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Swiss Travel Pass and Border Crossing Logistics

Posted by (Jersey Shore) on

We have been to Europe 5 times, but never actually crossed a border.. This September we are doing 7 nights in Switzerland followed by 7 nights in Northern Italy. On day 8 we will train from Murren to Milan. 4 connections means a busy morning!!!

Taking advice from previous posts, I did a spreadsheet which shows that the 8 day Swiss Travel Pass makes sense for us. I've also read on several posts that, with the pass, you just jump on the train and go.

So questions are:
1 - If we just hop on the train, what happens when we cross into Italy? Is the Italian portion of the ride covered by the pass?
2 - I know CH is not in the EU but it is in Schengen, so do we stop at the Italian border? (does not seem practical, but what do I know??)
3 - With a 2nd class pass, can I assume there are 2nd class coaches that are clearly marked so we get on the correct coach?
4 - Any other advice for using the Swiss travel pass?

Posted by
21150 posts

  1. No, your Swiss Travel Pass is only valid to the border, that might be the fist station in another country, like Domodossola, Italy, or Chamonix, France. Or it could be the last station in Switzerland, like Chiasso or St Margrethen. You have to look on the map of validity. Click on the link here to get the pdf.
    https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html

  2. Depends on the train. usually stops at what ever station it is scheduled to stop at. Usually, there is a crew change, Italian crews in Italy and Swiss crews in Switzerland.

  3. There will be a prominent "1" or "2" on the appropriate carriages.

  4. Just buy a ticket from Muerren to Milan and show your pass and you only pay the portion from Domodossola to Milan.

Posted by
11776 posts

What I do is buy a ticket from Domodossola to Milano. Domodossola is the first Italian town after leaving Switzerland so your STP covers you that far. If you get one of the (infrequent) EC trains that go all the way from Spiez to Domodossola, you will not even change trains on the way to Milano, but you will need to reserve the Italian segment and pay Domodossola to Milano,

The train stops at Domodossola and the police walk through, crew changes, but they do not check passports unless they are doing some sort of spot check.

Posted by
8889 posts

1) Nothing. Except your Swiss Pass is no longer valid. If you look at the Swiss Pass validity map (here: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de/infotexte/uebersichtskarte-sts.pdf ), you can see the last Swiss station on the route from Mürren to Milan is Domodossola. So you will need a ticket from Domodossola to Milan. This is best purchased before you get on the train (online or at a station).

2) No passport control. Customs may get on the train and walk through between stops.

3) About 2/3 of the train is 2nd class (1/3 1st class). Easy to spot which is which. First class has a big 1 on it. Platform indicators often indicate which part of the train is first and second.
See photo here, note "2" by the door: http://m.railjournal.com/media/k2/items/cache/67e9d8208a822726e7ffa067f1248299_XL.jpg
2nd class is 2+2 seating, 1st class is 2+1.

4) Don't be stressed about train times. There will be at least one train per hour. So there will be a train soon.
Enjoy yourself.

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