At Luzern just before the train left, a family got into the first class carriage I was sitting in. They had loads of luggage, including one very large suitcase. They started to walk through to second class, but the conductor stopped them as they were clearly struggling.

He told them to stay where they were, then at the next stop, they could get off and make their way to 2nd class along the platform. He assured them that he'd hold the train until they'd made the move.

Which was nice.

I say abolish this first class shit!

Yeah - but then I'd have to sit with people like you.

Why? I would agree on making it smaller as it never seems fully occupied, but abolish it? I don't understand why you would want that.

Probably because he can’t afford to use it.

Good God no, just think, i would then have a risk of having to sit with people like you

Don't try that again. It will now cost 100CHF

This week I was on a train to Lucerne and a young man in his 30s did not have a valid ticket. He said that he forgot to buy it. The controller told him to buy it in the SBB application and show it later. He didn't fine him. The man carried his laptop open and looked like an executive. Two days later, another girl was on the train, also going to Lucerne, without a ticket. She said she was very stressed that morning and that's why she didn't buy the ticket. Again, the controller allowed her to buy it, pay and no problem. Have the rules changed? Or does it all depend on how the person looks?

Maybe it depends on the mood of the controller.

While strictly seen it shouldn't, it's kind of nice there's still a human factor left.

I also believe they are under pressure to finish the checks in a fixed period of time. A lot of paperwork involved with someone who hasn’t paid.

I wonder what they would do if they saw that you had bought your ticket online the moment the inspectors came into the carriage

Saw this on NYE. A young girl that was clearly drunk didn’t have a ticket. Controller told her to buy one, she did and all was fine. 2 seats down a man of around 35-40yrs old didn’t have a ticket. He got fined. Both same situation,no ticket, same controller! Not entirely sure if I agree with it. Opinions?

They should take a leaf out of TFL's book and make the network free of charge on New Year's Eve / early hours New Year's Day.

There are probably other factors at play here that we are unaware of.
The guy may have been caught without a ticket previously for example.

Or the controller may just have taken a fancy to the girl and a dislike to the guy. Who knows?🤷🏼♀️

These executives and young girls can get away with anything!

Yes very true. She had sick all over her so the controller probably felt sorry for her. The guy 2 seats down was sober and probably knew what he was doing. I agree with the controllers actions but compared to how strict and uncompromising life is in Switzerland, I was quite surprised.

Yes, life in general in one of the most democratic and liberal countries in Europe with the least surveillance and highest levels of individual privacy can certainly be described as "strict and uncompromising".

Not.

Well that’s your opinion. I did not mention anything about surveillance or individual privacy. If you apply context to my message, then I was going more along the lines that people in Switzerland stick to the rules no matter what. This is the first time I have seen compromise and emotions come in to play.

Yes. But many ticket inspectors seem to have an immigrant background so I'm not sure if this lack of emotions and compromise is a Swiss "thing" or it exists pretty much everywhere to a certain degree. Some people are nicer or more understanding than others.

I got fined in Switzerland as well as in Italy, with the same "strictness" and for the same stupid reason: bought more than one ticket, forgot to validate the last one... and in both cases my stop was the following one There seems to be a pattern of dumbness on my side...

Whereas I (actually the group of people I travelled with) was "pardoned" by an Italian lady inspector for the same reason - forgot to validate our tickets. She understood we're dumb tourists but was more pissed at the fact that we tried to speak English not Italian (even though my Italian is terrible, she gave me a big smile after I mumbled some excuses in Italian )