Swiss Rail confusion

To clear things up there is scenic brand name train route ( and not a rail pass) called the Golden Pass that originates in Montreux and terminates in Luzern.

To figure out how to get anywhere in Switzerland by train we use the Swiss Rail website : https://www.sbb.ch/en.

Thank you. I have done a few searches on the sbb website.

There are letters used next to the train trips such as IR and RE and I don't understand what they mean.
There are letters next to the station names - I can't figure out which station in Zurich I should choose.

common train class (type of train, not the class of seating on board) you may see in Switzerland and surrounding countries:

• ICE Inter City Express, long distance, the fastest trains from Germany, few stops, most direct

• IC Inter City, long distance, what it says, slower than ICE but many fewer stops than regional trains

• EC, very long distance, international, similar to IC but longer international distances

• RJ, Railjet, brand name of Austrian faster trains

• NJ, Nightjet, brand name of Austrian operated international night trains often offering sleeping accommodation

• IR, Inter regional, quite fast Swiss train which goes a long Swiss distance with few stops

• RE, Regional Express, medium distance, skips most smaller stations

• RB, RegioBahn, regional train, stops at all stops or most, may call at request stops (if you want a train to stop at a request stop press a button on the station or on the train or tell the conductor (often no conductor, get used to finding the button))

• RV, Regionale Veloce, fast regional, in Italy, a regional which skips most small stations

• R, Regionale. regional, in Italy, stops at every ant hill

• S, S-Bahn, local commuter train for a small usually sub-region, usually stops at all or most stations, may skip stations at rush hour, or as advertised

• RER, the Paris equivalent to a German or Swiss S-Bahn.

There are others. If you see one just ask and I'll scratch the memory banks and see what falls out.

Thank you! I mostly see IR when looking at routes in Switzerland. I wonder what that means.

There are letters next to the station names - I can't figure out which station in Zurich I should choose.

The various German speaking countries use the same general concept of a minor station and major stations, but they use slightly different terminology and therefore different abbreviations.

In Germany a normal station is called a Bahnhof (abbreviated Bf). The main one in a large town or city is called a Hauptbahnhof (abbreviated Hbf).

In Switzerland a station can also be Bf, but the main station will be HB, such as Zürich HB. You will also see the name of stations with a two letter abbreviation of the Canton if the name is not unique, such as Kilchberg ZH which is the Kilchberg in the Canton (but not necessarily the city ) of Zürich. Others you might see are BE for Bern, Geneva.

There are also French and Italian equivalents.

I've put in IR

Here you can read how SBB describes the train types mentioned by Nigel. English translation in the rightmost column.

When I am taking the train I focus on departure and arrival times as well as number of times I will need to transfer for a given route. I don't usually look at the type of train, to me that is not a priority.

If you want to go to the city of Zurich then choose Zurich HB (as mentioned above). If you are going to the airport then choose Zurich Flughafen.

The only time the type of train matters is that in some areas of Europe (not, I think Switzerland) regional or national railpasses may not be allowed on the fastest long distance trains.

Don't worry to much. The different train categories are not really that important. The main difference between an IR and an IC is that an IC will have a restaurant, and an IR not. Apart from that they are pretty much the same.

Basically just use the SBB app, orr SBB website to find the route. It will always offer you the fastest route by default. And if you are confused, just go to the information desk at the station. You will quickly figure out that you are way overthinking all of this.

As to which station to choose: If you start typing the name of a place the main station for the place will usually be listed first. But you can also type in the street address of your accomodation, or even the name of the hotel, and you will get a detailed route description.