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Specific train route/fare questions

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Hello! We are finalizing travel plans for our upcoming trip to Switzerland in early July. We are two adults and one 15 year old. Adults will have Half Fare Cards, son will have the Family Travel Card, and we will all have BO passes. These boards have been an amazing source of information, so thank you to all the posters! Nailing down the details of our itinerary, I have a few transportation questions.

  1. We arrive into Milan (Malpensa) and will train to Locarno, connecting in Lugano. We are planning on taking the S50 Direction Biasca to Locarno, connecting in Lugano, every 19 minutes past the hour. Listed as 24.40CHF with the Half Fare Card, our son’s fare is listed as 7CHF, I assume for the Italian portion of the journey. Specific departure times are listed on the tickets, so we are just planning on buying tickets when we land in case we are delayed. This will be our first journey using our Half Fare Cards. Are we good to just buy the ticket in the SBB app, board the train, then show our tickets/Half Fare Cards/Family Travel Card on our phones if asked by the conductor(s)? Is there any advantage to buying tickets physically at the Milan station vs. in the SBB app? Reading other posts, when we buy our tickets, we should list our son's discount as Junior Travelcard for this trip (not free because of the Italian portion), but with all other train trips within Switzerland, do we even need to "buy" tickets on the app for him when they are listed as 0CHF in cost?

  2. We are staying in Locarno, but I am not sure if we will get our Ticino ticket electronically before we check in. If we do get the Ticino ticket beforehand, should we we just buy tickets from Milan to Lugano and then show the Ticino ticket on the train from Lugano to Locarno? Not sure it matters too much as the fare difference is only 5CHF, but just wondering.

  3. We will leave Locarno for Lucerne and would like to travel on the Treno Gottardo. I am pretty sure this is the train that leaves Locarno every 2 hours with departure times at 0933 and 1133, IR26 Direction Basel, and looks to be direct with no connections, but would someone mind confirming for me?

Thanks a million!

Posted by
2330 posts

If you buy a ticket for Malpensa - Locarno what you will get is an "Arcobaleno Transfrontaliere" ticket. That is a special cross border tariff used on trains to/from Ticino. Such tickets are valid for four hours. So if you eg. select the 14:19 in the app you will get a ticket valid from 14:19 to 18:19. The ticket is valid on the train to Switzerland, and then once in Switzerland on all public transit in the zones mentioned on the ticket, so you can use it eg. on local buses in Locarno as well.

Note that this ticket does not need validation, or check in, like other regional tickets in Italy.

If you already have the Ticino ticket you only need a ticket till the first station in Switzerland, and that is "Cantello Caggliolo. You van see the map where your pass is valid here:
https://arcobaleno.ch/dam/jcr:1684ce21-c910-4071-bedd-e5d42cbef687/2023_arcobaleno_cartina.biglietti.pdf

The trip planner on www.sbb.ch will show you if a train is direct, or requires a transfer. You can trust that info.

Posted by
20799 posts

Since you traveling to Switzerland directly from Malpensa airport and purchasing Half Fare tickets, you will need to have the Half Fare Cards purchased before you travel as well as having the free Family Card, either in the app or on-line in advance.

Posted by
7 posts

Thank you both very much for taking the time to reply. WengenK, thank you for the tip to just buy tickets to just across the border. This will save us 10CHF each! And Sam, we will be sure to buy our cards before we leave - thanks!

One follow-up question...I understand that we will need to present ID if asked when using our Half Fare/Family cards. When we are traveling between base cities, we will have our passports with us, but what would you advise when traveling locally? We usually leave our passports in hotel safes and just carry photocopies of passports with us when going out for a few hours or day trips. My son is a quite tall 15 year old, so I imagine he may get a raised eyebrow or two when using the Family Card.

Posted by
2330 posts

You need to have an official government ID with you. Photocopies will not suffice. Personally I would never leave something as important as a passport in the Hotel...

Posted by
17168 posts

The two trains you name, both IR26, departing Locarno at 9:33 and 11:33 are indeed the Treno Gottardo.

Posted by
7 posts

Thank you WengenK for the advice. And Lola, I really appreciate you confirming the Treno Gottardo!

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