The history of PostBus
We’re proud to keep Switzerland in motion.

The first scheduled automobile mail route between Bern and Detligen begins on 1 June 1906 – and with that, PostBus is founded. Since then, the route network has been steadily expanded. Today, passengers can travel through Switzerland on around 1,000 PostBus routes.

The first PostBus route to cross an Alpine pass opens in 1919, over the Simplon. In 1921, the first Postbuses travel over the Furka Pass and the Grimsel Pass, followed by the Gotthard in 1922. The journeys over the Alpine passes are the start of a new era: PostBus trips are now also a leisure activity.

The three-tone horn can be heard on mountainous postal routes. Its purpose is to warn other road users at blind spots on narrow roads. The “C-sharp - E - A” tone sequence is based on the overture to Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell”.

These journeys are still an iconic aspect of Swiss tourism. Today, PostBus offers five different mountain pass routes in the Central Alps. The most legendary is the four-pass route from Meiringen via Grimsel, Nufenen, Gotthard and Susten: with a journey time of 8 hours and 46 minutes, PostBus route 682 is the longest direct public transport service in Switzerland.

PostBus takes charge of the licensed routes in the Principality of Liechtenstein as a subcontractor. 72 years later, in December 2021, PostBus’s time in neighbouring Liechtenstein comes to an end. By that point, PostBus operates 14 routes with over 40 buses and a network of more than 100 kilometres.

Travel safely from your front door to your school building with PostBus. Thanks to PostBus’s school bus services, even families in remote villages and hamlets can send their children to school without having to use a private vehicle. This public service also makes a significant positive contribution to the environment.

Previously, each company used their own corporate colours on their vehicles. PostBus operators are private companies that operate around half of the network on behalf of PostBus. Operations run by PostBus itself are known as municipal operations. Passengers do not notice the difference, as the vehicles and the drivers’ clothing have the same design.

By 1930, the horse coach service has become almost irrelevant. It serves only 0.6% of passengers travelling on 94 routes covering a total of 596 kilometres. Despite this, the last horse coach service runs between Cresta and Juf in Graubünden until 1961.

Claire Buner is the first female PostBus driver. She works on the Jonschwil–Uzwil route. Today, 10% of drivers are women.

All PostBus vehicles and stops are decorated in Swiss Post yellow with a red bar. The post horn symbol is still very recognizable.

The architect is Peter Rice, who also designed the Sydney Opera House. The Postbus hub, located at the railway station, is one of the most distinctive buildings in the city of Chur. The imposing glass dome protects passengers and Postbuses from all types of weather.

On-request bus systems are the ideal alternative to scheduled services in sparsely populated areas. Most PubliCar networks can now be booked via app.

PostBus wins the public tender, operating the bus routes on behalf of the Principality. PostBus has been present in Switzerland’s neighbouring country for almost 80 years.

PostBus, PostAuto, CarPostal, AutoPostale: the company name is now spelled with a capital letter in the middle. The Romansh version even has two: AutoDaPosta. The vehicle names are still spelled with a lower-case letter: das Postauto, le car postal, l’autopostale, the Postbus.

For decades, PostBus manages to set a new record each year. At over 155 million, the number of passengers reaches its peak in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic causes a decline for the first time.

From 2004 to 2019, CarPostal France operates several networks in various regions of neighbouring France. By 2019, CarPostal France S.A. owns 18 subsidiaries.

As PostBus Switzerland Ltd, PostBus becomes an independent company within Swiss Post Group.

The main celebration for the 100th anniversary of PostBus is held on 13 May 2006 in Aarberg, the destination of the first route back in 1906. The speaker at the event is Federal Councillor Moritz Leuenberger. Another major attraction is the company name formed from 45 Postbuses.

Along with the Swiss Association of Public Transport (APT) and the Swiss Association for Transport and Environment (ATE), PostBus establishes the FLUX national mobility prize. Every year, the jury assesses a range of transport hubs that guarantee a high level of comfort and safety for passengers.

PostBus wins the public tender for the bus network in Liechtenstein for a further ten years.

Switzerland’s first hybrid Postbus comes into operation in the Bern area.

PostBus brings five fuel cell buses into operation in Brugg, the first Swiss public transport company to do so. The pilot project from December 2011 to January 2017 provides proof that hydrogen Postbuses are suitable for public transport. In 2012, PostBus also opens Switzerland’s first hydrogen filling station for buses in Brugg. It supplies the five fuel cell Postbuses. In the same year, PostBus launches its bike sharing service, PubliBike.

PostBus is the first major public transport company in Switzerland to offer passengers free Wi-Fi.

PostBus introduces real-time information: passengers can now find actual departure and arrival times at stops with display boards.

The public transport sector launches the SwissPass in the summer. As a result, PostBus drivers are equipped with robust smartphones for inspections.

Two SmartShuttles start operating in Sion on 23 June. They are the first autonomous buses in public transport worldwide and are fully electric. In the winter of the same year, the first two electric Postbuses transport guests in Saas-Fee to the cable cars.

PostBus launches Switzerland’s most cutting-edge mobility app. It enables customers to combine private and public transport. The app is discontinued in 2020, when PostBus begins cooperating with the SBB app.

On 6 February, Swiss Post and the FOT inform the public that PostBus used irregular accounting practices for several years, obtaining excessive subsidies from the Swiss Confederation as a result. On 11 June 2018, Swiss Post dismisses all members of the PostBus Executive Board. Swiss Post repays 205 million francs to the Confederation and the cantons.

The one-year on-demand pilot project “Kollibri” begins in the Brugg region: customers can order untimetabled minibuses to their front door via an app.

On 17 January, a major fire caused by a defective cable leaves the Chur garage in ruins, and 17 Postbuses are completely destroyed. Thanks to the massive effort of employees, operations continue seamlessly the next morning.

PostBus sells CarPostal France and ends its 15-year service in France.

From March, the coronavirus pandemic has a major impact on public transport. The Swiss public transport system reduces the timetable for several weeks: the fastest ever timetable alteration. The pandemic leads to lower passenger numbers for two years.

PostBus launches a pilot project with an electric-powered London taxi. It travels in the Verzasca Valley and then in Brig.

Thanks to the opening of the Ceneri Base Tunnel, PostBus experiences the biggest expansion in regional passenger transport in recent decades, starting in Ticino from 13 December.

In Brugg, PostBus uses a pantograph to charge an electric Postbus for the first time. The charging station sources its electricity from the neighbouring photovoltaic system.

In Saas-Fee, PostBus tests Robi, the luggage robot that carries luggage for holidaymakers – a Swiss premiere.

From 12 December, PostBus operates all bus routes in the Canton of Jura.

In January, Swiss Post sells the bike sharing company PubliBike, which was founded by PostBus in 2011, to private Swiss investors. From 1 April, it is no longer compulsory to wear masks on public transport, after 21 months of coronavirus restrictions.

Throughout the year, Swiss public transport and the public celebrate the opening of the first railway line 175 years ago. PostBus plays an important role in the anniversary events.

Postbuses and stops are again marked with a uniform Swiss Post logo - as they were before 1994.

The three-tone horn has been in use for 100 years. PostBus’s anniversary celebrations include the ‘‘Three-tones in unison’’ initiative: drivers throughout Switzerland sound the Du-Da-Do at 10 a.m. on 17 July.