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booking seat for ICE Zurich - Geneve


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  • Keeps calm and carries on
  • 18 replies

Hello

Do you know if reservations on ICE between Zurich and Geneva are compulsory in August?

I forgot to book the seat and there are no more seats available on the train I want to take.

I'm not sure whether I should make a reservation on a train two hours later or try to find a seat on the one I want....

Thank you for your advice

Best answer by thibcabe

There are no ICEs between Zurich and Geneva. Intercity trains run every 30 min:

- IC1: looooong double-decker train along the plains and gentle hills

- IC5: fun tilting train along the plains and 3 lakes

Seat reservations are not a thing/useless in Switzerland. Nobody makes them. Lived here all my life and never made one haha

Hop on and sit wherever you want. The front/rear ends are always less busy as people are lazy and board in the middle near the stairs. :)

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  • Full steam ahead
  • 4882 replies
  • Answer
  • August 11, 2024

There are no ICEs between Zurich and Geneva. Intercity trains run every 30 min:

- IC1: looooong double-decker train along the plains and gentle hills

- IC5: fun tilting train along the plains and 3 lakes

Seat reservations are not a thing/useless in Switzerland. Nobody makes them. Lived here all my life and never made one haha

Hop on and sit wherever you want. The front/rear ends are always less busy as people are lazy and board in the middle near the stairs. :)


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  • Author
  • Keeps calm and carries on
  • 18 replies
  • August 11, 2024

That's reassuring because I was wondering if we were going to end up sitting on our suitcases for 3 hours ;)

And yes, I'm sorry, it's the IC I wanted to talk about!


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  • Full steam ahead
  • 4882 replies
  • August 11, 2024

No worries. I’d suggest using the SBB app, it’ll show platforms, train formations, how busy the train is expected to be, etc.

If you see that there is a single unit on IC5 (7 carriages) the train might be busy then. In that case switch to IC1: 2 x 8 carriages with over 1200 seats.

In any case don’t worry too much and go with the flow.


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  • Author
  • Keeps calm and carries on
  • 18 replies
  • August 12, 2024

Thanks for the advice :)


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