Languages
SBB operates in all three official languages (Romansch is categorised as a national language, and is not an official one. The Romansh-speaking part of Switzerland is served by the RhB in any event). Stations are usually named with the abbreviation corresponding to, and signposted exclusively in, the language of the locality, i.e. Zürich SBB, Lausanne CFF. Trains are labelled "SBB CFF FFS".
Announcements for local trains are made in the local language, those for long-distance trains and for trains which cross the language border in both appropriate languages. Long-distance trains at major stations also have announcements in English.
Read more about this topic: Swiss Federal Railways
Famous quotes containing the word languages:
“It is time for dead languages to be quiet.”
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972)
“Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.”
—J.G. (James Graham)
“The less sophisticated of my forbears avoided foreigners at all costs, for the very good reason that, in their circles, speaking in tongues was commonly a prelude to snake handling. The more tolerant among us regarded foreign languages as a kind of speech impediment that could be overcome by willpower.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)