Hi, i have 2 questions hopefully somebody can help me.
I plan to spend about 10 days in Switzerland and also to take the Golden Pass express, Glacier Express and Bernina express. Is it better to buy the Swiss Travel Pass or buy the day by day tickets.
Understand that some of the scenic train ride booking or reservation is mandatory. When i go to the SBB website to do the booking, how do i know that, that particular train ride is a scenic train ride and not the normal ride.
Thank you
Generally, at www.sbb.ch/en, scenic trains with panoramic car are indicated by "PE" in a red block. If you want seat reservations for these, you have to buy them from the individual train operators and these are not covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. The Glacier Express, Bernina Express, and Gotthard Panorama Express have mandatory seat reservation fees. Other trains have optional seat reservation fees.
You can purchase seat reservations alone without buying a ticket. Travel ticket could be a full fare ticket, half fare ticket if you have the Half Fare Card (120 CHF for 30 days), a Swiss Travel Pass, or a Saver Day Pass.
https://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/
https://tickets.rhb.ch/en/pages/bernina-express
https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/trains-boats/panorama-trains/gotthard-panorama-express.html
https://www.gpx.swiss/en/
What is the best ticket strategy? It depends on your other travel plans, where you are going, when you are going, what you will be doing. Unfortunately, there is no single strategy that will suit everybody.
We are going to Chamonix in late October. We would like to take at least one scenic train ride. We've read the Golden Pass Express is wonderful, but a little pricey. The regular Swiss trains go to the same places and are less expensive. Are they a good alternative?
The Reservation fee for a scenic “Express” train is about U.S. $50. That’s in addition to the ticket price.
The Regular trains cover the exact same route of the Bernina Express trains between Chur, St. Moritz and Tirano Italy for $66 with a Half-Fare card. You also should look at special deals like the “Saver Day Pass” and the “Day Pass for 2.” SBB has many promotional fares.
The Golden Pass train route from Lucerne to Montreaux is currently using buses from Lucerne to Meiringen as the tracks are undergoing maintenance.
The trains are expected to be back in service for the entire route by this year’s end.
The Glacier Express route can be done on regular trains, but with a couple changes of trains en route.
The Golden Pass Express is between Montreux and Interlaken. It is no more expensive than any other train on that route.
@ Sam, According to SBB, the route of the “Golden Pass” railway line runs from Montreaux to Lucerne. The Golden Pass Express train runs between Montreaux and Interlaaken where there’s usually a change to a regular train for the remaining part of the line to Lucerne. It’s the Golden Pass Express trains— in addition to all other scenic “Express” trains— that all have a mandatory seat reservation fee. For the Golden Pass Express train the fee is CHF $49 (US$58), The ticket price in second class is CHF 56 (US$66 in Second Class) = US$124. Regular trains do not have any mandatory seat reservation fees.
SBB currently has tickets for CHF 37.60 ( US$44) for upcoming regular train combinations running from Montreaux to Interlaaken. That’s without a Half-Fare Card which would bring the price down to CHF 18.
That makes the regular trains for the Montreaux to Interlaaken leg $14 LESS than just the RESERVATION FEE of the “Golden Pass Express” train or $88 less than the combined cost of one ticket with its mandatory seat reservation fee.
The Golden Pass Express train does not have mandatory reservation. That train is used by locals to get about their daily business after all.
Contrary to what is mentioned at the start of this thread it is not so that "PE" trains require reservations. In the past the PE from Interlaken to Luzern was just branded as an IR. A few years ago someone at the railways must have realised that they could get more money out of tourists by branding certain trains as PE.
What you should look for is an R in a square. The symbol R means "reservation is possible" and R with a square around it means "reservation is compulsory". Those symbols are used by other railways too btw. You will also find that on www.bahn.de for example.
Reservations are also separate from tickets. That is because ticket revenue is shared by all public transport operations in Switzerland, whereas the reservation charge goes to whoever operates the vehicle.
Only the following trains require reservations:
- Glacier Express.
- Gotthard Panorama Express. (But not the Treno Gottardo, do not confuse those...)
- Bernina Express. But only in the panoramic cars. There are always several normal cars at the front of the train that do not require reservation.
- On the Golden Pass route reservations are not required, except for the excellence class seats on the GPX. They are in my opinion a waste of money on Interlaken - Luzern, but in summer I would advise them on Interlaken - Montreux.
Reservations on PE trains must be done directly with the operator. You can usually not do that via the SBB system. But there will be a link to the website where you can reserver mentioned with the train details.
Anyway: Reserve Glacier and Bernina express on www.rhb.ch and Golden Pass on www.gpx.ch (for Montreux - Interlaken) and www.zentralbahn.ch (for Interlaken - Luzern. But for that part I would not bother).
For Gotthard Panorama Express go here: https://www.gotthard-panorama-express.ch/en/
WengenK, Thanks for clarifying
WengenK, I’m wondering when the Interlaaken to Lucerne line through the Brunig Pass will reopen to trains— any idea when that might happen?
That’s the leg that makes the route so spectacular.
The part of Interlaken - Luzern that goes over the Brünig pass is open. It is the Meiringen - Interlaken part, which runs along the northern shore of the lake that is closed. That part is quite scenic too.
The damage to the line caused by the mudslide in Brienz is extensive, and it is going to stay closed till November 25, is the latest I have read.
In the mean time there is a substitute bus service, and it appears well organised.
One interesting alternative to taking the substitute bus is to take the boat from Brienz to Interlaken. That should still be possible till early November.
