Lucerne gets a commuter newspaper

Print media SBB is advertising box locations for commuter newspapers in Central Switzerland, offering over 100 box locations at around 60 stations in the Central Switzerland S-Bahn area, including the Brünig Railway and the Lucerne-Stans-Engelberg line. This is what SBB spokesperson Ruedi Estermann said on request. SBB also made clear specifications regarding the press products that will one day be available in its stations. "We don't want a free newspaper, but a daily newspaper with mostly editorially prepared information," says Estermann. The Anzeiger Luzern, for example, would not meet the requirements. SBB has invited 20 Minuten and LZ Medien to submit bids; the deadline is March 12. A decision will be made this month, but the contract does not necessarily have to be awarded to just one party, says Estermann. Erwin Bachmann, board delegate of LZ Medien, is "only interested in an exclusive concession." In contrast, Rolf Bollmann, publishing director of 20 Minuten, "can also live with a competitor." Incidentally, none of the publishers had given the final "go" by the editorial deadline. The reason: SBB surprised both Bachmann and Bollmann with the timing of the tender, as both openly admit. Although projects had long been in the drawers in Zurich and Lucerne, they now had to be updated at short notice.
Markus Knöpfli