Planning to buy one for myself and my 12 year old son (who I believe is free with the Family Pass when I purchase my pass). Do I need to worry about timetables on multi-station trips (Basil-Interlaken Ost-Lauterbrunnen- Meurren) or is it as straightforward as the NYC subway; arrive in one station and walk to the next train leaving? I do understand having to reserve on the Golden Pass for instance. Does that train run from Interlaken Ost to Luzern?
Thanks
It is very straightforward getting from Interlaken to Murren. (I can't speak for Basel as we were coming from Bern.) Most train changes were literally just across the tracks. You're correct in that your 12-yo will be free. You actually do not have to reserve the Interlaken to Lucerne Golden Pass route. We just hopped on without a reservation and it was fine, plenty of seats last mid-July. (We were not on the "official" panoramic train, just the "regular" train between those two routes, but the view was great. I recommend sitting on the right side from Interlaken for the first half of the journey. Then the train will stop a while, and reverse direction up the mountain. When it does that, move to the left side.) Well worth the extra hour it takes to get to Zurich; gorgeous scenery!
By national mandate, there is a train going in each direction at every hour between 6 am and 9 or 10 pm. Often there are more than that in busy locations. So the worst that can happen is you wait an hour. Nonetheless, it is nice to have some idea of the schedule, how fast you are given to make standard changes. For instance, you wouldn't want to take a bathroom break after arriving at Interlaken Ost and you were going to Lauterbrunnen. You will be waiting around another half hour for the next train.
Jess, I haven't been on the NYC subway, but Swiss trains are mostly "arrive in one station and walk to the next train leaving". As Sam says, all routes have at least one train per hour, leaving at the same minute(s) past each hour. It is a "turn up and go" service.
When you have to interconnect, the trains are timed to do so. For example, train A to B to C, but you need to change at B to a train to B4. Train departs A, arrives B. You get off, train carries on to C. 5 minutes later, your connecting train leaves, stopping at B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 etc.
"I do understand having to reserve on the Golden Pass for instance." - sort off. This is an extra tourist train. The regular hourly trains on the same route do not require reservation.
You can look up times on the SBB (Swiss Railways): website: https://www.sbb.ch/en
For example, Basel to Mürren, looking up times from 07:00 (there are earlier trains):
Basel SBB dep 07:31, Mürren BLM arr 10:28
Basel SBB dep 07:59, Mürren BLM arr 10:58
Basel SBB dep 08:31, Mürren BLM arr 11:28
Basel SBB dep 08:59, Mürren BLM arr 11:58
Basel SBB dep 09:31, Mürren BLM arr 12:28
And so on through the day, at 31 and 59 minutes past each hour. One could say like clockwork.
You can also download the SBB app and have all the schedules at your fingertips.
