April 2010 - HGV charge increase in Switzerland was legal

The increase in the Swiss HGV kilometre charge was legal. The truck lobby had not agreed with the increase on 1 January 2008 and lodged a complaint.

The increase in the Swiss HGV kilometre charge was legal. The truck lobby had not agreed with the increase on 1 January 2008 and lodged a complaint. The Federal Administrative Court overturned the increase retrospectively in October 2009. However, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the highest instance in Switzerland, has now revoked the lower court’s decision. The HGV kilometre charge will probably be increased again in the near future. 
The Alpine-Initiative welcomes this ruling. The planned increase in the HGV kilometre charge can now finally take effect and partially compensate for the competitive advantage that road transport companies have enjoyed since the increase in the weight limit to 40 tonnes in 2005. But this isn’t enough to transfer freight traffic from road to rail. In order to achieve the target set by the Swiss people, an Alpine Crossing exchange has to be introduced as quickly as possi-ble.