Hi,
We are going to be in Lugano September of 2019. Should we take the Gotthard Panoramic Train or is there a regular train? We don't want to go back to Lucerne, we would like to bypass it and go on to the Zurich airport.
Can you take the Gotthard train to Goshenen then change to a fast train to the Zurich airport? We don't want to get on a boat as we will have already done that earlier in the trip.
I'm concerned about waits at the tunnel or in September will that be the case?
The "regular" train uses the new Gotthard Base Tunnel and can get you to Zurich airport in just about 2 1/2 hours, changing trains at Zurich Hbf. The tunnel is 57 km long straight under the Alps.
If you want to go a more scenic way, you can take the old route that goes to Airolo then through the old Gotthard Tunnel. You change trains at Erstfeld and Zurich Hbf. Takes about 4 hours.
Waits at the tunnels?? The Swiss would never stand for it. They run on a strict timetable. You can set your watch by it.
All rail routes in Switzerland have at least one train every hour.
The "fast" trains go through the new lower and longer Gotthard "base" tunnel. There are still local trains using the old shorter tunnel, these trains take longer and require extra changes, as the trains through the old tunnel don't go all the way from Lugano to Zürich.
You can look up train times on the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) website: https://www.sbb.ch/en/
You need to enter Lugano to "Zürich Flughafen" (the name of the station at the airport). If you want to use the old route, add "Via Göschenen" to your search (note spelling).
I don't know why you are concerned about waits in the tunnel. Trains don't normally stop en route except at stations.
There are three Gotthard tunnels. Two are railway tunnels; of course trains run on schedules and there are never waits at railway tunnels. There is also an highway tunnel, traffic is severely limited due to safety rules, so queues with potentially long waits may develop at peak times. But only when crossing the Gotthard road tunnel.
lachera is right. The Gotthard pass road does have a bit of a backup sometimes. It goes away quickly (it appears to) but usually I am turning off into Goeschenen anyway, lol.
