swiss pass validation

Mary we just did this with a big group of 20 people - 16 of which were high school freshmen. Our train connection times were very short in addition to the huge amount of time it would have taken to disembark with 20 people and luggage in Brig, validate 20 passes, reload 20 people with luggage on the next train. We were told by the Italian Rail workers in Venice that the conductor on the Milan->Brig train would validate our Swiss Passes. However, I think the thought of validating 20 Swiss Passes intimidated him a bit and he just told us to have them validated when we got to our final destination in Switzerland. He told us to go ahead and write in our passport numbers and start date on the passes which made me a little nervous because everything I've ever read about train passes said to NOT write anything on the tickets until they had been officially validated.

However, we took his advice and wrote in the information. Our final destination in Switzerland was Murren and on every leg of the trip we explained to the ticket checker and they just smiled and said validate when you arrive at the final destination.

We arrived in Murren about 9:30 pm and, of course, the ticket window was closed. I went the next morning to the ticket window and took all 20 of the Swiss Passes and the guy at the ticket window validated them with no problem. Evidentally this kind of thing happens frequently and the Swiss Train people seem to think it is much less of a big deal than I had read.

So, I guess you can jump off the train in Brig for validation if you want - or just wait and validate when you arrive at your final destination. If you wait until the final destination, go ahead and write in the information like the start date (dd/mm/yyyy) and your passport number(s).

Also, there will be a border check in Brig while you stop there. Swiss Border Agents will board and look at everyone's passports - but they do not stamp your passport.