Food on Swiss IR trains
A traveler is planning a trip from St Gallen to Zurich and then from Zurich to Luzern, seeking clarity on food options during their train rides. They want to know if there are food trolleys or a restaurant and if it's safe to leave luggage at their seats while dining.
- Most IR trains do not have catering options, so be prepared to grab food at the station instead.
- Direct Railjet trains from Innsbruck to Zurich offer dining facilities, so consider this route for more convenience.
- Always check the specific train timetables for food service availability as it varies by train type.
AI-generated summary-
Hi everyone!
I have booked a train travelling from St Gallen to Zurich and also a train from Zurich to Luzern. The train from St Gallen to Zurich is an IR 31720 and the train from Zurich to Luzern is the standard Swiss Rail. My questions are:
1) Is there food on both trains?
2) If yes, is it those being sold on trolleys or is it being served in a train restaurant?
3) Is it safe to leave my luggage at my seats while go the train restaurant for meals?
Thank you so much for any help provided!
-
Both trains are ‘standard Swiss rail’ – so I’m not sure what you have ‘booked’ as no bookings are necessary on the lines you mention. Also ‘IR31720’ is an odd designation – do you have a departure time from St Gallen?
Neither journey is really long enough to have a meal in a restaurant car. Most IR trains do not have catering. IC trains often have a restaurant car and a trolley service
The following official Timetable aka ‘Kursbuch’ PDFs for your routes show catering symbols:
Zurich – St Gallen line
http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/ fileadmin/fap_pdf_fiel ds/2018/850.pdf
You will see the IC trains have a knife and fork symbol (the international railway pictogram for a dining car)
Zurich – Luzern:
http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/ fileadmin/fap_pdf_fiel ds/2018/660.pdf
you will see there are no catering symbols on trains on this line
Yes, they are quite short trips for you. Around 1 hour, 1 hour and 15 or so.
The timetable will give you exact duration etc. And also show you, by symbols, if your train has any food service.
Hi 1960man and Lucas, I rechecked, it’s the RE 4970 at 1234hrs. Hmmm because my main concern is that as I am taking different trains from Innsbruck all the way to Zurich and the timing between all the trains are about 6-8 minutes, there will not be time to purchase food at the stations. So I was hoping to purchase food on board instead.
No, not enough time to buy food at the station unfortunately. 🙁
But the train from Innsbruck (before changing in Switzerland) most likely would have a restaurant and you could buy food there for later if you like. Or buy something in Innsbruck. 🙂
You can check that on the timetable as well though.
There is something wrong with your timetable calculation. RE4970 is a short distance regional unit train St Gallen – Wil. It terminates in Wil and does not go to Zürich.
I suggest you re-think your timings and work in a 30 minute or 1 hour stop – the Swiss ‘taktfahrplan’ regular interval service is based on the structure that the same pattern of trains repeats itself at least once per hour throughout the day on main line routes, so if you stop at St Gallen you can pick up another train to Zürich 30 mins or 1 hour later – the service is frequent.
Thinking further about your itinerary – why are you using different trains when there is a direct ‘Railjet’ inter city train from Innsbruck to Zürich with no changes necessary – and with dining facilities on board
Hi Lucas and 1960man,
Thank you for the replies. Does this mean there are no food trolleys onboard as well?
I have attached my train itinerary. I booked via eurotrains and this was the only connection i could find suitable for my timing. I did not see any direct train from innsbruck to zurich.
That is too bad about the connections.
There are several direct trains to Zurich from Innsbruck every day. https://www.myswissalp s.com/timetable
Ah well! Your first train is denoted as having a bar and catering zone so you should be able to get some snacks on it but no meals.
I prefer to grab food at train stations – more selection.
Nope lucas, I rly tried finding but for 9 August, there are really no direct trains. I tried with both trainline.eu and SBB. 🙁
Strange!
I find 4 direct trains on August 9 between 11:03 and 15:48. I’m not sure why you aren’t finding them on the SBB timetable.
I’ve attached a screenshot for August 9.
Attachments:
What is ‘eurotrains’ . No such company comes up on an internet search for me.
You have really been sold a pup. You should not expect to be offered a collection of regional and local trains on a route between 2 major cities where there are 5 direct high quality intercity trains per day.
The only thing I can think of is that you inadvertantly specified going via Bregenz and St Gallen. The direct Railjet services run via Feldkirch – Buchs SG – Sargans.
On the route via Bregenz, the connections are poor if you don’t happen to be at Bregenz when one of the Munchen – Zurich Eurocities is passing through.
If you can’t rebook, there will be a food trolley from Bludenz to Bregenz on IC118, and I suggest changing at St Gallen into the 12.42 departure to Zurich. (train IR2270), or waiting a bit longer at St Gallen, where there is a small Co-Op supermarket in the station.
There’s also a 5th direct train: Railjet at 07.45 from Innsbruck
Hi lucas and 1960man, the train I am looking at leaves innsbruck at 0854 and reaches Zurich at 1353hrs. My apologies I meant goeuro, not eurotrains. The train connections can be seen via the Austria Obb website too.
There is a direct train at 07:45 but then not one again until 11:03. So if neither of those timings work for you then a direct train can’t be used.
I would recommend taking the 07.45 Railjet out of Innsbruck if you can
- The thread ‘Food on Swiss IR trains’ is closed to new replies.
