BERN, SWITZERLAND – The CFF rail company is running a door to door delivery programme for travelers’ bags, starting Monday 14 October, in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. A one-year trial will check the level of interest on the part of travelers.

The pilot project takes its bag dropoff programme a step further: your bags can now be picked up at one address and dropped off the next day at another. The cost: CHF48 for the first bag and less, on a sliding scale, for additional bags from and to the same address, with five bags, for example, costing CHF98. A startup deal of 20 percent off is available for orders up to the end of 2013.

The site, www.cff.ch/bagages, functions in English as well as German, French and Italian, but travelers can also place their orders by phone, to Rail Service at 0900 300 300 for CHF1.19/minute. Orders are taken at train station windows as well.

The CFF is working with AKS Autokurier-Service (Kloten), the Swiss company that has, for some 20 years, handled delivery of suitcases that arrive after a person’s flight.

Here’s how it works: once the reservation is made the traveler is contacted the day before the pickup to agree on a timeframe between 07:00 and 23:00. The offer covers sports equipment such as skis, snowboards, sleds and bicycles, as well as suitcases up to 25 kg.

Reka and the Association Espaces Thermaux et Maisons de Cure Suisses are partners.