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saver day pass at the border

Posted by (Cincinnati) on

Thanks for the assistance. St Margrethen is the first stop after the EC[E$] 198 leaves Germany, briefly enters Austria, and crosses into St Gallen canton, where the saver day pass takes effect for the remainder of the day's travel.

4 Dec Train ECE198 Munich > St Margrethen 0654 - 0909 and EC198 > Zurich 0910 - 1027. DB lists no track and a detailed Google map shows tracks from DE to AT to CH. Pass is valid for all travel in CH. Still buy St Margrethen ticket and show the pass at the Austrian-Swiss border 1.8km from the station?

This December trip is Munich > Zurich CH via St Margrethen CH. DB says it is an ECE train and a "layover" of 1 minute in St Margrethen. Google shows 0 changes. SBB has the same schedule, but lists both trains as EC, a retro, stylish train that crosses borders. DB uses the term ECE, EuroCity Express.
I read suggestions for Switzerland > Austria. Also, there is Italy > Switzerland. However, that requires a train change at the border.

Buy a Munich > St Margrethen ticket in Germany and at the border present the Saver Day pass to the (new?) conductor?

Posted by
19501 posts

Might help if you give us the date and train number (times).

I wouldn't worry about the ECE/EC designation as long as the train shows the same number and times. An ECE is probably the same train as an EC but makes fewer stops on it's route in Germany. It has to be the same physical train; there is not time in St. Margrethen to change trains and only one track is shown.

As long as the Saver Day pass is valid from the border to St. Margrethen, you might as well show it to him as soon as he asks for tickets in Switzerland so he won't have to check you again after St. Margrethen.

Posted by
22870 posts

What is your ultimate destination that day. Just looking at Dec 10, you can get a ticket to Zurich now for 29.99 EUR. The ticket to St Margrethen is 19.99 EUR, so it is only costing another 10 EUR to Zurich, hardly enough to justify getting a Saver Day Pass. Even for onward travel, you are likely to find a better price by buying a nonrefundable Supersparpreis ticket now or in the near future.

Posted by
3480 posts

The Munich - Zurich train is called ECE by DB and EC by SBB. But it is the same train. And normally it is a through train from Munich to Zurich. Believe SBB. If anybody not SBB shows a different schedule they are wrong.

You can indeed buy a Saver Day Pass (or a Swiss Travel Pass) and use that for the Swiss part of any international train that runs in to Switzerland. So coming from Munich you need a ticket till st. Margrethen. Coming from Austria till Buchs SG, and coming from Italy either till Chiasso or Domodossola.

But in all cases if you are on a through train you can just stay on the train. You do not need to get out, or change services.

Posted by
3480 posts

The reason for the ECE designation in Germany is a simple one: Money.

In Switzerland a train is a train, and you do not have price differences between different categories. So it does not matter if you travel on an IC, EC, TVG, ICE, or an S bahn, the price is that same, and only based on distance.

The German Railways however have three price levels: ICE, IC, and regional. And EC trains typically were lumped in with the IC services. However on Munich - Zurich DB wants to charge the ICE tariff (even though it is not a high speed train) so hence the ECE designation, which is just an EC train, but priced as an ICE...

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