I nearly got caught out on this one, remember i havnt been on a train about 30 years never mind travelling to switzerland from ireland and travelling around on trains, there was a transfer that stated short transfer,11.55 pm - 03.55am, ( could be differnt time within minutes), it stated 47 hours or such so i thought it was a bug, what i didnt know is trains stop at around 12 at night and resume at around 4 next morning, only i noticed i wouldve been stuck at a train station 4 hours or looking at hotel, another thing the airport closes also 4 hours
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trains stop during night
Best answer by thibcabe
I mean yes, trains do not run 24/7 in most (all?) countries. There are some exceptions like suburban railways or night trains. However, these do not exist everywhere. Have a look at this map: https://nachtzugkarte.de/en/
Note that a pass day is valid from 00:00 to 23:59. On such day you may board as many trains as you'd like. Boarding another train after midnight will require another travel day.
Last thing: seat reservations are mandatory on some trains like Eurostar and French TGVs. Extra costs on top of your pass.
For a long journey such as Ireland - Switzerland, you should definitely split the search or you'll find stupid results like 47h non-stop with a 3h break in a random station in the middle of nowhere without facilities.
Btw you get a small discount on the Dublin-Holyhead ferry. Then you continue by train to London where you'd board a Eurostar to Lille/Paris. Can't go much further in one day. For example:
- Irish Ferries Dublin Ferryport - Holyhead 07:30 - 11:00
- Avanti West Coast Holyhead - London Euston 12:48 - 16:37
- break and enough time for passport controls
- Eurostar London St. Pancras - Paris-Nord 18:01 - 21:19 or 1h later
Or you've got a ferry to France directly.
I mean yes, trains do not run 24/7 in most (all?) countries. There are some exceptions like suburban railways or night trains. However, these do not exist everywhere. Have a look at this map: https://nachtzugkarte.de/en/
Note that a pass day is valid from 00:00 to 23:59. On such day you may board as many trains as you'd like. Boarding another train after midnight will require another travel day.
Last thing: seat reservations are mandatory on some trains like Eurostar and French TGVs. Extra costs on top of your pass.
For a long journey such as Ireland - Switzerland, you should definitely split the search or you'll find stupid results like 47h non-stop with a 3h break in a random station in the middle of nowhere without facilities.
Btw you get a small discount on the Dublin-Holyhead ferry. Then you continue by train to London where you'd board a Eurostar to Lille/Paris. Can't go much further in one day. For example:
- Irish Ferries Dublin Ferryport - Holyhead 07:30 - 11:00
- Avanti West Coast Holyhead - London Euston 12:48 - 16:37
- break and enough time for passport controls
- Eurostar London St. Pancras - Paris-Nord 18:01 - 21:19 or 1h later
Or you've got a ferry to France directly.
+6
It will give you results, it’s just chaining together timetables to solve a query, but they won’t necessarily be what you’d choose. You need a little human input. Sometimes a journey that’s 10 minutes slower is better.
Seat 61 has some very well-researched itineraries, giving sensible points to stop overnight. Combine this with a rail map, your own timetable searches, and your own preferences of departure time and stopover etc.
https://www.seat61.com/train-and-ferry-to-dublin.htm
https://www.seat61.com/Switzerland.htm
I didnt put dublin to zurich🤷♂️, i was doing the searches around switzerland only, i live in ireland. I flew over. Im using seat 61 now for a trip around turkey.
thibcabe wrote:
I mean yes, trains do not run 24/7 in most (all?) countries. There are some exceptions like suburban railways or night trains. However, these do not exist everywhere. Have a look at this map: https://nachtzugkarte.de/en/
Note that a pass day is valid from 00:00 to 23:59. On such day you may board as many trains as you'd like. Boarding another train after midnight will require another travel day.
Last thing: seat reservations are mandatory on some trains like Eurostar and French TGVs. Extra costs on top of your pass.
For a long journey such as Ireland - Switzerland, you should definitely split the search or you'll find stupid results like 47h non-stop with a 3h break in a random station in the middle of nowhere without facilities.
Btw you get a small discount on the Dublin-Holyhead ferry. Then you continue by train to London where you'd board a Eurostar to Lille/Paris. Can't go much further in one day. For example:
- Irish Ferries Dublin Ferryport - Holyhead 07:30 - 11:00
- Avanti West Coast Holyhead - London Euston 12:48 - 16:37
- break and enough time for passport controls
- Eurostar London St. Pancras - Paris-Nord 18:01 - 21:19 or 1h later
Or you've got a ferry to France directly.
Sorry i should of worded that better. I flew from ireland. Then i travelled around switzerland on the trains.
Rasdus wrote:
Sorry i should of worded that better. I flew from ireland. Then i travelled around switzerland on the trains.
If you're just travelling in and around Switzerland, then just use sbb.ch or the SBB app to plan. That's far more reliable than the Interrail website or the Rail planner app. Only use the Rail planner app to manage your pass.
rvdborgt wrote:
Rasdus wrote:
Sorry i should of worded that better. I flew from ireland. Then i travelled around switzerland on the trains.
If you're just travelling in and around Switzerland, then just use sbb.ch or the SBB app to plan. That's far more reliable than the Interrail website or the Rail planner app. Only use the Rail planner app to manage your pass.
The DB app is also always a good choice for Switzerland as they use the same database and just has an overall better usability (it also works like a charm in Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, even with real time data! In France, Czech Republic and Poland it depends if the trains originate or have their destination in Germany for them to have real time delay information).
DB is definitely a good choice for planning but for real-time travel I'd still use SBB within the country:
- train occupation (how busy each carriage is)
- disruptions info -> major ones leading to a liveticker
- notice on planned engineering works
Little things like that, I'm aware.
(I might be biased)
No, you're absolutely right. The train occupation and the train compositions are a major point why one would want to use the SBB app. Though if one would want to settle with only one app I'd choose the DB app. Occupation and composition also gets displayed onto displays at the platforms.
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