The Swiss family-owned company Rattin AG has offered a luxurious Royal Class segment for around ten years. These coaches feature comfortable 2+1 seating, perfect for smaller modern bus and coach groups providing premium services. Their latest addition, a Setra S 515 HD of the new ComfortClass, also meets the most stringent safety standards, as it comes with Active Drive Assist 2 and state-of-the-art emergency assistance systems.

In Switzerland, bus travel is truly unique. Regular service buses usually operate under the world-famous yellow-liveried brand PostAuto, which runs routes that connect the very highest mountain villages. Touring coaches are referred to as "cars" and are carefully driven by "chauffeurs": timelessly elegant expressions that are also used by the family-owned company Rattin AG, based in Neuhausen in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen.

The company was founded in 1927 by Albert Rattin with two Saurer BH vehicles and initially served two PostAuto routes in northern Switzerland. It wasn't long before more vehicles were added to the fleet. Albert Rattin found out early on how to utilise their versatile rolling stock for occasional additional services as well. Shortly after the war, the coach fleet had already expanded to six coaches, including exotic Chevrolet buses and some Kässbohrer Setra models with the typical roof-edge glazing that was typical for the time.

Erich Schlatter has been on the management board since 1996 along with his wife Regula Schlatter-Lang, who herself is part of the Rattin family. Their daughters Laura and Nadine Schlatter have already taken their places in the fourth generation of company managers or are clearly on their way there. Laura Schlatter joined the company right before the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's been a turbulent few years since I joined, but I've never let anything dampen my spirits", says the 30-year-old expert in corporate communications. Together with her parents, she manages the 50-strong company team to the highest quality standards. This is demonstrated notably by their outstanding range of coaches and their superstar category – the RoyalClass. They established this premium segment in 2013 with their first luxury coach from Daimler Buses (then with only 30 comfort seats) and have recently added a SETRA ComfortClass S 515 HD to their fleet.

"We have noticed a significant change in our target group for quite some time. The travel groups have not only shrunk in size over the years and now normally encompass around 30 passengers as opposed to 50 in the past, our customers have also become more demanding", explains Erich Schlatter. In addition, a larger Swiss bus travel company, with whom Rattin has worked closely for a long time, had successfully established a similar premium concept.

“For us, it was a matter of course that we would do things properly: we started our new RoyalClass in 2013 with the first RoyalClass bus with 30 seats in a 2+1 seating arrangement”, continues Schlatter. At Rattin, a wide range of other buses are used as normal workhorses, but there was no doubt as to what model would be used to expand the RoyalClass segment: it had to be a Setra. “And I make no bones about it!” says Erich, who is fiercely loyal to the Daimler Buses Group. The Setra premium brand is not new to the fleet: in addition to two other S 515 HDs, the company also uses an S 511 HD club coach.

The new RoyalClass coach of the Setra ComfortClass belongs to a redesigned vehicle generation. Visually, it is much more similar to the TopClass range and is painted in the typical red livery adorned with classic Rattin lettering. Much of the interior is also decked out in the corporate colours. The style concept of the rolling RoyalClass coach is characterised by high-quality 2+1 seating featuring comfortable armchairs with wide armrests, a double espresso machine and two fridges.

“The seating not only accommodates smaller passenger groups, it also meets the needs of single travellers, who want a little more privacy and a greater sense of space during a multi-day trip. We see this type of passenger more and more frequently”, Schlatter explains. The coach has already covered tens of thousands of kilometres on trips to Sweden, Spain and Portugal.

Even Erich Schlatter was impressed by the qualities of the coach when he drove it himself. “I particularly love the new safety systems, such as Active Lane Keeping Assist and the emergency stop function that comes as part of Active Drive Assist 2”, says the automotive entrepreneur. Even though they are not required by law, he “did not doubt for a second” that they are worth the price.

You can hear the pride in Erich's voice as he says: “Some of our long-standing drivers were a little sceptical in the beginning because of the smart technology employed by the systems and the fact that they interfere a bit in the driving style, but now everyone is very enthusiastic.” Two training courses held by Daimler Buses Schweiz AG in Wülfingen, which the company director describes as “very valuable”, helped the drivers better understand the assistance systems.

The company’s upcoming 100th anniversary in 2027 is still a little way off and Erich and Laura Schlatter don't yet have anything specific in mind for the celebrations, but they add with a laugh: “we will certainly think of something very special!” Perhaps they will add another Setra to their RoyalClass fleet to grace the streets of Neuhausen.