Going through a tunnel might _look_ boring for a video but the concept itself of blasting through the base of a mountain at 200 kph is absolutely blowing my mind.
It’s really changed travel through the Alps. Just 1.5 hours to get from Zurich to Bellinzona, compared with nearly 3 on the old panoramic route (although the latter gives much better views).
@@derchecker4217 no one literally cares! Lol!!!! Japan was the first country to develop and build high speed trains and to do that they had to make dedicated lines for new train types and in the way also dig tunnels and build Bridges to have almost flat route all the way.
Small detail I'm sure you'll love: In german speaking countries, the musical notes are named slightly differently compared to english. The note 'B' in english is known as 'H' in german, and the name 'B' is used for a B-flat instead. Also, an E-flat is known as 'Es'. The abreviations for the company, as you mentioned, are SBB (german), CFF (french) and FFS (italian). So the chimes you hear at the stations before announcements reflect this, by being "E-flat, B-flat, B-flat" (Es-B-B) in the german speaking parts of the country, "C-F-F" in the french speaking part, and "F, F, E-flat" (F-F-Es) in the italian part. In the trains, the chime will change accordingly when the train crosses into a different language region.
It should be remembered that the Swiss locals use public transport far more than any other nation, and for regular travel, they use pre-paid time tickets, which are infinitely cheaper than individual tickets. There is a unique product in Switzerland called the General Abonement, which is a subscription ticket for all public transport in the country. Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as the Jungfrajoch Bahn or some shipping lines. But these exceptions are all so tourist-oriented that they can hardly be considered public transport. The cost of an annual GA is around half of the monthly median wage.
@@SwissFenyx Yes? So tell me in what I'm wrong, please. I'm from Prague and I have never lived in Switzerland, so I would appreciate any correction. Thanks.
@@rykmat2542 It is true that many many swiss use public transportation for work but mostly for short distances, when it comes to the most common used transport it remains our cars because public transport is way to expensive here even the AG which costs almost 5000 francs for 1 year, they even lost customers this year because they made it more expensive. I mean to do Lausanne-Geneva for example (30 minutes) just one way, would cost me 30.- It's too expensive even for us Swiss people
@@SwissFenyx The same here in Czechia. The only difference is we do not have GA, so we can not complain about its prices. 🤣But for the environment is much more beneficial when public transit is used for regular commuting and it's heavily subsidized here by regions (something like your cantons). Instead of Switzerland, most of the long-distance train lines here are subsidized by the government, so it's cheaper for couples than a car but for families mostly not. But remember public transit in Italy or France before you start to complain. Probably you will lose your complaining mood. 😜
It ought to be mentioned that both "train" and "Zug" predate the iron horse, and both terms come from the meaning "to pull". Which makes sense. Lake Lucerne has an absolutely epic name in German: Vierwaldstättersee, which translates to "lake of the four forested settlements". But "Lucerne" is a bit shorter.
Even though I am fond of memorizing names of towns/landforms/waterforms in the local language, this lake's name always has lost me due to its length and tricky pronunciation. 😂 Lac Léman or Bodensee is way easier to remember and pronounce
For sure there is level-boarding on the Giruno. each of both cars next to the restaurant (1x first and 1x second class) have one level-boarding door for swiss/italian/austrian 55cm plattforms and one for german 76cm. So both classes are accesible for wheelchairs without any step.
Nice to hear that Stadler made a great first attempt at building their first high-speed train for SBB, and I would love to see how their future 350 km/h trainsets will be like with their distinctive low-floor design and Jacobs bogies. Stadler also has wacky names for its family of trains but, surprisingly, the word you said for the Swiss local train in question is actually the name for Stadler's high-speed trains: SMILE! 😃 My personal favourite is the double-decker K-I-S-S trainsets. 😘
The name might be wacky, but SMILE is the german abbreviation of Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug which translated into English Speedy Multisystem Innovative Lightweight Express train. KISS stands for Komfortabler Innovativer Spurtstarker S-Bahn-Zug(Confortable Innovative Sprint-capable Suburban train)
There's even more wacky local train company names: MOB for the Montreux Oberland Bahn and FART for Ferrovie Autolinee Regionale Ticinesi in the Italian speaking part around Locarno.
@@pikachu8508 I think all those names being acronyms is the real wacky part. You can tell they tried quite a bit to find meaningful (in the context) words to to make up a nice name out of the initials. And they're all positive and innocent. Kiss, Smile, Flirt... I think it's wacky and cute, and very Swiss.
For trains driving through the Gotthard tunnel, the number of passengers is limited to the number of seats. This is for safety reasons in case of an evacuation inside the tunnel. Therefore this is probably one of the very few instances I would strongly suggest making a seat reservation. In fact, it did happen a few times that people (with a valid ticket but without reserved seat) were forced to deboard the train because the capacity had been exceeded.
3:26 It’s unlikely that SBB will operate Girunos to Munich since they need tilting trains to be able to stick to the tight schedule (3h 30min Zurich to Munich). Currently Astoros are used on this route.
I rode a Giruno from Munich to Zürich pretty much one year ago, can't tell you though if it continues. I can tell you though that we had over 1h delay.
@@pikachu8508 definitely the case, went from Zürich to Vienna and back, to was over Insbruck, back over Munich. I joked to my partner that we were going to be delayed on the way back. And we were. I ride trains in Germany about twice a year, I have always had delays in the past 5 years.
As someone who has been riding such SBB trains daily for 1.5 decades, I can say things have gotten a lot shittier. Until recently the fast (called IC) trains had superb seats and lighting. It was truly a relaxing pleasure to ride the old double-deckers. The seats were soft yet not too soft, so you could do anything from chill-out to work perfectly well. The lights were dim enough that you could take a nap and they were a nice warm color, so overall it really felt cozy and amazing, especially at night. The new Bombardier train-wrecks arrived two years ago or so, and it all changed. Seats were rock hard, so better bring your hemorrhoid cream even if you bought a first-class ticket. The lighting is now a horrendous bright white radiation that will drill into your skull and trigger migraines within minutes. It boggles my mind that anyone thought "yeah lets de it like this" and no one in the whole chain of command went like "uhm wait a minute". To make matters worse, they started "renovating" the old nice trains and putting in that horrid interior of the new ones. So they are spending endless money to make it shittier. Oh and lets not even talk about the increase in delays and wobble-motion of the new trains. Don't get me wrong, apart from Japan Swiss trains are still the most reliable, cleanest and most well-connected, but thats just because most railway systems overall are a catastrophe. It used ti be much better...
Absolutely true when referring to the Bombardier IC train sets. The butt hurts after 30 minutes. SBB, with a few exceptions, never had a good lighting concept. Indirect lighting should be installed to make napping possible. For workers and readers, there are reading lights.
3:53 Since there are only 26 cantons, the three remaining trains sets are named after rail tunnels / mountain passes: San Gottardo, Monte Ceneri and Sempione
Top video! Swiss trains are so great to travel with! Beautiful, comfortabel, and best of all. They are clean!!!!! I love swiss trains! And the landscapes are so beautiful! It's an absolute pleasure travelling in swiss (also postauto is top😊).
While the Gotthard Base Tunnel is an engineering marvel, but I prefer the scenery of the old Gotthard mountain line. I actually took the TILO regional train from Milan to Bellinzona before change for SOB Treno Gottardo service to Zurich just to enjoy the scenery of the Gotthard pass.
The Treno Gottardo is also an excellent interregional product, despite being from Stadler's FLIRT line which typically operate as s-bahns. I love the self-service mini bistro!
3:20 Regarding operations in Germany: It‘s planned to run the EC(E) service Frankfurt Milano with Girunos from the next timetable change in December 2023!
@@routes4you The Giruno will travel all the way up to Hamburg? That's amazing. Do EuroCity trains travel on German High Speed rails, for example the SFS Kassel - Wurzburg?
The passenger trains Giruno SMILE (Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug), SBB, RABe 501 Stadler Rail run mainly on the north-south axis and form the backbone of traffic between Switzerland and Italy via the 15 km Ceneri Base Tunnel and the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel. Thank you very much for this superb video, greetings from Lorient, Frédéric
Great video, thanks. We used the Giruno units while on holiday in Switzerland in Sept 2022. Together with the Base tunnel, they’re a real game changer for travel between the north and south of Switzerland. We loved them - far less cramped than the Pendolinos. If one is holidaying in Switzerland and wish to do some sightseeing by public transport🎉, it is well worth buying a Swiss Pass to reduce travel costs. You can use it on all train services (except some mountain routes), buses (including post buses), trams and even most lake steamer services. In the past Swiss train tickets were expensive compared to UK prices but, to be honest, there’s not much of a difference now for turn up and ride prices. Plus Switzerland has far less discriminatory pricing and you’ll often pay the same to travel in the City rush hour as off-peak.
I think some of the wagons on this train do have level boarding since SBB is legally required to provid level boarding with the "Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz". At least at stations with the platform hight of Zürich HB there should be some level boarding for wheelchair users.
Legally required to and actually doing it are two different things. They have to fullfill accessibility rules by end of 2023 but there are still 500 train stations that will not be ready by then.
Most important thing to note on the price is that most people will not use first class…. It’s way more expensive and you just get a little bigger seats. And for commuter trains it’s easier to find a free seat ig…. But most (even some with high salaries) will just use 2nd class. (And since in most trains there are lots of 4-configurations with seats facing each other legroom usually isn’t a big issue)
Swiss here. Those trains are almost always packed. People are rude and they always bring huge suitcases, bikes, skis... It's not a pleasurable experience at all, trust me on that.
I rode the Giruno Zürich-Basel SBB and it was truly amazing. The 2 hour route felt almost instant. The ride was incredibly smoothe and comfortable with a massive tray table as well as power plugs. Will ride again hopefully.
11:04 It does provide level boarding on 76 cm platforms, Switzerland just uses 55 cm. There are however two sets of doors per side which are level with 55 cm and thus provide full accessibility. The 76 cm design was a lot easier to pull off and lead to a more convenient interior layout with less ramps. I actually really appreciate that choice, because it means that this train is fully interoperable even in terms of accessibility, providing level boarding pretty much everywhere. Certainly a lot better than ÖBB‘s second generation Railjet or DB’s ICE L.
Do you mean there are different kind of Giruno train design (55 cm and 76 cm) in SBB? It seems that no need for it as the moving steps solve the issue on different platforms.
@@lebowski941. My interpretation is that all trains have the same design, but all trains have 4 doors (2 per side) that provide the 55cm boarding. The rest of the doors have 76cm as this made it easier to fit the design and presumably also the boogies.
@@lebowski941The same train features different entry levels depending on the door and car. This was the solution to the request of the SBB to provide level boarding in all the countries the train could serve. Unfortunately Germany descided to set its standard to the same height only Poland uses in Europe so its 76 cm instead of 55 as in Switzerland, Italy, France f.e. This solution was therefore needed to not need lifts or ramps like in other highspeed trains.
@@lebowski941 Every car on this train has one door and it boards to 76 cm. The only exception to this rule are the two PRM cars right next to the dining car, which feature two doors instead of one. The additional door is designed to provide level boarding at 55 cm platforms. Inside the car is a series of ramps (briefly visible at 11:24). In case you’re a wheelchair-user you would be seated in one of those PRM cars and thus could level board to your seat without changing cars and at every station this train would eventually serve.
£90 is fantastic value if you remember that London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly costs £72 for an off-peak single in standard class. The comparable first class ticket is £180!!! And we don't have a 50% discount card nor Swiss wages either. Heck, the first class Swiss GA doesn't cost much more than what many London commuters pay for an annual season ticket that only lets you go on that one route.
My first trip under the Gotthard Massif was traveling north from Milan to Luzern, with a stop in Lugano for lunch and Bellizona, by motorcoach in '77 with my HS group from America. We toured the Italian, Swiss, Austrian and German Alps including Liechtenstein, and because of heavy snow our motorcoach was put on a train and went thru the older, much shorter Gotthard tunnel. Out of that tunnel we stopped in the lovely village of Wassen, known for a small church with a beautiful altar, a town bypassed by the new 'super tunnel' most alpine trains now use. I have also traveled thru the Gotthard Massif by road tunnel, in '84, which I found impressive, as I was on my way to Venice on another motorcoach. Like you, a rail fan, I Eurailed solo thru Europe in '87, '89 and '91 covering a lot of western Europe. In '95, I had to work in Bologna, asked to implement a new business system for its Holiday Inn. Just married, I flew in from the US but my blushing bride, applying for a US green card, could not come with me. But my next client in San Diego allowed her to fly out to be with me, since I had to fly there the day after I returned from Bologna, and since my client was 'connected', they literally gave her "keys to the city'. While I worked hard for my client, she had a great vacation, lol. My last trip to Europe was in '17 on a tour, but I broke from the tour to take a train from Luzern, via Interlaken, to Lauterbrunnen, a highly recommended, bucket list type of ride for anyone who loves trains. In the late 80's, a Eurail pass (1st class) cost less than $500 and all trains, and most Swiss busses and other local busses, were included for a two week travel window. Tour vs' Eurail pass? I found back then, Eurailing was cheaper, but as I was much older in '17, a tour was better suited for my tastes. Most of all, there are people like you, with a great speaking voice, who share your train experiences and give such great tips on routes, or just let us tour with you, a great guide. As a tourism systems teacher, all I can say is thank you soooo much for the time you spend and go with God our friend--you are a cultural and technological ambassador for those of us folks interested or who have done 'hops across the pond'.
The Giruno is the most comfortable train I've ever been on. It does not shake. The Wifi is perfect. Toilets are roomy. The entire train is broken up into smaller compartments you never feel how crowded the train can be. It's basically a FLIRT on steroids. But it's not so much a technological advance - since 1994, we have the Re 460 locomotive that pulls the 1980ies Einheitswagen IV through the same tunnels at 200 kph.
I always look forward to riding the Giruno on the Gotthard route, and I prefer it to the Astoro on the Lötschberg route. However, I feel like the Flirt in its latest edition (the SOB Gottardo and the BLS Mika) come pretty close at a much lower price, and they even surpass it in some aspects (nicer panoramic windows), so it's not surprising that the Smile does not sell like hot buns, unlike the Flirt: I wonder if it will sell at all other than with the SBB. Stadler might have to up the ante with an upgraded version of it. Its concept of a low floor high speed train is actually pretty good and has few rivals so far, but I agree that there's room for improvement.
Stadler is all about customization and the SBB Giruno (Stadler SMILE) is more or less a tuned FLIRT. Another reference is the FLIRT Nordic Express (FLIRT NEX) which will also be a heavily modified FLIRT for Norway.
The SOB Traverso is almost a good long distance Flirt, it just misses doors between the coaches, so the whole train is basically one room, which just feels terrible to ride in.
“Giruno” is used for the SBB version- Stadler themselves named it “SMILE” - Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug ! 4:59 Fun fact ; the clocks at the stations show a minute in 59 seconds with a one second stop at the end of the minute, this is the second for departure… 14:00 3 minutes behind schedule is considered as “late” in Switzerland while in other countries this is still considered as “on time”… 14:15 Please don’t blame SBB for Bombardier’s faults…
@@dfender7492 Because it was a first order they didn’t know ! Ordering other trains would have taken much longer than fix these with a penalty of some free extra trains. I tend to believe that was the last Bombardier train for SBB-CFF-FFS !
Lovely looking train! I had a feeling this was going to be a good one. I love how in Switzerland, everything just....works (usually). SBB's livery and interiors are so classy. Definitely my favourite country for trains (with the Netherlands coming in close behind). Albie, have you been on an Astoro yet? I'd love to see a video of those!
The Astoro feels a lot smaller inside, due to the tilting mechanism. It's a decent train, but it's not quite as classy and comfortable as the Giruno. They also offer no level boarding. Of the two tilting models in Switzerland, I prefer the older ICN.
No, and you even gave the exact reason why. A train of which the tilting mechanism is permanently disactivated or even removed can hardly be labelled a tilting train!@@nilnurium231
Given that the half-price card is only 185 (soon 190) Swiss Franks it is almost a necessity when living in Switzerland. I'd even recommend it for people who live abroad if they come to Switzerland often. Or if you have vacation plans that include a lot of rail travel
It’s a myth all Western European rail networks are like this, they’re just flagship routes, like our HS1. Our North/South rail links get up to 125/140 mph. We simply don’t need French style very high speed lines built as the UK is geographically smaller, but more densely populated. Even my local 40 minute commute from Stansted airport to Liverpool St goes 100mph on a route dating back to the 19th century.
The British Rail Class 745, also built by Stadler, come pretty close to this one over all. Imho the 745s are among the most comfortable Flirt models. Thanks to the higher platform heights in UK, these can be built with really level floors and no ramps over the bogies, like on Swiss Flirts or Girunos. I wonder if they could run faster than 160 km/h if the track would allow it.
The family area is best in the Swiss doubledeck intercity trains that actually have a "playground" with a slide ... The boarding level is a compromise because of different platform levels in European countries. Two accessible cars per set have two sets of doors at different heights to deal with this, allowing level boarding from platforms around 55 and 76 cm height. Anything else will need a wheelchair lift on the platform (that way they spared themselves the trouble of installing one on the train). It was also a requirement by wheelchair users that they could use the train without having to arrange for staff to help them boarding beforehand.
This train DOES have level boarding. You were just super unlucky to catch an old train station where THE PLATFORM HAD THE WRONG HEIGHT. (You can even see that there is construction work going on.) The Giruno in fact has two different entrance heights, to provide level boarding for both: Swiss and Italian platform standards.
I always thought swiss and italians have the same plattform height and the variable entrance height is for german plattform which are about 30cm higher. I highly doubt that a swiss station has old plattform height let alone one that has been recently renovated. The issue is that there are 2 different height entrance in the train and he went into the non level section for swiss/italian standard. Basicly used the entrance optimized for german plattform stations.
@@Slithermotion You are right. The second platform height was done for Germany, not Italy. But the point still stands. He took the photo at an old station and those DO have lower platforms. (I know that from experience. They still exist, but are rare and being renovated in fast pace.) You can also look at the height difference, it was about 10cm. If it was the wrong door, it would be 30cm.
@@aurelspecker6740 Yeah… weird station just noticed this timestamp 3:46 were half of the plattform is standard elevation end then it ramps down to some lower height.
@@Slithermotion Yeah, that's how they look like when they are renovating it and making the modern standard. It's Switzerland, therefore, the platform MUST keep open all the time. No matter how super complicated that makes the construction;)
nice video ☀️ 👍🏻 13:04 if you talk about the price, you should tell the price for first AND second class. because most people use second class and if you use first class you have the money to pay the higher price 😂🙈
Excellent video and amazing representation of Swiss facts - even including very recent updates! Thank you for taking time to review this terrific trip. Lugano is the 9th largest city and considered rather small - even in Switzerland. SBB calls itself SFR (Swiss Federal Railways) in English. Uri might be pronounced "ooree". Unfortunately Italy and Germany can't keep up and run late often why SBB began to only provide services to the border which is not ideal for travellers but the only way to keep up the tight and reliable timetables in Switzerland. Again, great video and highly recommended to watch or even better: try it yourself once!
There's some more luxurious first class compartments / seats in Switzerland, like on the new MOB trains that can change gauge, on the Glacier express or even in the special separated compartments on the ICN. But the Giruno First class is very comfy and stylish, I agree.
Not strictly a HSL, Switzerland doesn’t possess any of these. The derailment of a freight train in one of the tunnel bores has caused all passenger trains to take the scenic route through the old Gotthard Tunnel (bergstrecke) but freights are using the unaffected bore at the rate of one each way per hour. The rest take the Lötschberg tunnel. Both bores have to be operational for passenger trains for security reasons. Damage is considerable necessitating replacing 22,000 concrete sleepers and much more. A long job lasting several months.
If you take a return trip and are a tourist you are better off taking a 3 day interrail Switzerland pass rather then paying full price by a wide margin, and you then even have 2 more travel days (assuming you take the return trip on the same day) I also love the endscreen with the 3 nations trains
Hi👋very good vidéo! If you want to have a luxurious expérience i recommand you to test the ir90 one decker between geneva airport and brig. The 2decker are not as good as the 1 decker. The seats and the scenery are just, wow.
It’s always funny to see you in places I’ve been. Lugano’s lovely. One night I did Lugano -> Zurich on a non-high-speed train. The same route, but an excellent dining car.
I often take my bike with me while travelling and I honestly prefer the new trains of the BLS (BLS RABe 515). They are two stories high and on the ground floor there's ample space for stuff like bikes, child carriages and stuff. There are foldable seats near the entrance that fold up when nobody sits on them. They are used on the S-Bahn train lines in the Canton of Bern like S1 (Freiburg-Bern-Thun).
People actually travelling first class usually do so on company credit. Business travellers, SBB employees, and tourists are virtually the only ones using 1st. To get a better idea of what locals are paying, the same route in 2nd class, with the Half-Fare card you mentioned, will cost you CHF 34.
Hope NS bought some of those to realise the full potential of the high speed line with 250 kph instead of ICNG’s 200 kph. Stadler’s trains seem to be also more reliable
A note on pricing for those not travelling with a pass or card. I recently took a medium-distance trip and the out and back prices contrasted greatly. For the outward trip I paid CHF 26, bought in advance and valid for one train only, for the return trip this rose to CHF 66 because it wasn't booked in advance and was a fully open ticket. In conclusion, the more flexible you can be and the earlier you book will influence the price of the ticket markedly.
@@paulthiel5145 The SBB branded ones are maintained better, the Trenitalia not so much. Most toilets were out of service and seat recliners were broken. Plus 2nd class is really cramped
@@valentin7574 I hear that a lot, but can only speak from my own experience and I loved the Trenitalia ride. Also, I don't ride second class, so can't compare.
@@paulthiel5145 I was in Italy last week and took several trains for day trips. I’d concur that the second class seats are very cramped and narrow compared to Swiss trains. It was the same in Frecciarossa high-speed trains, in regular intercity trains and regional trains. So much so that I booked first class even for shorter 1 hour trips whenever possible. I’m not quite sure why this is. One cause may be the arm rests between neighbouring seats, which aren’t that common in modern Swiss trains and always take away a few precious centimetres.
Going through a tunnel might _look_ boring for a video but the concept itself of blasting through the base of a mountain at 200 kph is absolutely blowing my mind.
It’s really changed travel through the Alps. Just 1.5 hours to get from Zurich to Bellinzona, compared with nearly 3 on the old panoramic route (although the latter gives much better views).
i mean.. it's quite boring. its a nice time to get some work done, because it's calm an undistracted.
Haven't jaoanese bullet trains been crossing through tunnels for decades before everyone else! Lol!!!
@@alanmay7929 The first Gotthard Railway tunnel was built before the Japanese finished their industrial revolution so im quite sure we beat them to it
@@derchecker4217 no one literally cares! Lol!!!! Japan was the first country to develop and build high speed trains and to do that they had to make dedicated lines for new train types and in the way also dig tunnels and build Bridges to have almost flat route all the way.
Small detail I'm sure you'll love: In german speaking countries, the musical notes are named slightly differently compared to english. The note 'B' in english is known as 'H' in german, and the name 'B' is used for a B-flat instead. Also, an E-flat is known as 'Es'.
The abreviations for the company, as you mentioned, are SBB (german), CFF (french) and FFS (italian). So the chimes you hear at the stations before announcements reflect this, by being "E-flat, B-flat, B-flat" (Es-B-B) in the german speaking parts of the country, "C-F-F" in the french speaking part, and "F, F, E-flat" (F-F-Es) in the italian part. In the trains, the chime will change accordingly when the train crosses into a different language region.
I've always noticed this when crossing language borders in Switzerland. It's awesome!
Now I feel dumb as a Swiss. Thanks!
holy shit I'm a musican and i live in switzerland and i never knew this
It should be remembered that the Swiss locals use public transport far more than any other nation, and for regular travel, they use pre-paid time tickets, which are infinitely cheaper than individual tickets. There is a unique product in Switzerland called the General Abonement, which is a subscription ticket for all public transport in the country. Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as the Jungfrajoch Bahn or some shipping lines. But these exceptions are all so tourist-oriented that they can hardly be considered public transport. The cost of an annual GA is around half of the monthly median wage.
Sorry but not entirely true ...
@@SwissFenyx Yes? So tell me in what I'm wrong, please. I'm from Prague and I have never lived in Switzerland, so I would appreciate any correction. Thanks.
@@rykmat2542 It is true that many many swiss use public transportation for work but mostly for short distances, when it comes to the most common used transport it remains our cars because public transport is way to expensive here even the AG which costs almost 5000 francs for 1 year, they even lost customers this year because they made it more expensive.
I mean to do Lausanne-Geneva for example (30 minutes) just one way, would cost me 30.-
It's too expensive even for us Swiss people
@@Wisteria__Lane ça dépends et pas tout le monde va au gymnase
@@SwissFenyx The same here in Czechia. The only difference is we do not have GA, so we can not complain about its prices. 🤣But for the environment is much more beneficial when public transit is used for regular commuting and it's heavily subsidized here by regions (something like your cantons). Instead of Switzerland, most of the long-distance train lines here are subsidized by the government, so it's cheaper for couples than a car but for families mostly not. But remember public transit in Italy or France before you start to complain. Probably you will lose your complaining mood. 😜
It ought to be mentioned that both "train" and "Zug" predate the iron horse, and both terms come from the meaning "to pull". Which makes sense.
Lake Lucerne has an absolutely epic name in German: Vierwaldstättersee, which translates to "lake of the four forested settlements". But "Lucerne" is a bit shorter.
Even though I am fond of memorizing names of towns/landforms/waterforms in the local language, this lake's name always has lost me due to its length and tricky pronunciation. 😂
Lac Léman or Bodensee is way easier to remember and pronounce
@@luke211286 Could be worse: in Dutch, it's one ketter longer. 🙂 (Vierwoudstrekenmeer)
Luzern besti stadt
@@luke211286 there is a beautiful song by Swiss artist "Kunz" about the lake that might help memorizing it :) (song is in Swiss German though)
Alright then. Now close the window, it pulls.
Working as a train conductor on this line, I wish to thank you for this excellent video.
my dream job
@@WitchVillager Think about people who commit suicide by throwing themselves under a speeding train. The driver is in the front row...
@@RugbySwiss yeah, i think about that a lot.. honestly hitting an animal would be worse for me
For sure there is level-boarding on the Giruno. each of both cars next to the restaurant (1x first and 1x second class) have one level-boarding door for swiss/italian/austrian 55cm plattforms and one for german 76cm. So both classes are accesible for wheelchairs without any step.
Yes, I certainly remember some of the doors having level boarding when we used them.
Nice to hear that Stadler made a great first attempt at building their first high-speed train for SBB, and I would love to see how their future 350 km/h trainsets will be like with their distinctive low-floor design and Jacobs bogies.
Stadler also has wacky names for its family of trains but, surprisingly, the word you said for the Swiss local train in question is actually the name for Stadler's high-speed trains: SMILE! 😃
My personal favourite is the double-decker K-I-S-S trainsets. 😘
The name might be wacky, but SMILE is the german abbreviation of Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug which translated into English Speedy Multisystem Innovative Lightweight Express train. KISS stands for Komfortabler Innovativer Spurtstarker S-Bahn-Zug(Confortable Innovative Sprint-capable Suburban train)
@@pikachu8508 True, but they definitely distorted the full names so that it gives wacky acronyms :)
@@xeetzer5478 Don't forget the SBB's whacky Italian acronym: FFS.😂😂
There's even more wacky local train company names: MOB for the Montreux Oberland Bahn and FART for Ferrovie Autolinee Regionale Ticinesi in the Italian speaking part around Locarno.
@@pikachu8508 I think all those names being acronyms is the real wacky part. You can tell they tried quite a bit to find meaningful (in the context) words to to make up a nice name out of the initials. And they're all positive and innocent. Kiss, Smile, Flirt... I think it's wacky and cute, and very Swiss.
For trains driving through the Gotthard tunnel, the number of passengers is limited to the number of seats. This is for safety reasons in case of an evacuation inside the tunnel. Therefore this is probably one of the very few instances I would strongly suggest making a seat reservation. In fact, it did happen a few times that people (with a valid ticket but without reserved seat) were forced to deboard the train because the capacity had been exceeded.
it's so funny, someone explains one something we are so used to. very refreshing.
Haha, hope you enjoyed! :)
3:26 It’s unlikely that SBB will operate Girunos to Munich since they need tilting trains to be able to stick to the tight schedule (3h 30min Zurich to Munich). Currently Astoros are used on this route.
It's not like they can stick to the schedule on german ground anyway
I rode a Giruno from Munich to Zürich pretty much one year ago, can't tell you though if it continues. I can tell you though that we had over 1h delay.
@@moover123 facts
@@TherconJair Most likely it's German's fault. DB are notorious for their delays of their train service caused by infrastructure issues.
@@pikachu8508 definitely the case, went from Zürich to Vienna and back, to was over Insbruck, back over Munich. I joked to my partner that we were going to be delayed on the way back. And we were.
I ride trains in Germany about twice a year, I have always had delays in the past 5 years.
As someone who has been riding such SBB trains daily for 1.5 decades, I can say things have gotten a lot shittier. Until recently the fast (called IC) trains had superb seats and lighting. It was truly a relaxing pleasure to ride the old double-deckers. The seats were soft yet not too soft, so you could do anything from chill-out to work perfectly well. The lights were dim enough that you could take a nap and they were a nice warm color, so overall it really felt cozy and amazing, especially at night. The new Bombardier train-wrecks arrived two years ago or so, and it all changed. Seats were rock hard, so better bring your hemorrhoid cream even if you bought a first-class ticket. The lighting is now a horrendous bright white radiation that will drill into your skull and trigger migraines within minutes. It boggles my mind that anyone thought "yeah lets de it like this" and no one in the whole chain of command went like "uhm wait a minute". To make matters worse, they started "renovating" the old nice trains and putting in that horrid interior of the new ones. So they are spending endless money to make it shittier. Oh and lets not even talk about the increase in delays and wobble-motion of the new trains. Don't get me wrong, apart from Japan Swiss trains are still the most reliable, cleanest and most well-connected, but thats just because most railway systems overall are a catastrophe. It used ti be much better...
That's a shame to hear... :(
Totally agree!
Absolutely true when referring to the Bombardier IC train sets. The butt hurts after 30 minutes. SBB, with a few exceptions, never had a good lighting concept. Indirect lighting should be installed to make napping possible. For workers and readers, there are reading lights.
I love stadler trains best design trains around
3:53 Since there are only 26 cantons, the three remaining trains sets are named after rail tunnels / mountain passes: San Gottardo, Monte Ceneri and Sempione
Top video!
Swiss trains are so great to travel with! Beautiful, comfortabel, and best of all. They are clean!!!!!
I love swiss trains! And the landscapes are so beautiful!
It's an absolute pleasure travelling in swiss (also postauto is top😊).
I don't even care about trains and I'm swiss, so I'm familiar with a lot of this, but something about this content is really fascinating to me, haha.
While the Gotthard Base Tunnel is an engineering marvel, but I prefer the scenery of the old Gotthard mountain line. I actually took the TILO regional train from Milan to Bellinzona before change for SOB Treno Gottardo service to Zurich just to enjoy the scenery of the Gotthard pass.
The Treno Gottardo is also an excellent interregional product, despite being from Stadler's FLIRT line which typically operate as s-bahns. I love the self-service mini bistro!
3:20 Regarding operations in Germany: It‘s planned to run the EC(E) service Frankfurt Milano with Girunos from the next timetable change in December 2023!
They will also replace the locomotive hauled SBB EuroCity's between Zürich and Hamburg from 2026.
@@routes4you The Giruno will travel all the way up to Hamburg? That's amazing. Do EuroCity trains travel on German High Speed rails, for example the SFS Kassel - Wurzburg?
@@112Haribo The EuroCity trains run through Koblenz-Cologne-Bremen to and from Hamburg. I don't know if they will change the route with the Girunos.
The passenger trains Giruno SMILE (Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug), SBB, RABe 501 Stadler Rail run mainly on the north-south axis and form the backbone of traffic between Switzerland and Italy via the 15 km Ceneri Base Tunnel and the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel. Thank you very much for this superb video, greetings from Lorient, Frédéric
Great video, thanks. We used the Giruno units while on holiday in Switzerland in Sept 2022. Together with the Base tunnel, they’re a real game changer for travel between the north and south of Switzerland. We loved them - far less cramped than the Pendolinos. If one is holidaying in Switzerland and wish to do some sightseeing by public transport🎉, it is well worth buying a Swiss Pass to reduce travel costs. You can use it on all train services (except some mountain routes), buses (including post buses), trams and even most lake steamer services. In the past Swiss train tickets were expensive compared to UK prices but, to be honest, there’s not much of a difference now for turn up and ride prices. Plus Switzerland has far less discriminatory pricing and you’ll often pay the same to travel in the City rush hour as off-peak.
Love the wood work on the seats, also Switzerland is a lovely place to travel through by the look out of the windows.
Great video
I think some of the wagons on this train do have level boarding since SBB is legally required to provid level boarding with the "Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz". At least at stations with the platform hight of Zürich HB there should be some level boarding for wheelchair users.
Legally required to and actually doing it are two different things. They have to fullfill accessibility rules by end of 2023 but there are still 500 train stations that will not be ready by then.
Most important thing to note on the price is that most people will not use first class…. It’s way more expensive and you just get a little bigger seats. And for commuter trains it’s easier to find a free seat ig…. But most (even some with high salaries) will just use 2nd class.
(And since in most trains there are lots of 4-configurations with seats facing each other legroom usually isn’t a big issue)
I like where i live but damn Switzerland gives me transit envy. And mountain envy
Swiss here. Those trains are almost always packed. People are rude and they always bring huge suitcases, bikes, skis... It's not a pleasurable experience at all, trust me on that.
I don't know why I'm watching this. I live in Switzerland and travel this route regularly. Well made video!
5:06 those wooden seatbacks are absolutely divine
That train looks beautiful.
I rode the Giruno Zürich-Basel SBB and it was truly amazing. The 2 hour route felt almost instant. The ride was incredibly smoothe and comfortable with a massive tray table as well as power plugs. Will ride again hopefully.
11:04 It does provide level boarding on 76 cm platforms, Switzerland just uses 55 cm. There are however two sets of doors per side which are level with 55 cm and thus provide full accessibility. The 76 cm design was a lot easier to pull off and lead to a more convenient interior layout with less ramps. I actually really appreciate that choice, because it means that this train is fully interoperable even in terms of accessibility, providing level boarding pretty much everywhere. Certainly a lot better than ÖBB‘s second generation Railjet or DB’s ICE L.
Do you mean there are different kind of Giruno train design (55 cm and 76 cm) in SBB? It seems that no need for it as the moving steps solve the issue on different platforms.
@@lebowski941. My interpretation is that all trains have the same design, but all trains have 4 doors (2 per side) that provide the 55cm boarding. The rest of the doors have 76cm as this made it easier to fit the design and presumably also the boogies.
@@simondahl5437 In video, it seems each car has only 1 door per side. So maybe different cars have different doors height for the same train.
@@lebowski941The same train features different entry levels depending on the door and car. This was the solution to the request of the SBB to provide level boarding in all the countries the train could serve. Unfortunately Germany descided to set its standard to the same height only Poland uses in Europe so its 76 cm instead of 55 as in Switzerland, Italy, France f.e. This solution was therefore needed to not need lifts or ramps like in other highspeed trains.
@@lebowski941 Every car on this train has one door and it boards to 76 cm. The only exception to this rule are the two PRM cars right next to the dining car, which feature two doors instead of one. The additional door is designed to provide level boarding at 55 cm platforms. Inside the car is a series of ramps (briefly visible at 11:24). In case you’re a wheelchair-user you would be seated in one of those PRM cars and thus could level board to your seat without changing cars and at every station this train would eventually serve.
£90 is fantastic value if you remember that London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly costs £72 for an off-peak single in standard class. The comparable first class ticket is £180!!!
And we don't have a 50% discount card nor Swiss wages either. Heck, the first class Swiss GA doesn't cost much more than what many London commuters pay for an annual season ticket that only lets you go on that one route.
My first trip under the Gotthard Massif was traveling north from Milan to Luzern, with a stop in Lugano for lunch and Bellizona, by motorcoach in '77 with my HS group from America.
We toured the Italian, Swiss, Austrian and German Alps including Liechtenstein, and because of heavy snow our motorcoach was put on a train and went thru the older, much shorter Gotthard tunnel. Out of that tunnel we stopped in the lovely village of Wassen, known for a small church with a beautiful altar, a town bypassed by the new 'super tunnel' most alpine trains now use.
I have also traveled thru the Gotthard Massif by road tunnel, in '84, which I found impressive, as I was on my way to Venice on another motorcoach.
Like you, a rail fan, I Eurailed solo thru Europe in '87, '89 and '91 covering a lot of western Europe.
In '95, I had to work in Bologna, asked to implement a new business system for its Holiday Inn. Just married, I flew in from the US but my blushing bride, applying for a US green card, could not come with me. But my next client in San Diego allowed her to fly out to be with me, since I had to fly there the day after I returned from Bologna, and since my client was 'connected', they literally gave her "keys to the city'. While I worked hard for my client, she had a great vacation, lol.
My last trip to Europe was in '17 on a tour, but I broke from the tour to take a train from Luzern, via Interlaken, to Lauterbrunnen, a highly recommended, bucket list type of ride for anyone who loves trains.
In the late 80's, a Eurail pass (1st class) cost less than $500 and all trains, and most Swiss busses and other local busses, were included for a two week travel window. Tour vs' Eurail pass? I found back then, Eurailing was cheaper, but as I was much older in '17, a tour was better suited for my tastes.
Most of all, there are people like you, with a great speaking voice, who share your train experiences and give such great tips on routes, or just let us tour with you, a great guide.
As a tourism systems teacher, all I can say is thank you soooo much for the time you spend and go with God our friend--you are a cultural and technological ambassador for those of us folks interested or who have done 'hops across the pond'.
The Giruno is the most comfortable train I've ever been on. It does not shake. The Wifi is perfect. Toilets are roomy. The entire train is broken up into smaller compartments you never feel how crowded the train can be. It's basically a FLIRT on steroids.
But it's not so much a technological advance - since 1994, we have the Re 460 locomotive that pulls the 1980ies Einheitswagen IV through the same tunnels at 200 kph.
I always look forward to riding the Giruno on the Gotthard route, and I prefer it to the Astoro on the Lötschberg route. However, I feel like the Flirt in its latest edition (the SOB Gottardo and the BLS Mika) come pretty close at a much lower price, and they even surpass it in some aspects (nicer panoramic windows), so it's not surprising that the Smile does not sell like hot buns, unlike the Flirt:
I wonder if it will sell at all other than with the SBB. Stadler might have to up the ante with an upgraded version of it. Its concept of a low floor high speed train is actually pretty good and has few rivals so far, but I agree that there's room for improvement.
Stadler is all about customization and the SBB Giruno (Stadler SMILE) is more or less a tuned FLIRT. Another reference is the FLIRT Nordic Express (FLIRT NEX) which will also be a heavily modified FLIRT for Norway.
@@routes4you The Smile is a high speed train, 50 km/h faster than the fatest Flirt variants. It deserves to have a different name! 🙂
The SOB Traverso is almost a good long distance Flirt, it just misses doors between the coaches, so the whole train is basically one room, which just feels terrible to ride in.
Lovely train in Switzerland and stunning views as well. Wonderful stuff.
Cool ending shot with High Speed trains from Austria, Switzerland, and Germany right next to each other!
One of many stations where you can see such a beautiful sight! 😍
Stadler Rail AG indeed builds some of the finest trainsets in the world and the SBB Giruno is a good example of that.
“Giruno” is used for the SBB version- Stadler themselves named it “SMILE” - Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug !
4:59 Fun fact ; the clocks at the stations show a minute in 59 seconds with a one second stop at the end of the minute, this is the second for departure…
14:00 3 minutes behind schedule is considered as “late” in Switzerland while in other countries this is still considered as “on time”…
14:15 Please don’t blame SBB for Bombardier’s faults…
Why not? They knew it was lousy and still bought it ...
@@dfender7492
Because it was a first order they didn’t know !
Ordering other trains would have taken much longer than fix these with a penalty of some free extra trains.
I tend to believe that was the last Bombardier train for SBB-CFF-FFS !
Thanks for the reply. I certainly hope so ...@@aoilpe
I really love these Giruno trains. The Traverso (bronze trains that you passed) are also great. Thanks for this nice video
Dont forget these lugage racks work for skis and snowboards.
It's great!
This is Switzerland❤
Lovely looking train! I had a feeling this was going to be a good one. I love how in Switzerland, everything just....works (usually). SBB's livery and interiors are so classy. Definitely my favourite country for trains (with the Netherlands coming in close behind). Albie, have you been on an Astoro yet? I'd love to see a video of those!
The Astoro feels a lot smaller inside, due to the tilting mechanism. It's a decent train, but it's not quite as classy and comfortable as the Giruno. They also offer no level boarding. Of the two tilting models in Switzerland, I prefer the older ICN.
@@markusstudeli2997You forgot about the Swiss Express 😭
(this one was supposed to have tilting technology, but Bombardier fucked it up)
No, and you even gave the exact reason why. A train of which the tilting mechanism is permanently disactivated or even removed can hardly be labelled a tilting train!@@nilnurium231
Given that the half-price card is only 185 (soon 190) Swiss Franks it is almost a necessity when living in Switzerland. I'd even recommend it for people who live abroad if they come to Switzerland often. Or if you have vacation plans that include a lot of rail travel
The Gotthard Base Tunnel opened yesterday again! All engineering works are done 🎉
This Video was a joy to watch!
The Giruno is one of my top 3 most favourite trains in Switzerland!
I hope you enjoyed your time in Lugano. I lived there for a few years, and my heart never left.
Have taken a Giruno from Lugano to Zurich HB, love the train love the trip love the views!
Such a same we can't have trains like this in the UK.
It’s a myth all Western European rail networks are like this, they’re just flagship routes, like our HS1. Our North/South rail links get up to 125/140 mph. We simply don’t need French style very high speed lines built as the UK is geographically smaller, but more densely populated. Even my local 40 minute commute from Stansted airport to Liverpool St goes 100mph on a route dating back to the 19th century.
The British Rail Class 745, also built by Stadler, come pretty close to this one over all. Imho the 745s are among the most comfortable Flirt models. Thanks to the higher platform heights in UK, these can be built with really level floors and no ramps over the bogies, like on Swiss Flirts or Girunos. I wonder if they could run faster than 160 km/h if the track would allow it.
You have to do the Gotthard Panorama Route. It goes up the mountain and through the old Gotthard tunnel. It is amazing. View wise and engineering wise
The literal meaning of breaking ground of a mountain to get through it 👍
Arth-Goldau is very beautiful station
It sure is, I've seen so many lovely photos taken from there. :)
As a Swiss Person, I can approve, that we indeed have a Groundbreaking High-Speed Train and a little bit pricy shops
True 😂
It looks a great line to go on especially the 35 mile long tunnel which is something to behold.
The family area is best in the Swiss doubledeck intercity trains that actually have a "playground" with a slide ...
The boarding level is a compromise because of different platform levels in European countries. Two accessible cars per set have two sets of doors at different heights to deal with this, allowing level boarding from platforms around 55 and 76 cm height. Anything else will need a wheelchair lift on the platform (that way they spared themselves the trouble of installing one on the train). It was also a requirement by wheelchair users that they could use the train without having to arrange for staff to help them boarding beforehand.
This train DOES have level boarding. You were just super unlucky to catch an old train station where THE PLATFORM HAD THE WRONG HEIGHT. (You can even see that there is construction work going on.)
The Giruno in fact has two different entrance heights, to provide level boarding for both: Swiss and Italian platform standards.
I always thought swiss and italians have the same plattform height and the variable entrance height is for german plattform which are about 30cm higher.
I highly doubt that a swiss station has old plattform height let alone one that has been recently renovated.
The issue is that there are 2 different height entrance in the train and he went into the non level section for swiss/italian standard.
Basicly used the entrance optimized for german plattform stations.
@@Slithermotion You are right. The second platform height was done for Germany, not Italy.
But the point still stands. He took the photo at an old station and those DO have lower platforms. (I know that from experience. They still exist, but are rare and being renovated in fast pace.) You can also look at the height difference, it was about 10cm. If it was the wrong door, it would be 30cm.
@@aurelspecker6740 Yeah… weird station just noticed this timestamp 3:46 were half of the plattform is standard elevation end then it ramps down to some lower height.
@@Slithermotion Yeah, that's how they look like when they are renovating it and making the modern standard.
It's Switzerland, therefore, the platform MUST keep open all the time. No matter how super complicated that makes the construction;)
there are also sbb tourist tickets that are valid for most train, bus, trams, ships in switzerland.
normal people to switzerland: how much do you wanna flex the fact that you have the world's longest rail tunnel?
switzerland: YES
Austria is building a longer one right now...
11:05 the platform looks to be old and built according to the older norm. Once it's rebuilt, it will fit all the newer trains for level boarding.
nice video ☀️ 👍🏻 13:04 if you talk about the price, you should tell the price for first AND second class. because most people use second class and if you use first class you have the money to pay the higher price 😂🙈
Greetings from Canada thanks for sharing this video I really enjoyed it
Thanks you for the attention to detail!
No problem! 😃
Great video !!
Nice trip. Next time sit on the left hand side, especially between Arth-Goldau and Zug, the most beautiful part, especially on sunset. 😉
Excellent video and amazing representation of Swiss facts - even including very recent updates! Thank you for taking time to review this terrific trip. Lugano is the 9th largest city and considered rather small - even in Switzerland. SBB calls itself SFR (Swiss Federal Railways) in English. Uri might be pronounced "ooree". Unfortunately Italy and Germany can't keep up and run late often why SBB began to only provide services to the border which is not ideal for travellers but the only way to keep up the tight and reliable timetables in Switzerland.
Again, great video and highly recommended to watch or even better: try it yourself once!
Thank you so much! :) You're definitely right about the other countries causing delays!!
I love this train's first class. Because of this class, this train is my favorite train in the world.
Granted, I haven't visited Japan yet...
There's some more luxurious first class compartments / seats in Switzerland, like on the new MOB trains that can change gauge, on the Glacier express or even in the special separated compartments on the ICN. But the Giruno First class is very comfy and stylish, I agree.
It is most impressive how you pronounce the name of a small canton in its dialect instead of high german while travelling at 250 km/h.
250Kmh? Where? In your dreams maybe
Not strictly a HSL, Switzerland doesn’t possess any of these. The derailment of a freight train in one of the tunnel bores has caused all passenger trains to take the scenic route through the old Gotthard Tunnel (bergstrecke) but freights are using the unaffected bore at the rate of one each way per hour. The rest take the Lötschberg tunnel. Both bores have to be operational for passenger trains for security reasons. Damage is considerable necessitating replacing 22,000 concrete sleepers and much more. A long job lasting several months.
Your Quality of Videos has really improved a lot, very nice!
GROUNDBREAKING - ein schönes Wortspiel. 🙂
😉
Very nice and Very Beautifull presentation 👏👏❤
FFS is easily my favourive version of the name.
If you take a return trip and are a tourist you are better off taking a 3 day interrail Switzerland pass rather then paying full price by a wide margin, and you then even have 2 more travel days (assuming you take the return trip on the same day)
I also love the endscreen with the 3 nations trains
Nice video! Thank you❤
Can't wait to get it as a model
Great train ride.
Hi👋very good vidéo! If you want to have a luxurious expérience i recommand you to test the ir90 one decker between geneva airport and brig. The 2decker are not as good as the 1 decker. The seats and the scenery are just, wow.
It’s always funny to see you in places I’ve been. Lugano’s lovely. One night I did Lugano -> Zurich on a non-high-speed train. The same route, but an excellent dining car.
Departure on time to the second. Must be Switzerland😂😂
Exactly!
japan times its trains to 3 seconds!!
Boa tarde lindo trem boa viagem
Me using this train daily:
Ye, its just a train
Enjoyed this presentation 😉. And, as an added bonus for me, my Sister and Brother-in-Law live in Zug which reminds me I owe them a telephone call 😉👍🏻
I often take my bike with me while travelling and I honestly prefer the new trains of the BLS (BLS RABe 515). They are two stories high and on the ground floor there's ample space for stuff like bikes, child carriages and stuff. There are foldable seats near the entrance that fold up when nobody sits on them.
They are used on the S-Bahn train lines in the Canton of Bern like S1 (Freiburg-Bern-Thun).
People actually travelling first class usually do so on company credit. Business travellers, SBB employees, and tourists are virtually the only ones using 1st.
To get a better idea of what locals are paying, the same route in 2nd class, with the Half-Fare card you mentioned, will cost you CHF 34.
Hope NS bought some of those to realise the full potential of the high speed line with 250 kph instead of ICNG’s 200 kph. Stadler’s trains seem to be also more reliable
You know they didn't 😁
Love how you used an adapter for your charger anyways, instead using the swiss one haha
So sad that the GBT is closed right now.
I use this train regularly, as I live near Arth Goldau, they also have the copper coloured Stadler Traverso trains which I prefer.
@@Wisteria__Lanewhat do you want to know? It's a great place to live.
@@Wisteria__Lane I wasn't aware of any decrease, life is good where I am 👍
I think you should take your journeys in 2nd class for a representative travel experience
Les wagons ont une séparation au milieu avec une porte automatique supplémentaire et les TV indiquent la position GPS.
Great trip.
A note on pricing for those not travelling with a pass or card. I recently took a medium-distance trip and the out and back prices contrasted greatly. For the outward trip I paid CHF 26, bought in advance and valid for one train only, for the return trip this rose to CHF 66 because it wasn't booked in advance and was a fully open ticket.
In conclusion, the more flexible you can be and the earlier you book will influence the price of the ticket markedly.
Each tlne table has a Trashcan and the huge luggage place is also made for skis or bikes
"pulled into Zurich just 3 minutes behind schedule" - Swiss would probably disagree, and the train staff probably apologized for the delay.... ;)
I wish the Eurostar train was like this, in every way.
nice bro! im happy i found your chanel
Tourists (non residents) can get a Halbtax allowing half price journeys for shorter periods (say a month)
13:06 The CHF has got a lot stronger since your journey so it's even more expensive. It's £103/€119 now.
In uncertain times, the Swiss Franc tends to skyrocket, unfortunately (but good for me when traveling abroad).
loved the train.tho would have been very unhappy no restaurant
Agreed... :/
Great train, but nothing beats the"ol' reliable" IR-90, gotta say
Theres a lot of reasons why Switzerland has the second best public transport system.
Only beaten by Japan.
took this route two weeks ago, the ticket price is not that expensive if you compare it with the ones in the US.😂
Great video 📹
Kinda wish I had one of these Girunos for a trip to Milan instead of the "old" ETR 610
Weird. I loved the Trenitalia ETR610 on the same route in first class. Would take it again in a heartbeat.
@@paulthiel5145 The SBB branded ones are maintained better, the Trenitalia not so much. Most toilets were out of service and seat recliners were broken. Plus 2nd class is really cramped
@@valentin7574 I hear that a lot, but can only speak from my own experience and I loved the Trenitalia ride. Also, I don't ride second class, so can't compare.
@@paulthiel5145 I was in Italy last week and took several trains for day trips. I’d concur that the second class seats are very cramped and narrow compared to Swiss trains. It was the same in Frecciarossa high-speed trains, in regular intercity trains and regional trains. So much so that I booked first class even for shorter 1 hour trips whenever possible. I’m not quite sure why this is. One cause may be the arm rests between neighbouring seats, which aren’t that common in modern Swiss trains and always take away a few precious centimetres.