Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Communists form a new party in Switzerland; more people suffer from lung-related diseases; and more news in our roundup on Thursday.
More trains will travel through the Gotthard Tunnel from March
Starting on March 2nd, additional trains will be put into service at the Gotthard tunnel, according to Swiss national railway company, SBB.
The tunnel, which connects German-speaking Switzerland with the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, closed to rail traffic in August 2023, after a freight train came off the track.
From March, however, 38 passenger trains will run through the Gotthard every weekend — along with three trains travelling north to south on Saturday mornings and four from south to north from Sunday afternoon.
This means that 4,300 additional passengers can be accommodated, SBB said.
From March 25th, there will also be an early train from Ticino to German-speaking Switzerland from Monday to Friday.
READ ALSO: What is the latest travel news on Switzerland's Gotthard tunnel?
Zurich wants to create a ‘model climate district’
The City Council wants to use a local neighbourhood as a laboratory of sorts, which would try out and test various measures to counteract climate change and stave off its consequences.
Municipal authorities have selected the Binz/Alt-Wiedikon area as the ‘pilot district’ in the 7.7-million-franc project and they are calling on all residents to participate.
Among the programme’s goals is to focus on decreasing the amount of waste generated by residents.
A new extreme-left party is launched in Switzerland
A group of 275 people has officially launched a Revolutionary Communist Party.
Its members are now calling for “the largest communist recruitment campaign in over 100 years.”
Their initial goal is to grow the membership to 500 people by May.
The party’s main objective, however, is to fight “for nothing less than global communist revolution by the working class. This as a first step towards a true liberation of humanity and all human potential,” they claim.
Lung-related hospitalisations are on the rise in Switzerland
One in 12 patients in Switzerland are hospitalised due to a respiratory illness, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
The data shows a sharp increase, with 37 percent more cases now than a decade ago — a significant hike compared to other diseases over the same period, which only went up by 6.4 percent.
Medical experts put this development down to a variety of factors, including aging population, which is at a higher risk of complications from respiratory viruses.
Covid played only a minor part, as the upward trend began years before the pandemic hit in 2020.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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More trains will travel through the Gotthard Tunnel from March
Starting on March 2nd, additional trains will be put into service at the Gotthard tunnel, according to Swiss national railway company, SBB.
The tunnel, which connects German-speaking Switzerland with the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, closed to rail traffic in August 2023, after a freight train came off the track.
From March, however, 38 passenger trains will run through the Gotthard every weekend — along with three trains travelling north to south on Saturday mornings and four from south to north from Sunday afternoon.
This means that 4,300 additional passengers can be accommodated, SBB said.
From March 25th, there will also be an early train from Ticino to German-speaking Switzerland from Monday to Friday.
READ ALSO: What is the latest travel news on Switzerland's Gotthard tunnel?
Zurich wants to create a ‘model climate district’
The City Council wants to use a local neighbourhood as a laboratory of sorts, which would try out and test various measures to counteract climate change and stave off its consequences.
Municipal authorities have selected the Binz/Alt-Wiedikon area as the ‘pilot district’ in the 7.7-million-franc project and they are calling on all residents to participate.
Among the programme’s goals is to focus on decreasing the amount of waste generated by residents.
A new extreme-left party is launched in Switzerland
A group of 275 people has officially launched a Revolutionary Communist Party.
Its members are now calling for “the largest communist recruitment campaign in over 100 years.”
Their initial goal is to grow the membership to 500 people by May.
The party’s main objective, however, is to fight “for nothing less than global communist revolution by the working class. This as a first step towards a true liberation of humanity and all human potential,” they claim.
Lung-related hospitalisations are on the rise in Switzerland
One in 12 patients in Switzerland are hospitalised due to a respiratory illness, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
The data shows a sharp increase, with 37 percent more cases now than a decade ago — a significant hike compared to other diseases over the same period, which only went up by 6.4 percent.
Medical experts put this development down to a variety of factors, including aging population, which is at a higher risk of complications from respiratory viruses.
Covid played only a minor part, as the upward trend began years before the pandemic hit in 2020.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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