I am wondering if anyone knows on the zermatt to chur line, whether the normal swiss rail travel on the same line as the glazier express? What's the difference between them? Does the normal swiss train pass through tunnels and bridges as the glazier express? I want to travel from chur to zermatt and stop half way to visit a tiny town. Does the glazier express stops?
Posted by
OP
Australia
6 posts
Also, does the rail pass cover the glazier express?
Posted by
Newport Beach, CA, USA
769 posts
The Glacier Express has the special panorama cars with extra windows etc. Its usually not the commuter train folks on this one, and while the pass covers most of the other named routes (Bernina, William Tell etc) this one maye only offer a discount as its not listed on the Rick Rail Pass page (see above - click rail pass)
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/ausswitz.cfm
There are regular trains that travel as well and may be faster and covered.
Posted by
Oil City, PA, U.S.A.
27 posts
Hi,
Something that may be of help to you is the web site of the swiss rail line. It is sbb.ch. If you enter where you are starting and where you end it will list all the trains. For each train you can get a list of all the stops that the train makes.
I rode the Glacier Express last year and it was great. There are a number of nice towns that you pass and the train stopped at most of them. If you havent rode the Glacier Express I would do it at least once. If I ever go back I may just take a local train and stop some places along the way.
One other thing if you havent picked out the town you want to stop at, a lot of towns in Switzerland have their own web sites with lots of information. Most of them will convert to english. Just enter the city name.ch.
You asked about the rail pass. With the swiss rail pass you still have to pay extra for the reservation on the Glacier Express and you may or may not get them when you want them. Most locals do not have any extra charges or require reservations.
I hope you have a good trip.
Posted by
Yorkshire, UK
264 posts
I do not believe there was a stop between Zermatt and Chur. It is about an 80 minute ride on the Glacier Express and is a very very small fraction of the overall Glacier Express Route.
That being said normal swiss trains run on the same line between Zermatt and Chur (hourly?) and will stop at cities in between.
With the swiss pass there is no fee to ride the train. However you must reserve your seat on the glacier express which was like 30 Swiss Franc.