A locomotive driver for Swiss Federal Railways was sacked immediately after being caught reading a book whilst driving the train. The employee claimed he was not reading, but was doing a ‘memorisation exercise’, though the court was not convinced by his explanation.
A train driver with the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) lost his job after 15 years with the company, having been caught with a book open whilst driving a train.
The immediate dismissal was also confirmed by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court, which rejected the former employee’s appeal.
The incident took place on the evening of 15 May 2025. Three SBB employees on the platform noticed that the train was entering the station with the light on in the driver’s cab, which caught their attention as interior lighting can impair visibility at night.
Subsequently, the three saw the driver holding a book and continuing to read whilst the train was stationary.
However, the issue did not end with the train’s departure from the station.
He left the station with the book open
According to the evidence examined by the court, the driver set the train in motion again whilst continuing to read.
The three employees, who were part of SBB’s management, photographed the driver whilst the train was stationary and reported the incident to the company.
SBB immediately suspended him from duty, and on 16 June 2025 ordered his dismissal with immediate effect, considering the breach serious enough to justify termination of employment without notice.
The driver, however, challenged the decision in court.
Defence: he wasn’t reading, but practising his memory
The former employee denied that he had been reading the book whilst the train was in motion.
He claimed that he was doing a “memory exercise” using a handwritten note, and that the book served merely as a prop on which to rest the sheet of paper.
According to his account, the book was only read during waiting periods at stations.
The driver did, however, admit that he had driven at night with the light on in the cab, explaining that he did so to remain alert.
These arguments failed to convince the Federal Administrative Court.
The court: if it was merely a prop, he could have used the book closed
One of the details that weighed against the driver was the condition of the book itself.
Photographs taken by witnesses showed that it was open. The judges noted that, if the driver had merely wanted a surface on which to rest his notes, it would have been more practical to use the book closed.
The court therefore concluded that he was reading both whilst the train was stationary and whilst it was in motion.
The court regarded this behaviour as a serious breach, as the driver was deliberately engaging in an activity that could distract him from driving the train.
The judges pointed out that even the alleged memorisation exercise would in itself have been a problem, as any activity unrelated to driving the train can have serious consequences for passenger safety.
Consequently, the court ruled that the relationship of trust between the employee and SBB had been compromised, and that immediate dismissal was justified.
The judgement does not specify the station or the line where the incident took place, nor – perhaps to the disappointment of the curious – which book the driver was reading.
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