Bern, Switzerland (romandie/ats, Fre) – Swiss citizens, like their Schengen agreement counterparts in the European Union, will have passports with biometric data and digital prints in 2009, when the country will stop issuing simpler, non-digital passports. The new ones will cost CHF140. The lower house of Parliament Thursday voted to follow the lead of the […]
Politics
Lausanne-Geneva third rail line must wait
Bern, Switzerland (Le Temps/ats, Fre) – The upper house of Parliament Tuesday morning put on hold proposals for the third rail line between Geneva and Lausanne. The Conseil des Etats made few changes to Zeb, the second phase of the railway development plan, when it reviewed it. The house cited the need to ensure financing […]
Cocaine highs and political lows of Valais councilor
Martigny, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Xavier Bagnoud, the ex-PDC (centre-right Christian Democrat party) leading politician who was filmed nude, sniffing cocaine, remains in the headlines. Bagnoud was caught by a mobile phone camera and the film clip circulated on the Internet. He resigned from his party 6 May, shortly after 20 Minutes circulated the video […]
Geneva-Lausanne autoroute: congestion at age 44
Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland (Le Temps, Fre) – The Geneva-Lausanne stretch of the A1 autoroute was built in 1964 and in its 44 years traffic has multiplied fivefold. Le Temps takes a close look at the options for dealing with the highway’s increasing congestion, with an interivew with Erwin Egger, who oversees the Western Switzerland […]
Gotthard Tunnel advances, costs remain stable
Gotthard Tunnel, Switzerland (romandie/ats, Fre) – The Gotthard Tunnel costs are being contained and 68% of the work has been completed, according to the latest report. Delays on the tunnel have been linked to the government’s decision not to build a third rail line between Geneva and Lausanne as part of the overall Swiss rail […]