PostBus Switzerland
Regional and rural bus services in Switzerland, France, Germany, and Liechtenstein
PostAuto Switzerland, PostBus Ltd. (known as PostAuto Schweiz in Swiss Standard German (PostAuto AG), CarPostal Suisse in Swiss French (CarPostal S.A.), AutoPostale Svizzera in Swiss Italian (AutoPostale S.A.), and AutoDaPosta Svizra in Romansh (AutoDaPosta S.A.) is a subsidiary company of the Swiss Post, which provides regional and rural bus services throughout Switzerland, and also in neighbouring France, Germany, and Liechtenstein.
The Swiss PostAuto service evolved as a motorized successor to the stagecoaches that previously carried passengers and mail in Switzerland, with the Swiss postal service providing postbus services carrying both passengers and mail. Although this combination had been self-evident in the past, the needs of each diverged towards the end of the twentieth century, when the conveyance of parcels was progressively separated from public transportation. This split became official with the conversion of PostAuto into a separate subsidiary of the Swiss Post in February 2005.
The buses operated by PostAuto are a Swiss icon, with a distinctive yellow livery and three-tone horn. The company uses an image of a posthorn as a logo on its buses and elsewhere. On some mountain roads, indicated by a traffic sign of a yellow posthorn on a blue background, the public transport, in particular the postal buses, have priority over other traffic and traffic users must follow instructions by public transport drivers.
01History
- 1849: Creation of the postal network diligence.
- 1906: First service of PostBus between Bern and Detligen.
- 1919: Inauguration of the line crossing the Simplon Pass.
- 1921: Grimsel Pass, Furka Pass, San Bernardino Pass, and Oberalp Pass are open to traffic.
- 1923: A three-tone horn is installed on the buses travelling on mountain routes.
- 1949: The bus lines of the Principality of Liechtenstein are operated by PostBus.
- 1959: All buses are of the same yellow color.
- 1961: Last service of horse diligence on the line Avers-Juf.
- 2003: For the first time, PostBus carries more than 100 million passengers.
- 2005: PostBus Switzerland established as a subsidiary company of Swiss Post
- 2006: PostBus celebrates its centenary.
- 2011: PostBus launches free WiFi in Postbuses and becomes the first Swiss public transport operator to add fuel cell buses to its fleet.
02Operations
Switzerland
Services are provided by PostAuto Switzerland, a subsidiary company of Swiss Post with its headquarters in Bern. The company is responsible for 869 bus routes with 2,193 buses in Switzerland, transporting over 140 million passengers annually on its 11,869 km (7,375 mi) long network. The routes are either operated directly by PostAuto itself, or by local bus companies under contract.
PostAuto offers extensive services in public, public-private, and private transit, including:
- PostAuto: Bus lines (municipal, regional, long-distance, and vacation transportation)
- PubliCar: Dial-a-bus service for lightly traveled routes
- ScolaCar: Small buses for student transportation
- PostCar: Tourist travel (chartered)
France
CarPostale France, a subsidiary of PostBus Switzerland, operated bus services in France. The company was headquartered in Lyon, with operations from Haguenau, in Alsace, to Béziers, in Languedoc-Roussillon. In September 2019 the business was sold to Keolis.
Liechtenstein
Until 31 December 2021, PostBus Switzerland operated the public bus network in the Principality of Liechtenstein under contract for the public transport authority LIEmobil. Following a public tender process concluded in 2020, the operational contract was awarded to BOSPS Anstalt, a newly formed company largely staffed by former PostBus employees in Liechtenstein. BOSPS Anstalt officially took over operations on 1 January 2022. LIEmobil continues to be the state-owned transport authority responsible for planning, coordinating, and commissioning public transport services within Liechtenstein.
Germany
The German villages of Büsingen am Hochrhein (an exclave of Germany entirely surrounded by Swiss territory) and Randegg are also served via a connection with the Swiss towns of Schaffhausen and Ramsen. The German town Singen benefits from a connection to Switzerland via a PostBus service to and from Ramsen.
03Coaches
During most of the 20th century, PostAuto coaches were made in Switzerland by either Saurer, Berna, or FBW.
04Subsidy fraud
In June 2018, members of the Executive Board of PostAuto were dismissed by Swiss Post after PostAuto manipulated its accounting records concealing profits in order to collect excess subsidies.
05Bus fire
On 10 March 2026, a PostBus in Kerzers in the Canton of Fribourg caught fire after a passenger covered himself with flammable fluid and set himself alight. Six people, including the man who set himself ablaze, were killed.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “PostBus Switzerland”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Swiss Post logo 2023.svg by Swiss Post, Public domain
- Logo PostAuto.svg by Schweizerische Post AG, Public domain
- CarPostal logo.svg by CarPostal, Public domain
- AutoPostale logo.svg by AutoPostale, Public domain
- PostbusGrindelwald.jpg by ZachT, Public domain
- Postauto oldtimer Grimsel.jpg by --Cooper.ch 16:57, 20 August 2006 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bahn und Bus am Bahnhof Küblis im Prättigau.jpg by JoachimKohler-HB, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Brennstoffzellenpostauto.jpg by PostAuto Schweiz AG, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Chur bus station with "Postautos".jpg by JoachimKohler-HB, CC BY-SA 4.0
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