International Trains from Switzerland

Thanks to its central European location, Switzerland is served by multiple international train services, and those to Austria and Italy also take rail routes that are among the most spectacular in all of Europe.

Some of Switzerland's international rail routes are also provided by its beautiful independent mountain railways.
It can be worth taking a detour to use them to leave Switzerland by train; and if you will be travelling with a Eurail or InterRail pass, using them to access Switzerland can contribute to a pass being value for money.

As the border between Switzerland and Austria isn't particularly long the trains from Switzerland to Austria only take one of two routes.

This is the route taken by the daytime Railjet trains on the Zurich ↔ Innsbruck - Salzburg - Wien - Budapest / Bratislava route.
The rail replacement services are to be arranged; presumably the night trains between Zurich and Budapest, Wien and Zagreb will be diverted on to a much longer route.

Day trains

There are two long-distance daytime train services which travel from Buchs to Feldkirch, on a railway which travels through Liechtenstein

(1) The Railljet trains which operate every other hour on the Zurich → Sargans → Buchs → Feldkirch → St Anton → Innsbruck → Salzburg → Linz → St Polten → Wien/Vienna route.
One of these trains has its journey extended beyond Wien to Budapest via Gyor.
Another of these Railjet trains has now had its journey extended to Bratislava; this is the only direct train from Switzerland to Slovakia.

(2) One EC train per day, named the 'Transalpin', which takes a Zurich → Sargans → Buchs → Feldkirch → St Anton → Innsbruck → Kitzbuhel → Zell Am See → Leoben → Graz route.

Buchs has trains from Chur, Landquart and St Gallen and a bus link with Leichtenstien.

The only other daytime trains which take this route are the local commuter trains, which shuttle across the border between Buchs and Feldkirch during the early mornings and late afternoons on Monday to Friday.

Night trains:

The overnight trains on these four routes come this way:

• Zurich → Sargans → Buchs → Graz
• Zurich → Sargans → Buchs → Linz → Wien/Vienna – Gyor - Budapest
• Zurich → Praha/Prag
• Zurich → Sargans → Buchs → Villach → Jesenice → Lesce-Bled (for Lake Bled) → Ljubljana → Zidani Most → Dobova → Zagreb ~
  This is the only train service from Switzerland to both Slovenia and Croatia.
  Until late September it's usually possible to make connections in Zagreb for onward travel to Beograd/Belgrade, Sofia, Athens and Istanbul, but these trains on from Zagreb towards Sofia have been suspended since the start of the pandemic and have yet to resume; though the Sofia to Istanbul service has recommenced.

The only trains which makes this border crossing are the seven daily EC trains on the improved Zurich → Zurich Flughafen/Airport → St Gallen → St Margrethen → Bregenz → Lindau → Munchen/Munich route.
St Margrethen is also served by trains which have travelled from Chur via Landquart.

With more than 20% of Swiss residents being French speakers it's not surprising that there are a comparatively high number of railways which connect France to Switzerland.

These four train services all cross this border between Switzerland and France:

1: high speed to Paris

Up to eight Lyria trains per day take this route; Geneve → Bellegarde → Paris; three trains per day on this route now commence the journey in Lausanne.

2: to the south of France in summer

The Lyria train on this route; Geneve →– Bellegarde → Lyon → Avignon-TGV → Aix-en-Provence-TGV → Marseille will now only be departing during July and August.

3: to Lyon

Up to ten TER trains per day travel from Geneve to Lyon via Bellegarde.
Users of Eurail and InteRail passes travelling from Switzerland to Paris can avoid the comparatively expensive rail pass reservation fees charged to travel on the Lyria trains, by taking these trains to Lyon and making onward connections there into either TGV trains (will be more than 50% cheaper than taking the Lyria trains); or by taking other TER trains on to Paris.

4: to Aix-les-Bains - Grenoble and Valence

Up to six TER trains per day take this route; Geneve → Bellegarde → Culoz → Aix-les-Bains → Chambery → Grenoble; and two of these trains continue beyond Grenoble to Valence - they call at Valence TGV station which has trains to a swathe of destinations in southern France including Marseille, Nice, Nimes and Montpellier.

After a lengthy closure for rebuilding, this route south from Geneve has re-opened and new hourly Regional Express services link destinations on the north shore of Lake Geneva, including Montreux and Lausanne, to Annemasse in France.
In most hours connections are available in Annemasse on to Evian Les-Bains or St-Gervais-Les-Bains; from where there are onward connections to Chamonix.

There are also hourly local trains from Geneve to Annecy which travel via Annemasse

In Geneve these train services now call all both at the main station, which previously hadn't been linked to Annemasse, and the re-opened Geneve-Eaux-Vives station.

The only trains which take route from Vallorbe to Frasne are the three Lyria trains per day that take a Lausanne → Vallorbe → Frasne → Dole → Dijon → Paris route.
Trains from Neuchatel via Pontarlier to Frasne connect into these trains.

The other trans from Lausanne to Paris now travel via Geneve; see above.

Three TER trains per day travel via La Locle from La Chaux des Fonds to Besancon-Voite, the town centre station in Besancon.
There are trains to La Chaux des Fonds from Biel and Neuchatel.
From Besancon there are TGV trains to Paris and there are also TER trains from Besancon to Belfort and Dijon.

These train services all depart from Basel and head towards Mulhouse and beyond:

1: from Zurich and Basel to Paris

Up to six Lyria trains per day take this route; Zurich → Basel → Mulhouse → Dijon* → Paris gare de Lyon
*Not all of these trains call at Dijon.

2: local and regional trains

In most hours there are TER trains which take this route; Basel – Mulhouse → Colmar → Strasbourg

There are also local TER trains from Basel to Mulhouse.

Travellers using Eurail or InteRail passes can avoid the comparatively expensive rail pass reservation fees charged to travel on the Lyria trains, by taking TER trains and making onward connections in Colmar, Mulhouse or Strasbourg into TGV trains to Paris; this can be more than 50% cheaper than taking the Lyria trains.

This is the most scenic route from Switzerland into France, but journeys on towards Annemasse, Annecy and Lyon need to be planned with care, particularly at weekends when the trains on from St Gervais are not particularly frequent.

Every hour during the day, trains operated by TMR depart Martigny for Vallorcine.
Martigny station is served by trains which depart at least hourly from Geneve, Brig, Lausanne, Montreux, Sion and Visp.

At Vallorcine connections are available into trains which travel on to St Gervais via Chamonix.
Most of these trains make connections in St Gervais with TER trains on to the junction station at Annemasse, from where trains depart to Annecy and Bellegarde - both towns have TGV trains on to Paris.

The River Rhine and Lake Constance, also known as the Bodensee both provide natural barriers along the Swiss/German border, so there are only TWO routes used by long-distance express trains between Switzerland and Germany.

Though the trains on the Zurich > Munchen/Munich route travel through Austria because the eastern end of the Bodensee is in Austria.

The cities of Basel and Zurich are in the German speaking area of Switzerland, and the German national operator DB provides long-distance services from them by ICE trains, at a similar frequency to the ICE trains which serve Germany's large cities.

Basel Bad Bahnhof is in Switzerland, but is managed as though it is a German station, so train services that only travel into Germany from this station have been excluded from this summary.

These train services below are those which travel between Basel SBB (the main station in Basel) and Basel Bad Bahnhof and on into Germany; on these summaries when Basel is used, the trains call at both stations in the city.

by ICE train

The train services which travel this way include the ICE trains on these three routes:

(1) Interlaken → Spiez → Thun → Bern → Olten → Basel → Freiburg → Baden Baden → Kalrsruhe → Mannheim → Frankfurt (Main) → Kassel → Berlin; 3 x trains per day from Interlaken.

(2) Zurich → Basel \→ Freiburg → Baden Baden → Kalrsruhe → Mannheim → Frankfurt (Main) → Kassel → Hannover → Hamburg; 5 x trains per day
Two of these trains commence their journey in Chur at 10:39 and 12:39 and travel to Zurich via Landquart and some trains travel beyond Hamburg to Kiel.
The brand new ICE 4 trains now operate on this route.

The daily ferry operated by Color Line typically departs Kiel daily at 14:00 and arrives the next day into Oslo at 10:00.
In Kiel it's main railway station, Kiel Hbf is 10-15 min flat walk to the ferry terminal.
Typically an ICE train from Basel, will be scheduled to arrive into Kiel at 12:44.
So this combination of ICE train and ferry is usually the best option for a Switzerland to Norway journey.

(3) Basel → Freiburg → Kalrsruhe → Mannheim → Frankfurt Airport/Flughafen → Seigburg/Bonn → Koln/Cologne (→ Wuppertal → Dortmund - Bremen - Hamburg) (6 x trains per day).

by EC train

The daily EC trains which also come this way are on these three routes:

(1) Interlaken → Bern → Basel → Freiburg → Karlsruhe → Mannheim → Koblenz → Bonn → Koln/Cologne → Dusseldorf → Dortmund → Bremen → Hamburg; two trains per day

(2) Zurich → Basel → Freiburg → Baden Baden → Karlsruhe → Mannheim → Koblenz → Koln/Cologne → Dusseldorf → Dortmund → Bremen → Hamburg; 1 x daily train; the only direct daytime train from Zurich to Koln/Cologne.

(3) Zurich→ Basel → Freiburg → Baden Baden → Karlsruhe → Mannheim → Frankfurt (Main); 1 x daily train
This train commences its journey in Milano.

the night trains:

Overnight Nightjet trains on these four routes also come this way:

(1) Zurich → Basel → Hannover → Hamburg
(2) Zurich → Basel → Magdeburg → Berlin; the only direct train from Zurich to Berlin
(3) Zurich → Basel → Koln/Cologne → Arnhem → Utrecht → Amsterdam; the only direct train from Zurich to Amsterdam.
(4) Zurich → Basel → Leipzig → Dresden → Decin → Praha/Prague.

Three train services make this border crossing;

(1) German IC trains on this route; Zurich → Schaffhausen → Singen → Rottweil → Horb → Stuttgart

(2) Swiss IC trains on a Zurich – Schaffhausen – Singen route; these trains connect in Singen with other IC trains on to Stuttgart.
The train service is arranged so that when travelling from Zurich to Stuttgart, in alternate hours there is a direct train, but in other hours a connection is required in Singen.
Sit on the right when travelling from Zurich for a spectacular view of the Schaffhausen Falls.

(3) German Regio trains on a Basel (Bad Bahnhof) → Waldshut → Schaffhausen → Singen → Radofzell → Frederichshafen → Ulm route:
Connect in Frederichshafen for Lindau and in Ulm for Augsburg and Munchen/Munich

The trains from Switzerland to Italy take one of four spectacular routes through the mountains; note that there are no overnight trains which travel between Switzerland and Italy.

These four train services all take this beautiful railway line from western Switzerland into Italy:

1: Geneve and Lausanne to Milan (and Venice)

(1) Three or four EC trains per day take this route:
Geneve → Lausanne → Montreux → Sion → Brig → Domodossola → Stresa → Milano
One of these trains continues its journey beyond Milano to Brescia → Peschiera del Garda → Verona → Vicenza →Padua/Padova → Venezia St Lucia.

2: Basel to Milan

Three or four EC trains per day take this route:
Basel → Olten → Bern → Thun → Spiez * → Visp → Brig → Domodossola → Stresa → Milano.
*Trains from Interlaken make connections in Spiez.
Connect in Milano for cities to the south including Ancona; Firenze/Florence, Napoli, Nice, Pisa, Rimini and Roma; none of these destinations have direct trains from Switzerland.

There are now two additional daily trains from Basel to Milano which take a different route through Luzern and Lugano; see below.

3: the Swiss express train to Domodossola

One Swiss IC train per day, which usually departs from Basel at 08:28 and takes this route: Basel → Olten → Bern → Thun → Spiez → Visp → Brig → Domodossola.
Users of Swiss rail passes can travel by this train to Domodossola in order to connect into The 'Centovali Railway'.

4: by local train to Domodossola

In most odd hours, local trains depart Brig for Domodossola.

Users of Eurail and InterRail passes can avoid the rail pass reservation fees, which are charged to rail pass users when crossing the border on the EC express trains, by taking these regional trains.
Italian regional trains (R and RV services) connect Domodossola to Stresa, Arona and Milano.

Users of Swiss rail passes can also take these trains to Domodossola.

These train services all take this railway route from Switzerland into Italy.

1: Express trains from Zurich to Milan (and Bologna, Venice and Genoa)

There are now up to 10 x EC trains per day which take a Zurich → Zug → Arth-Goldau* → Bellinzona → Lugano → Como → Milano route
*Trains from Basel via Luzern connect with these trains in Arth-Goldau.

One of these trains continues its journey beyond Milano to Brescia → Peschiera del Garda → Verona → Vicenza → Padua/Padova → Venezia St Lucia.

And another daily train now continues beyond Milano to arrive in Genova/Genoa; while yet another service now provides a direct link between Zurich and Bologna.

Connect in Milano Centrale station for cities to the south including Ancona, Bari, Firenze/Florence, Napoli, Pisa, Rimini Sanremo and Roma; none of these destinations have direct trains from Switzerland.

Though the trains from Zurich to Bologna and Genova don't call at Milano Centrale, instead they call at Milano Rogoredo station.

2: Express trains from Luzern to Milan

Two EC trains per day takes this route: Basel → Olten → Luzern → Arth-Goldau → Bellinzona → Lugano → Como → Milano; which provides Luzern with a direct rail service to Italy.

The first of these trains commences its journey in Frankfurt (Main) and also makes other calls in Germany including Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Freiburg.
The corresponding train in the other direction takes a different route through Switzerland, with calls in among other locations, Brig, Thun and Bern.

3: from Locarno to Milan by regional trains

Hourly regional trains, branded 'Ticino' now take this route: Locarno → Lugano → Chiasso → Como → Milano.
Connections into these trains at Cadenazzo are available when taking the IR trains on the especially spectacular Basel/Zurich to Locarno route via Airolo and Faido.

4: local trains to Chiasso

Hourly local trains take this route: Bellinzona → Lugano → Campolago → Chiasso
Regionale trains to Milano Porta Garibaldi station connect with these trains in Chiasso.

A cheaper option for Eurail and InterRail users

Users of Eurail and InterRail passes can avoid the rail pass reservation fees, which are charged to rail pass users when crossing the border on the EC express trains, by taking these regional or local trains.
Lugano has Swiss express IC trains from Basel, Luzern and Zurich.

Trains on Line S-10, of the S-Bahn network of local trains around Lake Locarno, operate hourly on this route: Bellinzona → Lugano → Campolago → Medrisio → Stabio → Gallarate (which is on the Milano to Arona and Stresa route) → Millano Malpensa Airport.
The journey from Lugano to the airport takes around 1hr 30mins.

There are hourly ‘Centovalli Express’ trains during the day, operated by F.A.R.T. which take this beautiful route, pictured above, from Locarno to Domodossola.

Locarno is now served by direct trains from Basel, Luzern and Zurich, which take one of the most spectacular routes in Switzerland, because between Arth-Goldau (which is to the south of Zug) and Bellinzona they don't follow the express trains through the Gotthard Base Tunnel and instead take the older much more beautiful route through Goschenen.

Italian regional (R and RV trains) link Domodossola to Milano, Stresa and Arona.

If you will be travelling from Switzerland to Italy with a Eurail or InterRail pass, the Basel / Luzern / Zurich - Locarno - Domodossola - Milano route is a cheaper and more scenic option than taking a direct EC train.

Up to 11 trains per day, which are operated by RhB, depart from St Moritz to Tirano via Pontresina and Poschiavo.

Regular Italian regionale (RV) trains link Tirano with Milano via the Lake Como towns of Colico and Lecco.

By making as simple as can be connections in Samedan, from the Chur to St Moritz trains, and then in Pontresina, a journey by regular trains from Chur to Tirano is easily managed
Or as an alternative to the regular trains, you can travel direct from Chur to Tirano on the Bernina Express.

Chur has one or two trains per hour from Zurich and direct trains from Basel.

If you will be using a rail pass then travelling from Zurich to Milano on this route and making additional connections in Chur, Samedan, Pontesina and Tirano, is the most spectacular means of taking a train from northern Switzerland to northern Italy; and it is cheaper than taking a direct EC train and not as complicated as it seems

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