HI,
If lets say, I buy a Swiss half fare pass and book for example Zurich to Grindelwald- 2.00PM train. What if I miss that train, can I use the same ticket for the next train?
Posted by
Wengen
2898 posts
Standard tickets in Switzerland are not for a train. So as such you cannot "book the 2PM train". You buy a ticket Zurich to Grindelwald, and that ticket is valid on all train on that route for the whole day (till 5:00 the next day in fact). You are not limited to the train you picked on the schedule during the booking. (In fact, that you need to pick a train on the schedule is relatively new. In the past you only needed to pick origin, destination and ate). Tickets are for a route, not a train.
And standard tickets can be bought at full price, or at half price if you have the Half Hare Card. That is what most Swiss do. People who regularly use public transit (about half the population) have the HFC, and just buy standard tickets on the day of travel.
Only with supersaver tickets (which you also can buy without the HFC, as well as discounted with HFC) are you limited to a particular train. These supersaver tickets are a recent thing, and an exception to the rule that tickets are for a route, not a train.