An offer is lost “for people who drive occasionally, maybe twice a week, who work part-time,” he says. “And here we would like to develop a product that meets this need and addresses this mobility behavior.” Alliance SwissPass plans to start a corresponding market research in the coming months.
