Postauto, also called Poschi or Poschti in Swiss German dialect, is the Swiss Standard German term used in Switzerland for the motorized successor to stagecoaches. This linguistic anomaly also exists in the French and Italian-speaking parts of the country, where the terms Car postal (French) and Autopostale (Italian) are used. In other countries the term postbus is used.
Although the combination of mail and passenger transportation had been self-evident in the past, the needs of each diverged towards the end of the twentieth century, when the conveyance of parcels was progressively separated from public transportation. This was also so on private bus and rail lines. This division became official with the conversion of Swiss PostBus Ltd into an independent subsidiary of the Swiss Post.
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PostBus lines are operated by “PostBus,” a division of the Swiss Post. Swiss PostBus Ltd became a separate subsidiary in February 2005 with its seat in Bern. The company operates 798 bus lines with 2,103 buses in Switzerland, transporting over 120 million passengers annually on its 10,363 km long network. The lines are operated by the Swiss Post itself or by local bus companies contracted to do so.
PostBus offers extensive services in public, public-private, and private transit, including:
During most of the 20th Century, PostBus coaches were made in Switzerland by either Saurer, Berna or FBW.