Vaud citizens will decide on voting rights for foreigners; fewer trains will run between Paris and Lausanne; and more Swiss news in our roundup on Thursday.
Vaud residents will decide on voting rights for foreigners
The cantonal parliament has agreed to reduce the waiting period for foreigners to obtain the right to vote in their municipality to five years of residence in Switzerland.
Currently, the Vaud Constitution requires that foreign nationals have resided in Switzerland for at least 10 years, and in the canton for at least three years.
But before this change can be implemented, it will need to be put to a referendum, so that Vaud voters can have the final say in this matter.
And still in Vaud…
Elected officials are concerned about fewer trains between Lausanne and Paris
From 2026, the number of TGV trains circulating daily between the two cities will be reduced from six to three due to construction work between Geneva and La Plaine.
During the consultation on its 2026 timetable, which ended on Monday, Swiss national railway company SBB indicated that the current Paris-Geneva-Lausanne service will no longer terminate in the Vaud capital next year, but — because of the construction — will have Geneva as its last station.
“This construction work will penalise train journey times and prevent them from using one of the few remaining slots on the already congested Lausanne-Geneva line,” said State Councillor Vassilis Venizelos.
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Cross-border students will no longer be able to attend school in Geneva
According to a press release from the cantonal parliament on Wednesday, “from the start of the 2026 school year, students not domiciled in Geneva will no longer be admitted to compulsory education” in the canton.
Officials believe these new measures are necessary because “the lack of spaces in public schools is a growing source of concern.”
The construction of temporary buildings and the extension of existing ones, along with other measures taken in recent years “are no longer sufficient to guarantee adequate conditions, and the demographic and migratory pressure on the premises will not ease in the years to come.”
There are currently 738 pupils living in neighbouring France but attending primary schools in Geneva.
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Most Swiss people don’t see themselves as Europeans
Only 4 percent of Switzerland-based respondents in a new study carried out by YouGov Switzerland market research institute, said they primarily feel European.
The vast majority — 69 percent — described themselves as Swiss rather than European, while about 21 percent identified as both.
Dual identification was more common among older respondents: 31 percent of those over 60 felt equally Swiss and European. In the 15- to 29-year-old age group, on the other hand, only 13 percent said this.
Younger respondents more often described themselves as primarily Swiss (75 percent) than older respondents (64 percent).
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