New symbol in the timetable Train travel at 35 degrees, but no air conditioning - SBB reacts
"250 km/h, but no working air conditioning", mocked one user under an SBB post on Instagram. According to the railroad, almost all systems are working - but some trains are actually running without cooling. They are marked in the timetable again this summer.
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- Most Swiss trains are air-conditioned - according to Deutsche Bahn, 98 percent of the systems are working and only around 20 units fail each day.
- Some older relief trains without cooling are marked with a thermometer symbol in the SBB app.
- They are cooled to a maximum of ten degrees below the outside temperature; there are no plans to lower the temperature further.
In a recent Instagram post to mark the Women's European Championships, SBB shows how fast trains in Switzerland, Finland, Iceland and Norway travel - and how long the rail networks in these countries are.
As is often the case with such posts, the comment column did not stay on topic: one user wrote mockingly with regard to the current heatwave in Switzerland: "250 km/h, but no functioning air conditioning."
But is that true?
A few days ago, SBB updated a little-noticed article providing figures on the air conditioning systems in its trains. And lo and behold: according to the Swiss Federal Railways, a whopping 98 percent of all passenger trains are equipped with air conditioning.
The railroads openly admit that these do not always run smoothly: There are 9100 air conditioning systems, it says, but on average there are around 20 malfunctions a day.
Some trains are not air-conditioned at all
Some older carriages, which run as relief trains during peak times, are not air-conditioned at all. According to the consumer magazine "Saldo", this mainly affects connections in the Zurich area, Aargau and eastern Switzerland.
However, SBB is also providing a service for such cases this summer:
If there is only ventilation and heating on a train, but no air conditioning, these connections will be marked with a thermometer symbol in the SBB app and on sbb.ch - regardless of the actual outside temperature. This will remain in place until the end of September, according to the "Saldo".
If you are sweating despite the air conditioning, this may be due to particularly high outside temperatures. The level of cooling in the trains is precisely regulated:
The air conditioning systems are programmed to lower the interior temperature to three to a maximum of ten degrees below the measured outside temperature.
What to do if the air conditioning goes wrong?
- If the air conditioning in a train does not work, the fault can be reported to SBB.
- The form can be found under "Complaints". Select the category "Temperature (air conditioning/heating)" under "My train journey".
- Good to know: If you search for "SBB complaint" in the address field in the browser on your cell phone, the link to the form is often the first hit on Google.
There is deliberately no more cooling - according to SBB, this is to avoid large temperature differences, which are unpleasant for many passengers. This is also intended to limit energy consumption.
Nevertheless, the train crew can manually adjust the temperature by up to two degrees for minor adjustments. According to SBB, the air inside the train on hot days is often eight degrees cooler than outside.
If it is still too warm, you can ask the staff - but whether they actually adjust the temperature is at their discretion. Pulling down the blinds can sometimes provide relief more quickly.