Yesterday when arriving by train in Basel from France, I noticed Swiss border police on duty scrutinizing passengers as we arrived at Basel SBB station. How come they do this when there are no checks by border police on trains arriving from Germany?
German trains stop at Badischer Bahnhof, which is where the check is done for those trains. They are not always there (like the French station at SBB).
yes, but those trains that stop at badischer bahnhof continue on to SBB so anyone wishing to avoid he border police can just stay on the train and get off at SBB instead. I can't see what sense it makes to have police checking people at Badischer Bahnhof.
When you say "scrutinising" what do you mean? If they are checking passports that's odd seeing as the train is travelling through Schengen borders. If they are checking in a "customs" exercise, i.e. looking for stuff that shouldn't be transported over borders, etc., then maybe they were just doing a random check yesterday.
Trains coming into Badische Bahnhof (at least the ICE coming in from the north) often have customs agents walk through the train. The agents board in Freiburg and walk through the train during the 30-some minute ride to Basel.
Might have been a tip-off on an unrelated issue. The police are often out in force at the main railway station in Zurich, standing around looking "serious".
Once I was at the wrong end of an escalator when they decided to break ranks and chase three chaps past me, which was a bit of a survival exercise on my part.
I seldom use the trains, but I did so recently, from Frankfurt, and there were indeed border agents on board on the final leg from Haltingen coming into Basel. Only checking randomly, it seems, but checking nonetheless.
It depends on what part of the station they were entering. If you arrive in Basel via TGV, the train stops in the Swiss portion of the station -- the customs agents board the train in Mulhouse and walk through the train before it arrives in Basel.
If you're arriving on one of the regional services, though, the train stops on the 'French' side of the train station, and you clear customs in the station itself. It makes sense that they have customs guards posted here, as you're clearing the border at the station (rather than on the train).
You are obviously used to see police and other people on this forum are not. I guess Switzerland is the only country on earth with police. Or perhaps other countries do have police and they just don't show. Who knows
We live near a border post with France- and the Customs officers/police regularly stop cars a long way away from the actual border- sometimes all cars, sometimes they sit in a lay-by and stop some, but not all cars. They check papers, goods and meat bought in France, whatever they feel like. They have almost absolute power - greater powers actually than normal police.
They also check people coming on trains, including the TGV, either ON the train, or on arrival in Neuchatel, the first stop. I suppose they sometimes check trains from Germany, and other times from France - and sometimes from both, in Basel. One of them came to do an English course with me in the UK so he could deal with foreign passengers on the train. It was clear from discussions with him that they were mainly looking for 'foreign-looking' passengers, eg anybody slightly darker than a touch of sunshine. Our TGV line is much less used than others and, according to him, often used by illegal immigrants. His words, not mine. (He does NO longer work for customs btw).
I think it depends on the kind of area you live in. I live in a peaceful and quite middle class area and don't recall ever having seen police here. When I use to live in Geneva, I saw police around quite regularly but then it is the crime capital of Switzerland!
Police in you part oft the country must be rather lazy then. I too live in the sticks and notice the cars of the Kantonspolizei patroling every single day. But who knows perhaps it's me, just like I seem to draw all the time the attention of the border police on me.
A good chunk of customs is based on intelligence. The border control walk through all the trains, you probably dont notice them since most of them dress casual and act as if they are passengers until they pounce and ask you about the 2 litres of hooch/ 5 kg of meat...
This is part of the Schengen procedure. Schengen countries no longer permanently control along the borders but do controls in a border-zone of some 25 kms, plus in a perimeter of 20 kms around airports and major rail stations.
I back in the 90ies was controlled by "Douanier Français" at the Issy-les-Moulineaux "Heliport de Paris". Told the two man that I did not object at all, but had a question "Why here ?" And the older of the two asked me whether I had time. "Yes I have" I replied. And then he explained me the whole thing. Very interesting. The Schengen-Program does not mean a reduction but an improvement of the whole control-thing.
These controls are done at random, sometimes here and sometimes there. Police btw. is the wrong term, as police is a Cantonal or Municipal matter, while the Border-Guard (Grenzschutz) is, like the armed forces, a Federal matter. Except that the Grenzschützer just as the customs-officials are employees of the Finance Ministry and NOT of the Defence Ministry.
What you write is correct with SNCF station St. Johann. But trains going into Basel Bad.Bhf. either have their final stop there or continue towards Waldshut-Schaffhausen/DB-Singen-Konstanz. They do NOT continue to Basel-SBB. AND in contrast to SNCF-St.Johann, Basel Bad. Bhf. has, as a result of a still valid treaty between the Swiss Confederation and the German Empire of 1871-1918 a semi-exterritorial status. This again in contrast to Schaffhausen-DB, which is legally fully Swiss, but fully DB-operated operationally. If you are in Schaffhausen and look at the rails, it is those three rails on "the other side" which are DB. And again, police does not do the checks. The Grenzschutz however CAN and does at times do random checks right outside Basel Bad. Bhf. but inside that station, it will rather be the German Bundesgrenzschutz (or at worst even the BKA - Bundeskriminalamt).
They of course have greater powers than police. Because they are federal agents of the Finance Ministry. While policemen only can act within their own Canton, those agents can act unionwide.