How take a rail journey from Zurich to Bellinzona

Final Destination: Locarno

These trains also call at: Goschenen (connect for the MGB trains to Andermatt and beyond)
Airolo; Faido and Biasca

From Zurich Airport/Flughafen:

There are no direct trains between the station at Zurich Flughafen/Airport and Bellinzona.
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 Bellinzona will depart from.
So when taking a train from the airport target either;

• the trains on route S24 heading to Zug - every 30 mins.
• the IR trains to Luzern - every 30 mins.
• the IR train to Basel via via Brugg - 1 x train per hour.

Book early and save: Yes*

Online bookings open: up to six months ahead of the travel date

These trains are operated by SOB and tickets can be booked on its website.

Tickets are also sold on the SBB, Swiss National Railways, website and on its website, journey times, departure times and prices, can be compared with the alternative, faster trains operated by SBB.

When booking on the SBB website there are two things that are worth looking out for:
(1) If you want to to specifically travel by these trains on the more scenic route, look for IR in the ‘travel with’ column and the red % button in the 'Fare' column.
(2) Cheaper ‘Supersaver’ tickets (those with a % symbol on a red button) are available on these IR trains between Zurich and Bellinzona.
You’re most likely to find these Supersaver tickets if you book around 4 - 8 weeks ahead.
You may need to search through the departures to find these 'Supersaver' tickets using the ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ buttons, so try and be flexible with your departure and arrival times.

Using Eurail or InterRail Passes

These trains connect in Cadenazzo, into 'Ticino' regional trains on to Milano via Como,

If you have a Eurail or InterRail pass, taking these trains and making the connection 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.

Final Destination: Lugano (IC trains on route IC 2), Milano or Venezia or Genova or Bologna (EC trains)

All trains also call at: Arth-Goldau

There are two types of express train service on the Zurich to Bellinzona route:

(1) Swiss IC trains which will be heading to Lugano; a mix of trains is used on this route, with the new Twindexx double-deck trains appearing on some departures; though the same trains which are used for the international EC services are used on many IC departures.

(2) International EC trains, which will be heading to Milano or other destinations in Italy
(Some of EC train departures MAY will still be by the Astoro trains)

Swiss 'rules' apply to this journey, so whether you will be buying tickets or using a rail pass, it doesn't particularly matter which of these train services you choose to travel by; seat reservations aren't compulsory on Zurich to Bellinzona journeys by the EC trains.

The timetable is slightly eccentric because in most odd hours both an IC AND an EC train depart, but in even hours there will only be an IR train, taking a slower, but more spectacular route (see above)

These IC and EC trains to Bellinzona (and the slower IR trains), should all depart from the street level platforms/tracks in Zurich HB (gleis 3 - 18).

From Zurich Flughafen/Airport:

There are no direct trains between the station at Zurich Flughafen/Airport and Bellinzona
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 Bellinzona will depart from.

So when taking a train from the airport target either;

• the trains on route S24 heading to Zug - every 30 mins.
• the IR trains to Luzern - every 30 mins.
• the IR train to Basel via via Brugg - 1 x train per hour.

Heading to Locarno:

Those IR trains are now direct Zurich to Locarno, but **the end-to-end journey is faster if you take these trains and make straightforward connection between trains in Bellinzona.

The train service between Zurich and Bellinzona split between:
1: IC trains - that are slightly slower, but also generally cheaper than;
2:  the EC trains that call at Bellinzona on route to Milano.
3. The slower IR train services (option 1)

Book early and save: Yes*

Online bookings open: up to six months ahead of the travel date

*If you book Supersaver tickets - you may need to search through the departures to find them using the ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ buttons - the Supersaver tickets tend to sell out particularly quickly on THIS route.

So try and be flexible with your departure and arrival times, book as near to 60 days ahead as possible and don't be overly concerned whether you will be taking an IC or EC train.

Trainline does not offer upgrades to 1st class tickets.
 
Seat reservations:

Seat reservations are optional on Swiss IC trains and for the journey by EC trains, as it's wholly within Switzerland; so seats won't be automatically assigned when booking online.
You can book reservations online, AFTER you have booked a ticket, by using the SBB (Swiss national railways) seat reservation service OR request and pay for a reservation when booking at a station ticket office.

Travelling with a rail pass:

Rail pass users can jump on any train, without having to make reservations.