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Understanding SBB

We are booked on a Switzerland tour Sep 2020 and I’m starting research early. The tour ends with transport to Zurich airport or train station (our choice). From there we plan to take the train to Schaffausen for a few days (for family reasons) then the train back to Zurich for 1-2 night stay at a hotel either near the train station or the airport prior to flights home.

While I’ve certainly heard plenty good about the swiss rail system, our one and only experience attempting to take the train from Basel to Schaffausen ended a failure and has me nervous. We attempted to go one morning. Figured out the ticket buying machine (which has an English option), bought tickets, found the train and were sitting on it when an announcement in German had everyone else de-boarding. A kindly young lady explained that there was a problem on the line and the train wouldn’t be going. We went to the customer service office. The young man was pleasant but offered little in the way of explanation or assistance. Finally we went to another office to get a refund as it didn’t seem we would be able to go. Turned out later the holdup was temporary and if only we’d known we could have take the trip about an hour later.

I’ve been checking out the SBB website trying out various routes/time tables. Nice site in many ways but some basic info that confuses me. I can’t find an explanation for the different train codes – S, IC, RE or if it even matters. Is the phone app useful? Does it give status information so I can avoid what happened in Basel? I found a status map on the website with colored circles for the trains and numbers with + signs mostly 0. I assume a +2 means the train is 2 minutes late (early?). Basically, I kind of need a primer on how to use this.

I’m sure I’m being overly paranoid but don’t want to have what is likely to be my last chance to see my grand-dads home blown again because of communication failures. Help.

Posted by
21188 posts

S, IC, RE or if it even matters.

It does not matter. These are just different classes of trains, but a ticket from A to B is good on any of them.
I do think your bad experience was a one-off.

The "+" shows how much it is running late in minutes. Phone app will help if there is a disturbance and you can get quickly rerouted if there is.

For your information "S" is an S-Bahn, basically a suburban commuter train. "IC" is an Intercity train, a high-end train connecting major cities in Switzerland, often with a restaurant car. "RE" is a Regional Express, a middle of the road train with no restaurant or snacks on board.

Since the S-Bahn makes a lot of stops and can take twice as long as an IC or RE train, stick to those, but a ticket is good on any of them.

Posted by
8889 posts

Yes, as Sam says, it doesn't really matter, just an indication of how many stops the train makes.
S = S-Bahn = Suburban/commuter train. Stops at every stop
R = Regional. Rural train stopping at all stops.
IR = Inter-regio. Doesn't stop at every station.
IRE = Inter-regio Express. Even fewer stops.
IC = Intercity. Stops in big cities only.

They also have route numbers, for example S1, S2 etc. You will see S-Bahn maps for each city showing the routes. The route numbers are useful for regular travellers to learn, one-time tourists just look up your destination.
Some lines will only have an S or R train, stopping at all stops.
Main lines will have that, plus additionally IR or IRE or IC trains.

The important thing to know is that every route and every station has at least one train per hour, at the same minutes past each hour.

Remember: There will always be another train in 60 (or 30) minutes. So don't panic if you miss a train.
That announcement you heard probably said something like "train xxx is cancelled please take the train to yyy in 10 minutes, and change at yyy", which is why nobody was panicking and why they couldn't understand why you wanted a refund.

AND, if you want to get from Basel to Schaffhausen (or vice-versa), SBB is not the way to go. Both are in Switzerland, but because of the way the border runs, the shortest and quickest route is on a DB (German Railways) train via Germany.
If you go to the other station in Basel (Badischer Bahnhof, owned by DB) you can get a train direct to Schaffhausen, no changes.

Posted by
911 posts

Thanx guys. I'm going to cut and paste the codes into my travel guide.

Is the app worth downloading? We'll have cell service there so if it works I'll get it.

Yep, if the young man in customer service had just said that we'd have waited but he offered nothing so we were like ok, can we get a refund. Gotta work on my German skills this trip. I've used trams, trains, metro, etc all over the world and never been as freaked as that experience.

Actually we were at Badischer Bahnhof as it happened. It was just down the road at the Swissotel where we were staying. Loved that tourists in Basel got free public transport.

Posted by
7209 posts

Of course the app is worth getting. You can buy your tickets directly from the app - no need for ticket machines. You can check schedules with the app - it's very useful.

Posted by
733 posts

We just came back from a week in Switzerland and I used the SBB mobile app multiple times a day to check schedules. We stayed in Muerren and had BO passes, so never needed tickets for anything, but the schedule information was invaluable. I found the app easy to use and a godsend when making last-minute transportation plans.

Posted by
21188 posts

The IC train goes once per hour between Zurich Hbf and Schaffhausen and is nonstop.
The RE train goes once per hour between Zurich Hbf and Schaffhausen and makes 2 stops along the way.
The S-Bahns all take lightly different routes making many stops. Two go once per hour and one goes twice per hour.
So all in all, there are 6 trains per hour.

Posted by
1131 posts

Just chiming in to say that, I, too found the website confusing before I got to Switzerland, but once in the country, it was much easier. I didn't have cell service, but each night at the hotel on the wifi I would take screenshots of the platforms and times of the trains that we wanted. This worked well, with one exception in Lauterbrunnen when they had changed the track # between the time I took the screenshot and the time I got to the station. I was able to look at the signs at the station to find the correct track just fine. It will be OK, and the good news is, almost everyone in Switzerland speaks English so if you are truly lost or confused, you can usually find someone to help you.

Posted by
7307 posts

The website is indeed confusing, especially when it comes to fares (it assumes you own a half fare card), but the app is a joy to use!