Olten (Olten)

Olten station is at the heart of the Swiss network of mainline railways.
To the north of the station trains head west for Basel and east for Zurich, and to the south the lines divide into four;

• the higher speed line to Bern
• the classic route to Bern via Burgdorf
• a route to Luzern
• a route to Biel/Bienne and to Neuchatel and Yverdon

As a result the following long-distance services typically call at Olten at least hourly (*= every other hour):

• Zurich - Olten - Solothurn - Biel/Bienne
• Rorschach - St Gallen - Winterthur - Zurich Airport - Zurich - Aarau - Olten - Solothurn - Biel/Bienne - Neuchatel - Yverdon - Renens VD - Lausanne
• Chur - Landquart - Sargans - Pfaffikon - Zurich - Olten - Burgdorf - Bern
• Zurich - Brugg - Olten - Bern
• Basel - Olten - Bern - Thun - Spiez - Interlaken (most hours)
• Basel - Olten - Bern - Thun - Spiez - Visp - Brig*
• Basel - Olten - Luzern - Arth-Goldau - Bellinzona - Lugano*
• Basel - Olten - Luzern - Arth-Goldau - Goschenen - Airolo - Faido - Biasca - Bellinzona - Locarno*
• Basel - Olten - Sursee - Luzern
  Not all station calls have been included in these summaries.

Connections to mountain railways

Olten is to the north of the Alpine region, but this wide variety of routes, combined with room rates that are typically lower than the Swiss norm, leads Olten to be a great base for exploring Switzerland by train.
Direct trains from Olten go to and from

• the MGB routes at Visp and Brig and Goschenen
• the BOB routes at Interlaken Ost
• the Rhaetian Railway routes at Landquart and Chur
• a Rigi Bahn route at Arth-Goldau
• the Centovalli Railway route at Locarno
• the Zentralbahn at Interlaken and Luzern

International Rail Links

The following international rail services also usually call at Olten daily:

• to/from Freiburg - Offenburg - Karlsruhe - Frankfurt (Main) - Kassel - Braunschweig - Berlin; 3 x trains per day
• to/from Freiburg - Baden-Baden - Karlsruhe - Frankfurt Flughafen - Koln - Dusseldorf - Bremen - Hamburg; 1 x train per day
• to/from Freiburg - Baden-Baden - Karlsruhe - Frankfurt Flughafen - Koln - Dusseldorf - Essen - Dortmund; 1 x train per day
• to/from Domodossola - Milano Centrale; 3 x trains per day
• to/from Como - Milano Centrale; 1 x train per day

Olten station has an unconventional layout as the maim station buildings, including its SBB Travel Centre for tickets, reservations and enquiries, are in the middle of the station on gleis / platforms 4 and 7 (there are no gleis 5 and 6)

The access to and from the trains is by two passage ways which are under the gleis / platforms.

(1) The main passage way is at the southern end of the station, between zones C and D.
It has step-free access with all of the gleis / platforms thanks to slopes, but it is also linked to gleis / platforms 4 and 7 by elevator / lift - at platform level this lift is by the SBB travel centre.
There are also elevators, in addition to stairs, at the end of the passage way which link it to the town centre exit / entrance - the Stadtzentrum.
Plus another lift at the other end of the passage way, provides an alternative to the stairs on the other side of the station.

(2) The secondary passage way also links all of the gleis / platforms to both sides of the town, but the access to and from this passage is solely by stairs.
It is located at the northern end of the station between zones B and C.
Though an odd feature is that despite the lack of step-free access, the station's left-luggage lockers are in this passage way.