Hey!
I’m new to the eurail community, looking to plan a trip to Italy/Switzerland. I am a bit confused about how the booking system works, specifically for the Eurocity train between Italy and Switzerland. When I did the plan route option, I didn’t see any direct routes from Milan to Zurich, although in the travel planning section it states that there are direct trains. Additionally, are EC trains included in the global pass? I did not see that company listed in the included trains list
On which date are you looking for these trains?
They are certainly included in the global pass. They're run by SBB in Switzerland and by Trenitalia in Italy, both of which participate in Eurail. Reservations are required if you use them for travel to Italy and are best made via ÖBB (using these steps). You can also use ÖBB to book day trains in Italy. In Switzerland, reservations are not required.
I was having the same issue and discovered there seems to be rail works during summer which means you can’t take a direct train. Not sure of the dates you’re after but that might be it!
I just looked on the Trenitalia website and it shows direct trains in my test date (13 July). Another planner (DB) didn't so it's again related to Trenitalia's usual late delivery of timetable data. They have just published their summer timetable (starting 12 June) for long distance trains on their own website and it will take a few more days to show up elsewhere. Next update for online timetables is early Friday morning.
There are just a few direct (=no change) trains, but you can go nearly ev hour by changing somewhere-and then also get chance to see a little more of beautiful Swizterland!
You can also use the regional trains of TreNord till Chiasso=border station and then use-also RES-free even these EC trains INside CH. THis saves you the cost and trouble of making these REServ. That was the way in times of past about any Pass-IR-traveller would do it!
thanks for all the replies! I’m specifically looking for middle-end of april travel dates to/from milan to zurich
I had a look at 26 April and there are direct services. There are also reservation-free connections (normally each hour) that are just as fast, but with one change.
where is the best place to search for direct trains and/or trains without reservation/extra fees? i’ve tried the eurail planning app but its not that helpful
The rail planner app should not be used to plan anyway, since it doesn't get enough updates to be reliable. National planners and apps are more up to date. For international planning, the DB website or DB Navigator app is a good choice.
To get reservation-free options for Milan - Zurich, set via Chiasso and turn off ICE and IC between Milan and Chiasso.
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