Public Transports in Switzerland
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Contents |
Transport Companies
Dependant on the Region, the major companies are different. Whole Switzerland
- SBB (Swiss Federal Railway)
Check their homepage for timetables, no matter where you want to go! Be careful about the "Search for more alternative services"-Option!
- Post (Countryside Bus System)
Region Bern
- BLS (Part of the railways are run by this company)
Region Central Switzerland
- ZB (Narrow line railway from Luzerne to Interlaken)
- VBL (Bus System of the City of Lucerne)
- AAGS (Bus System of the Canton of Schwyz)
- AAGU (Bus System of the Canton of Uri)
Region Northwest
- CFJ (Narrow line railway in the Canton of Jura)
Region East
- AB (Narrow line railway in the two Cantons of Appenzell)
- RhB (Narrow line railway Canton of Graubünden)
- Glarnerland Bus (Bus System Canton of Glarus)
- SOB (Railway line Luzerne to St. Gallen)
Region Romandie
... If you buy any Ticket from Town to Town, the Ticket is valid for the whole trip, never mind which company you use. eg. from Zweisimmen (Bern) to Appenzell (Appenzell) you need to ride on BLS, SBB and AB. From Lenzerheide (Graubünden) to Einsiedeln (Schwyz) you'll have to take Post, SBB and SOB.
Transport Network
Every major City in Switzerland has its own Transport Network, formed by the big companies and smaller city transportation. The Fares are different, and sometimes not the same as the distance Fares. Mostly, if you travel over the borders of a Transport network, your ticket is not valid for the city transportation. eg: A ticket from Basel to Zurich is not valid to travel within the city borders. In contrary to a Ticket from Winterthur, which is inside the Transport Network of Zurich. with this Ticket you can travel as much as you want inside Zurich (Zone 10)
for further information, see the pages of the cities.
validity of tickets
Tickets for long distance rides are valid for one ride. If you take a two way ticket, it's valid to get there and back. Your ticket is valid on every train going in this direction within the expiry time. The time the ticket is valid, differ between some hours and some weeks. Be aware that return tickets often expire at midnight of the same day. If you go in the evening and want to return the next morning, you'll need two one way tickets. It is never necessary to reservate any train, not crossing the border. Unless you are a group of say over 20 persons or if it is a special train.
The Transport Networks work differently. The Region is divided into zones. To travel from A to B you have to buy a ticket for all the zones lying on the way. You may den ride as many times as you like inside the zones as long as your ticket is valid. Return tickets are often valid 24 hours. City center zones often count as two zones, and therefore are more expensive.
special tickets
In every transport Network, there is a bunch of special Tickets... no battery anymore - have to continue later ;-)
