175 years in the service of the public
Swiss Post from 1849 to the present day

In 2022, 97.2 percent of A Mail letters and 99.3 percent of B Mail letters reach their recipients on time. For parcels, 95.7 per cent of Priority items and 96.9 per cent of Economy items arrive on time.

As a result of the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in particular due to the steep rise in online retail, Swiss Post delivers more parcels than ever before: 182.7 million – an all-time record.

In 2016, voters reject the “Pro Service public” popular initiative, with 67.6% voting no. The initiative had attempted to prohibit enterprises affiliated with the Confederation in the area of the universal service from seeking profit and cross-subsidization, and to enact provisions governing wages. The Federal Council and Parliament had recommended rejection of the initiative. As a result of the ballot decision, customers continue to receive a high-quality public service without Swiss Post, SBB and Swisscom losing the entrepreneurial freedom they require.

Following Parliament’s adoption of the comprehensive revision of the Postal Services Act and Postal Services Organization Act in December 2010, the Federal Council resolves to bring the new postal legislation into force in 2012. This legislation continues to constitute the legal basis for Swiss Post’s operations, on the one hand setting out the conditions under which Swiss Post must ensure the universal service, and on the other regulating the postal market.

The parcel market is fully deregulated and parcel post achieves profitability. in 2006, the letter monopoly is reduced to 100 g, in 2009 to 50 g.

The Federal Council puts forward to Parliament a “Holistic analysis of the further development of Swiss Post services in Switzerland”. In it, the Federal Council takes stock and sets out its postal policy for the coming years, preparing the way for a gradual opening of the postal market and laying the groundwork for the comprehensive revision of postal legislation that will come into force ten years later.

The PTT is dissolved and split up into Swiss Post and Swisscom Ltd, marking the end of more than 70 years of shared history. The new Postal Services Act replaces the Act of 1924.

Postcodes are introduced on 1 October 1964, leading to a massive simplification of sorting. From this point on, in-depth geographical knowledge is no longer required. The postcode system forms the basis for the later introduction of automatic sorting.

Operating as an extension of rail transport, PostBus together with other rural bus operators opens up remote regions – including for tourism. Postbuses also serve as an everyday means of transport in urban agglomerations. Even today, 578 of Switzerland’s 2,148 municipalities (i.e. over 25 percent) can be reached by public transport only thanks to PostBus.

As the Spanish flu spreads in the summer of 1918, mail carriers, who by the nature of their work are heavily exposed, succumb in large numbers. It proves impossible to maintain operations in all places.

Working with the Red Cross, Swiss Post carries several hundred million postage-free consignments from prisoners of war and internees. And after the mobilizations of 1914 and 1939, the volume of Swiss military mail skyrockets – postage-free field post accounts for up to 25 percent of domestic letters.

The first automobile mail route connects Bern with Detligen. The distinctive “toot-to-tooot”, however, is not heard until years later.

Swiss Post is assigned a “Postcheque and giro service”. Thanks to its dense network of 4,000 operating locations, it offers ideal conditions for this. In principle, anyone can now open an account and make cashless transfers.

Field post is established. Its basic mandate: to provide postal services for the army and its troops, serving as a bridge between civilian and military life.

Switzerland is the fourth country in the world to introduce the postcard. The postage costs just half that of a letter. As tourism takes off, the following decades see a veritable boom in postcards.

From the 1850s, the backbone of postal transport is the Railway Mail Service. Mail is sorted en route in specially designated carriages. Before the introduction of postcodes, this work requires very good knowledge of geography and the PTT transport system.

The newly established federal state unifies – and improves – the postal system. The Swiss federal postal service replaces the cantonal postal administrations. From this point on, it is responsible for transporting letters, parcels, people and cash remittances.