If you have ridden a bus or a tram in Zurich in the past two weeks, you may have been surprised to hear public system announcements in English.
That’s because since the introduction of the new public transport timetable on December 15th, more announcements, both orally and those displayed on screens, are made in English.
The goal is to make sure that foreign tourists, as well as international residents who have not yet mastered the intricacies of the local language, don’t get lost — both literally and in translation.
“In Zurich, this makes perfect sense: last year the city had 1.4 million visitors from abroad, many of whom do not understand German,” according to Judith Setz, spokesperson for the city’s public transport company VBZ.
“In addition, English is the main language for around 13 percent of the city’s 450,000 inhabitants,” she pointed out.
‘Dear passengers’
English is also heard more often at Zurich’s central train station.
Automated announcements for long-distance trains. as well as information such as platform changes and connections, are also made in English.
And in recent months, the Postbus has also introduced English announcements on tourist routes, for example in the Interlaken region.
But that’s not all: while the main purpose of English-language annoucements is to simplify the use of public transport, the loudspeakers and screens on buses, trains, and trams are also increasingly used to alert non-German speakers to various dangers — for instance, to the presence of pickpockets.
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