Getting Things On Track; Watch This Space; Mask Relaxation for Some

News For 29 June 2021

The Federal Office of Transport wants to invest nine billion francs in the expansion of the rail infrastructure in the Basel region. The money is to be used to build the subterranean S-Bahn core, and an underground station in Basel. The governments of both Basel Stadt & Basel Land are in agreement with the work. However, the major project still has to go through the federal parliament. There have been plans for a so-called “centerpiece" in Basel for years. This is an  underground connection between Badischer Bahnhof and the SBB train station, which would also enable the city center to be accessed by S-Bahn. The billion-dollar project has not got off the ground for years, but now the Federal Office of Transport is hoping the ambitious project is on the right track for approval.

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The world-famous BaselWorld Watch and Jewelry fair closed its doors on its final event in 2019 after 100 years. But the fair is to return in a new format in 2022. The already struggling event took its final blow during the pandemic, and a decision was made to end the long-running fair. According to the MCH Group, who are the organisers of BaselWorld, the event will now move away from high-end luxury brands and move towards targeting entrepreneurs and retailers from the mid-range luxury sector. The new proposed format will however mean that the fair will no longer be accessible to the public.

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On Monday, the Canton of Basel-Land lifted the requirement to wear a mask in primary schools and lower secondary level 1. According to the federal ordinance, this applies to grammar schools and specialist secondary schools at least until the next Federal Council meeting next Wednesday. The cantonal crisis team justified the repeal of the cantonal Covid-19 regulation in its message on Friday, with the relaxation of the epidemiological situation. While pupils are exempt from the mask requirement, it still applies to teachers and also to parents who bring or pick up their children from a care facility.