Railroad New BLS ticket machines will definitely be cashless

The new BLS ticket machines will definitely no longer accept cash in future. A proposal by the Bernese Grand Council cannot be implemented, as the Department of Construction and Transport announced on Thursday.

An examination by the Directorate of Construction and Transport has shown that the request cannot be implemented, as the Directorate of Construction and Transport wrote in a press release.

Canceling the procurement of the new ticket machines at this point in time would result in high costs. In addition, the tender was carried out jointly by several transport companies. Several companies in the canton of Bern and in other cantons would therefore have been affected by a discontinuation.

In the summer session, the Grand Council had referred a motion by Thomas Fuchs (SVP). This demanded that BLS vending machines should continue to accept cash in future.

However, as this was a directive motion, the government council had quite a lot of leeway in implementing the request.

Just over a year ago, BLS announced that it would soon have to procure new ticket machines. Accepting cash makes ticket machines more expensive, partly due to the maintenance of the built-in coin and note validators. For this reason, it will be relying exclusively on cashless means of payment for its machines in future.