TRAIN TRAVEL IN SWITZERLAND

Done thousands of miles on Swiss railways, both private and SBB/CFF/FFS and nary a problem. You may run into commuters filling a train if you travel at rush hour in the direction of the rush around a major city like Bern, Geneve or Zurich. I have. So you stand for 20 km or so and then get a seat. Never had a reservation on SBB/CFF/FFS and always traveled second class. Never had a reservation on private tourist lines but I never travel on the fancy named tourist only trains, I always travel for a fraction of the cost on the same routes, with windows that open, at the same speed, stopping in the same places, on the milk run local trains. One thing about the narrow gauge trains, they tend to have single track and pass at the stations so everybody stops at the same places at the same speed. Only the passengers on the hermetically sealed tourist trains don't get off and I can, at will. If you are on the trains for 3 weeks (hope you have deep pockets) you will probably have some sort of card or pass which will also include the yellow postbuses. Between the two highly integrated and well synchronized systems there is almost nowhere in Switzerland you can't easily reach.

If you have traveled by train in Italy, France and England, Switzerland will be a breeze. The Swiss Travel system is known as one of the best transport systems in the world, and includes boats and cablecars as well as trains. The schedules are well-coordinated, and I've never heard of a strike on the Swiss trains. As for reservations, we have traveled around Switzerland on four separate 2-week trips at the height of summer, and have never made train reservations.* The only time we have had a problem finding seats was going in to Zürich on the day of the Street Parade, when a million or so people show up there to party in the street. In 2012 it will be August 11. I would avoid Zurich and be in the mountains at that time, where many of the fvillages are having festivals (Dorfests) of their own. You can't even make reservations on many of the smaller trains. On the other hand, if you want to ride some of the so-called "scenic trains" such as the Glacier Express or Golden Pass route, and want to sit in the "panoramic" or other special cars, you will need reservations. Some of the other popular tourist-oriented trains, such as the one up the
Jungfraujoch, and from Wilderswill to Schynige Platte, can be crowded at times, mostly with tour groups. *I would not, however, travel without hotel or other lodging reservations in summer.

Unless you're traveling together in a group of 10+ one can't make seat reservations on regular domestic inter-city trains in Switzerland...all seats are first come, first serve.

The Swiss train system just has to be the best in Europe or anywhere else for that matter. It's really great. We have had the occasional seat reservation but it really wasn't necessary. As Lola explains, we have been on busy trains into Zurich but still, it wasn't a problem.

Trains will not take you to some really off-beaten places like the Stutenpass, but they will cover most of the country. Unfortunately, what the Swiss system has in terms of punctuality and coverage it lacks in terms of offering customized offers like advanced purchase discounts and seat reservation for most trains. The "named" touristic trains, for most part, run on routes that are also covered by regular routes, with a few exceptions (like the final Glacier Express ascent to Zermatt). To pay extra for the comfy panoramic cars or not is a matter of personal choice, and helpiners will always say one way of the other. I personally think the extra payment is worth on the Bernina Express, but not on the Glacier Express. I think the Willhem Tell express is overrated, though. They Swiss are in the middle of a lengthy renovation program of their train fleet that will bring it up to better standards, eliminating things like windows that open, non-noise-insulated cars etc. And they will be all fit with some a/c, guaranteeing a sweat-free journey even in summer.

It's a very well run system to say the least.

It's called a Tageskarte (1-day travelpass) and from what I see on the SBB website, the only one that is 33 CHF is the "Happy Birthday Tageskarte" which is good only on the purchaser's birthday and is not transferable: "The Happy Birthday travelpass is only valid in conjunction with a valid form of ID." Other 1-day travelpasses range in price from 48 CHF (with a Half-Fare Card) to 58 CHF (bought in 5-packs) to 68 CHF. There is nothing that says they are limited to Swiss residents or nationals, but for foreign visitors that are many types of passes available only to them that might work out better. It all depends on how much traveling around one is going to do there.

For what it's worth, if you have any contacts in Switzerland ask them about getting you a day-pass. (Apologies, I forget the proper Swiss name for it.) Only Swiss people can purchase it in their localities, and there is a certain quantity allotted for each day so you must plan ahead (as in months). But for ~33CHF you have all of the SBB train system at your disposal for one day. Quite a good deal.