Switzerland 25 Aug to 2 Sep 2022 - A guide to train travel in Switzerland.
This is not a sponsored page. Just my way to say thank you by sharing and contributing what I learnt from my trip, after reading all the experiences by bloggers.
Switzerland is well known for its reliable public transport network. From train, ferry, tram and bus. After my trip there for 9 days using the Swiss Travel Pass and buying ticket from the machine, I am totally impressed.
Train was our main transportation when we traveled around Switzerland. Our learning journey started on the day we reach on 25 Aug 2022 and still learning on the last day on 2 Sep 2022.
Sharing what I learnt with anyone going to visit Switzerland soon.
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| Basic information needed for every ride. Knowing that if we purchased the 2nd class tickets, we need to know which car are we allowed to sit in. Which platform and sector should we wait for our train, where to put our luggages are also important information we need to gather when we are on the go. |
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The official website of Switzerland public transport network is, There is an App "SBB Mobile" with a red logo. Luckily we downloaded it before we visited. Upon arriving Switzerland, we used it immediately to find the departure information on our 1st train to Bern. The mobile app is very helpful. Just click Timetable, and we are able to key in our station name from our starting point and our destination. |
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| Choosing the correct train. Not all train that depart first at our departing point is best. From the above, we can see that IC8 (3rd train) is better than IC1 (1st train) to Zermatt. It took only 3 hours 31mins instead of 3 hours 45 mins compared to 1st train. Also, with luggages with us, it is better to choose IC8 as we only need to do 1 transfer, so only need to carry our luggages up the train twice. If we choose IC1, we will need to carry our luggages up the train 3 times as there are 2 transfer. |
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| Understanding information from the App. For example, we decided to take IC8, the app will shows that departing time is 8.45 and at platform 3. The above information will be shown to us once we click the journey between Zurich Flughafen to Visp. So we are required to transfer our train at Visp. Once we click on the next journey (Visp to Zermatt), the next train information will be shown in the next picture. |
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| Noticed the platform and departing time will always be shown to us. Imagine arriving at Visp at 11.03 platform 7, departing at Visp for Zermatt at platform 3. So we need to be mentally prepared to rush to the next platform in 5 mins with our bags as well. If possible, it is always good to be at the platform before the train departing time as all trains will leave promptly. Note : we do note that once the train set off, this information will not appear in the app anymore. So we would do a screenshot of the train information once we decided which train to take for our reference. |
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| Ticketing We puchased the Swiss Travel Pass before we depart to Switzerland. Unlike Japan, there is no need to have it activated. Just remember to download our voucher to our mobile phone and have the QR code handy for inspector to check. They will use a device to scan our QR code to verify. Swiss pass can be purchased from SBB website directly or any third party travel agency. Up to us to decide where to get them. Oh yes. There is no need to show the pass to anyone when we board the train. The inspector will check our tickets while we are in the train. |
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| This was the price we paid for during our trip. I bought the pass for 8 days. So we paid CHF389 for 8 days transport. |
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| 1st or 2nd class cars. Having bought the 2nd class Swiss Travel Pass, we can only aboard the 2nd class cars. We learnt that we can identify the class 2 cars by checking the number printed next to the train doors. Another way is to follow the information shown on signages displayed at respective train platform as describe in the next picture. |
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| Platform and sector to wait for train. We paid attention to the information provided by the train station's platform. For example, for train number IC1, it is departing at platform 3 - Gleis 3. If we are holding 2nd class tickets, we can wait at sector marked 2 from the above signage. So it is good to wait here, Glies 3, Sektor B. |
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| If I am not wrong, seats in train are designed to face each other with a small "table" attached to the window wall. We came across bigger and foldable table in bigger trains. We can eat inside the train, place our drinks on the table. Leg space can be quite cramp if we sit with a stranger opposite us, not able to stretch fully. |
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| Luggages. The luggage rack space is very limited. We ended up putting them on the compartment above our seats which is very tiring. Luckily an old lady pointed to us that we can have our luggages placed in between the back of 2 seats. Perhaps this is why they design the train to form seats facing each other? Later on we do realised that the space between the back of 2 seats vary. Can be big, can be small. So not all can accomodate our 24inches luggage. By the way, we need to climb a few steps to go on board train, and climb more steps to the 2nd floor if we like to sit on the upper level. So it is good to travel light. |
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| Travel information. The train travel information will be displayed for us inside the train. I was impressed by the amount of information they can provide. The above shows that we are ariving Zurich HB. Then, they show us at Zurich HB, which transport departure time with its platform number. Wow. |
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| Train toilets. Not all trains are equipped with toilets. From our experience, the inter city trains has them. The train that fetched us to Rhine Falls from Zurich HB station do not have toilets. So it depends on which train we were in. Do look out for signage to see if there are any. At some train station, we need to pay CHF2 or CHF1 for a visit to the toilet. The train toilets are clean. So we will always use them before reaching our destination. |
Swiss Travel Pass
Having a Swiss Travel pass has its advantages. We used it for bus, trains, trams and ferries. Any transport that is listed in the SBB network. We need not worry about getting tickets for every trip which is quite time consuming.
Also, in the event when we wanted to change our itinerary, we need not worry about added cost.
I have done my calculations and after averaging out the 50% discount on entrance fees and cable cars to various attractions, we manage to breakeven.
We will be departing Zurich on our 9th day morning, we will buy tickets via cash on this day.
We learnt that we need to specify the time of train that we wanted to take on day 9, so meaning to say, each ticket is meant for a certain train, it can be very inconvenient incase we miss the train.
In conclusion, getting a Swiss Travel Pass saved us alot of trouble.
Next, I will be updating my itinerary one by one. Stay tuned.
Itinearary at at glance.
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