By Train from Zürich / Zurich (Switzerland) to Andermatt (for Gemsstock and Nätschen) (Switzerland)

Until Dec 9th 2020, the railway line between Zug and Arth-Goldau is closed for renewal, so the trains are being diverted to travel around the western shore of Lake Zug.

This has added around 15 mins to the usual journey time.

These direct trains to Erstfeld usually depart from the street level platforms/tracks in Zurich HB station (gleis 3 - 18) in even hours from 10:10 until 20:10.

In odd hours you can take the trains heading to Milano and make a very straightforward connections between trains at Arth-Goldau station.

Final Destination: Erstfeld

This is route IR 46

The fastest express trains from Zurich to Bellinzona, Lugano and Milano now travel through the epic Gotthard Base Tunnel, but other trains still travel the epic route that spirals up to the older Gotthard Tunnel

There are now no direct trains from Zurich along the wonderful older line, but simple connections are available at Erstfeld station from these trains.

The trains which depart from Zurich at 10:10; 12:10; 16:10 and 18:10 connect in Erstfeld into trains on to Bellinzona, but the 14:10 departure connects into a train which continues beyond Bellinzona to Lugano and Chiasso.

If you have a Eurail or InterRail pass, this will be a much more scenic option than taking the direct EC trains between Zurich and Milano AND you can also avoid the rail pass reservation fees charged on the EC trains. 

The train journey from Zurich to Erstfeld:

The train will spend most of the first 10 mins of its journey travelling in a tunnel, but soon after it emerges into the daylight, the train will ascend upwards from the sure of Lake Zuriich

So from the left of the train (when facing the direction of travel) there are sweeping vistas to be enjoyed down over the lake.

On departure from Zug, until Dec 9th 2020, these trains are being diverted from their usual route to travel along the western shore of Lake Zug and during this time they will REVERSE direction in Rotkreuz station.

So between Rotkreuz and Arth-Goldau the views over Lake Zug will be on the left.

The next beautiful vista to look out for comes after departure from Arth-Goldau station, when on the right, the train passes passes the Lauerzersee...

...and then further south, there are glimpses of Lake Luzern.

From Zurich Airport/Flughafen:

There are no direct trains between the station at Zurich Flughafen/Airport and Erstfeld (for onward connections to Goschenen, Ariolo, Faido and Biasca).

You will have to change trains at Zurich HB station.

Making the transfer will be much easier if you take a train from Zurich Flughafen to Zurich HB which uses the same part of Zurich HB station (platforms/tracks/gleis 3 - 18) that the trains on to Erstfeld will depart from.

So when taking a train from the airport target either;
(1) the trains on route S24 heading to Zug - every 30 mins
(2) the IR train that terminates at Zurich HB - 1 x train per hour on route IR 75
(3) the IR train to Basel via Lenzburg (route IR 37) and NOT the trains via  Brugg - 1 x train per hour