Hello! If I see a "very high occupancy expected" on a route I am taking, is it best to buy seats (we have Eurrail Passes not STPs) or just wing it and stand if necessary? The one I see from Zurich HB to Bern is only an hour ride so it's not a big deal to us if we have to stand. Thank you!
Posted by
Arctophilia, Northamptonshire, England
35214 posts
is that at the rush hour?
Posted by
Switzerland
260 posts
It is possible to reserve seats for this route if you want to, they are CHF 5.00 each. In the SBB app you will see the 'seat reservation only' option. You can certainly stand...but an hour is a long time for that and there are not stops along the way where people will get off. Even so, I would probably just get on and try and find a seat - if anyone has their backpack or whatever sitting on the seat beside them be sure to ask if the seat is free and they will move it for you.
Posted by
OP
Ohio
34 posts
Thank you for your suggestions! The one we are looking at is at 15:02; I don't know if that time is considered rush hour on a Sunday there? (Here in the U.S. it would not be a rush hour time on the weekend.)
Posted by
Wengen
3127 posts
The Bern to Zurich trains are often quite long (up to 16 cars, all double deck) so there is a lot of place. High occupancy means that you might have to look around for a free seat a bit, but it is very rare that people are standing.
Posted by
Switzerland
435 posts
The train that continues on to Interlaken can get very crowded on sunny summer weekends. You may have to be willing to sit separately from your travel companions and hunt around. Will you have luggage? This can also make things trickier, especially if you are unable to carry your bags up the upper level of the train. My advice is to 1) be at the track in Zurich HB early so you can position yourself to be one of the first to get on when the train arrives at 14:55 and 2) check the train formation in the app to see which cars are expected to be "less full." Normally you have better luck finding seats at the end furthest down the platform.
Also - if you are not in a hurry and your journey ends in Bern, it can also pay off to just take a different train. For example, the 15:06 takes about 20-25 mins longer because it makes a few stops and has a slightly more indirect route. However, this also means that this train is almost never crowded when it leaves Zurich and finding a seat is not an issue. You still get to Bern by 4:30pm.
Posted by
Wengen
3127 posts
Many modern trains have a system that counts the passengers, and based on that SBB now displays live information on how full each car is on the platform.
In this video you can see what this looks like:
https://youtu.be/6t8tAlZHIGc?feature=shared
The letters indicate sectors of the platform, and correspond to markers. The little red dot indicates where you are in relation to the train. So this should allow you to pre position yourself to a part of the platform so you board the train at a spot where you are more likely to get free seas.