Country info: Switzerland (die Schweiz/la Suisse/Svizzera/Svizra)

Rail companies: SBB (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen)/CFF (Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses)/ FFS (Ferrovie

                             federali svizzere)/ VFS (Viafiers federalas svizras)

Swiss Rail Network Map 

Currency: 1 euro = app. 1.25 Swiss Francs (CHF)

Train travel in Switzerland: train types, tickets, fares, discounts & other info

National Train Service:

Train types in Switzerland: Suburban (S-Bahn), Regional (Regional, Regional-Express, InterRegioExpress); InterCity (including InterCity Neigezug), High-Speed (InterCityExpress, TGV & RailJet); EuroCity/EuroNight & CityNightLine (CNL)

• Suruban (marked as S-Bahn on SBB website) - commuter trains serving major Swiss cities and suburban areas, no seat reservation required 
• Regional (marked as R, REX, IR on SBB website) – local trains for short-distance routes, no seat reservation required
• InterCity (marked as IC & ICN on SBB website) – serve medium & long-distance routes between major Swiss cities, seat reservation can be made, but not required
• High-Speed (marked as ICE, TGV, RJ on SBB website) – international high-speed trains connecting Switzerland with Germany, France and Austria, on domestic routes seat reservation can be made, but not required
• EuroCity/EuroNight (marked EC/EN on SBB website) – international daytime & overnights trains, on domestic service seat reservation can be made, but not required (unless for couchette/sleeper)
• CityNightLine (marked as CNL on SBB website) - international overnight sleeper trains, seat/bed reservation is compulsory
  

Traveling by train in Switzerland is one of the best rail experiences passenger can get, but for a foreigner (either tourist or on business) journeys by train in Switzerland can be rather expensive, so we offer a number of suggestions how to save on rail travel in Switzerland:

1. First and most essential option for a budget rail journey in Switzerland is to rely on the so-called SBB Supersaver Tickets (discounted one way tickets). Passengers can buy SuperSaver Tickets online via SBB website no more than 14 days before the chosen day of travel and until shortly before train departs (unless those discounted tickets already sold out). SuperSaver Tickets offered for the majority of  SBB’s long-distance routes, as well as for selected trains of BLS, Rhaetian Railways, PostBus, Zentralbahn etc. Currently SuperSaver Tickets are on sale until  30 June 2013, while last day on which you can travel using SuperSaver Ticket is 14 days from that date - 14 July 2013. If purchased on time, SuperSaver Tickets can be a real bargain giving up to 60% discount comparing to standard full fare price (for instance passengers can travel from Zurich to Basel for only 12,8 CHF or from Zurich to St.Moritz for 29,2 CHF, from Geneve to Interlaken for 26,8 CHF, from Bern to Zermatt for 34,4 CHF etc.

2. Passengers also can take advantage of City Ticket or City-City Ticket. Offer allows passengers for a small additional extra fare use entire transport network in the city of your destination
3. Another way to save while traveling by train in Switzerland is to use international SCIC-NRT(TCV) tariff tickets for journeys within Switzerland (for more details about this 'trick see 'Western Europe – how cheap it can be?' section). For instance ticket St.Gallen-Zurich-Luzern-Interlaken-Berne-Lausanne-Geneva with validity period of one month & possibility of unlimited stopovers on the route costs only 120,6 euro or Basel-Lugano whether via Zurich or Luzern is just 65,2 euro. In a way such international tickets can serve as a rail pass for specific predetermined routes
   
4. Once there is no more discounted SuperSaver Tickets available or the fare is too high, passengers can as well take advantage of SBB international discounted tickets. Idea behind the trick might sound absurd, but it really works - passenger purchases ticket till further 'foreign' station, but gets off on earlier stop which is still in Switzerland. For instance, you need to travel from Zurich to Lugano. 'Trick' is to purchase discounted international ticket from Zurich to Italian stations after Lugano (like Como or even Milan) for only 27 CHF instead of domestic full fare Zurich-Lugano (which costs 62 CHF), as result it is possible to save >50% of the fare out of nothing
   

International Train Service:

a) Regular discounts

TEE Rail Alliance tariffs to Germany (DB) & Austria (ÖBB)

b) Special offers (SparSchiene)

Ticket offers with limited number of tickets per each departure (purchase in advance required):

• Austria: SuperSaver Tickets (daytime trains): from Zurich to Vienna (from 56 CHF), from Zurich to Salzburg (from 49 CHF), from Zurich to Innsbruck (from 35 CHF). Also available discounted tickets for EuroNight trains ('Wiener Walzer' and 'Zürichsee'): from Zurich to Salzburg, Vienna and from Zurich to Graz, Villach (seats from 36 CHF, couchette from 48 CHF, sleepers from 61 CHF)
  
• Belgium: Brussels via Paris (global price fares with discounts as for SBB-SNCF and SNCF-SNCB) or via Germany (standard tariff)
  
• Czech Republic: SparNight offer by CityNightLine train from Basel to Prague (sleeparette from 69 CHF, couchettes from 49 CHF & sleeper from 152 CHF)
• Denmark:  SparNight offer by CityNightLine train from Basel to Copenahagen (seats from 41 CHF, couchettes from 49 CHF)
• France: from Zurich, Basel, Bern, Neuchâtel, Lausanne, Geneva to Paris (discounted tickets Piccolissimo offer, only from 31 CHF), from Geneva to Nîmes, Montpellier, Marseille, Toulon, St-Raphaël-Valescure, Cannes, Antibes, Nice (discounted tickets Prem's offer, from 48 CHF)
• Germany: SuperSaver Tickets (daytime trains): from Zurich to Munich (from 48 CHF), from Basel to Berlin (from 60 CHF), from Basel to Hamburg (from 54 CHF) etc. and SparNight (overnight CityNightLine trains): from Zurich to Berlin (seats from 41 CHF, couchettes from 49 CHF & sleepers from 96 CHF), from Basel to Hamburg (seats from 41 CHF, couchettes from 49 CHF & sleepers from 96 CHF) etc.
• Hungary: from Zurich to Budapest by daytime high-speed RailJet train & SparNight for overnight 'Wiener Walzer' train (seats from 39 euro, couchettes from 49 eur & sleeper from 69 eur)
  
• Italy:  SuperSaver Tickets (daytime trains): from Zurich, Basel, Geneva, Luzern to Milan (from 27 CHF); from Geneva to Venice (from 39 CHF)
• Netherlands:  SparNight offer by CityNightLine train from Basel to Amsterdam (seats from 41 CHF, couchettes from 49 CHF & sleepers from 96 CHF)
• Spain: Barcelona by TrenHotel Elipsos sleeper train (service currently suspended)
  

Click&Rail Europe tickets (special low cost tickets without seat reservation from Switzerland to Germany; Austria and Italy. Ticket availability defines the price. Offer valid in seat coaches only. No seat guarantee. Sold only on the internet - www.mct.sbb.ch): (not offered anymore)

• Germany: from Berne and Zurich to Berlin/Frankfurt(Main)/Hamburg/Cologne/Munich/Stuttgart
• Austria: from Zurich to Vienna/Innsbruck/Salzburg/Graz/Villach
• Italy: from Zurich/Geneva/Basel to Milan/Florence/Triest

c) CityStars

Similar to CityStar offer applies for journeys between SBB and ÖBB (Austrian Railways), MAV (Hungarian Railways) and ZSSK (Slovak Railways) networks. The offer is called Plan + Spar, it allows to receive 25% discount for the entire route. Standard Half-Fare travelcard reduction applies to the Swiss leg of the journey, plus any travelling companions (up to 5 people) receive additional discount;  children under 16 years travelling with a parent, grandparent or their spouse or life-partner travel free of charge (proof of kinship required) and, last but not least, - all the above discounts can be added together. In order to use Plan+Spar return ticket passengers need to follow certain condition: purchase ticket at least 3 days before departure and spend at least one Saturday-Sunday night at the final destination (so called Weekend Rule)

If for some reason passengers had no chance to catch mentioned above international SuperSaver, SparNight or other discounted tickets, there is still a possibility to save by using SCIC-NRT(TCV) tariff international tickets (for more details about the 'trick see 'Western Europe – how cheap it can be?' section). For instance ticket from Zurich to Marseille via the whole Switzerland and South-Eastern France valid for one month and allowing unlimited stopovers on the route costs only 125,8 euro

How to Buy Train Tickets in Switzerland:

All national (domestic) and many international tickets (including offers) can be bought online via SBB website - www.sbb.ch

For a good choice of hotels with discount prices visit Where to stay in Zurich for more information.

Do you still have further questions or want to share your own travel experience? You are welcome on our Forum

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