Our trip this October has us in Switzerland for 11 days. We will travel by rail from Zurich to Zermatt, Zermatt to Lucerne, Lucerne to Regensburg Germany before taking a Viking river cruise. Since I am somewhat concerned after looking at the short times between trains on the various legs of this trip I would like to understand what type of tickets to purchase that would allow me to take the next train in the event that we miss a tight connection and it seems as though a Swiss Tourist Half Fare Card would be beneficial?
In addition to that general question....if the tourist half fare card is a good idea would it also cover the last leg into Regensburg Germany of would I have to get ticket to Zurich using the card and then purchase another ticket from there to Regensburg?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17417 posts
As one forum member, a Swiss resident, like to say, “A ticket is for a route, not a train”. In other words, within Switzerland, your advance ticket is good for any train on that same route that day (you cannot take a different route, though). So yes, if you do happen to miss your train at a connecting station, you can just take the next one (it may be an hours wait, however).
For your travel to Regensburg, you can buy the whole ticket on SBB and choose the Half fare Card discount. The website will then apply your 50% discount on the portion through Switzerland.
However, if you buy soon on SBB, you may be able to get one of the “Special Offer” Super Sparpreis Europa tickets offered for cross-border travel on Intercity trains. I did see these available on some trains in mid-October when I was checking prices.
For example, for the 12:35 departure on the route Luzern—-Zurich—-Munich—-Regensburg (only 2 changes on the way), the regular price with the HFCard discount is 138 CHF. The inflexible (no changes permitted) ticket is 81 CHF, and the “semi-flexible” Sparpreis ticket is 90 CHF (exchange and refund permitted under certain conditions). Seat reservations on the Zurich to Munich train are available for an additional 5 CHF (I would do this).
Those are 2d class tickets. First Class is an even better deal with the Sparpreis: 96 for Super Sparpreis, or 107 for the Flex Sparpreis. Either one a significant discount from the full price of 244 CHF.
Posted by
Green Bay
21137 posts
Short transfer times are the norm in Switzerland, on the theory that you want to get to your destination ASAP, with minimum time wasted hanging around train stations. If a transfer is listed as 5 minutes, then they figure you can do it, as everyone else has been doing it for years.
For instance, the trip to Regensburg from Luzern, shows an 8 minute transfer at Zurich Hbf from Platform 8 to Platform 33. Platform 33 is directly below Platform 8 in the underground part of the station. There is an escalator where you get off the train and you take that down 2 levels to Platform 33 and you board the train.
You can also take a train 30 minutes earlier to Zurich if you like. You are only required to be on the train from Zurich to Munich with a discounted ticket.