Bernina Express to Pontresina and later to Chur
Alistair is planning a trip in September that includes taking the BEX train from Tirano to Chur, stopping at Pontresina for about four hours. He needs advice on ticketing, specifically if he can avoid paying for two separate trips when only using part of the journey, as well as details about reservations and prices.
- You need to make two reservations for each leg of the trip if you break your journey at Pontresina.
- A Swiss Travel Pass allows you to travel without purchasing individual tickets.
- Tickets from Tirano to Chur are valid for the entire day, letting you hop off and later continue your journey on the same ticket.
AI-generated summary-
Hi
Planning a trip on BEX in September…. proposing to take 1st train from Tirano and get off at Pontresina around midday.. Then after about 4 hours continue to Chur arriving 18.20. Because it is 2 separate bookings I realise that 2 booking payments will be required in addition to the BEX tickets My question is, does it cost the same for the journey from Pontresina to Chur as it would from Tirano to Chur? In other words are you effectively booking the seat for the entire journey even though you are only using one half of it? If that is the case is there any way to split the journey without having to pay for 2 complete trips paying full price in each case and does the same apply coming from Chur to Tirano. We are going north one day and returning south (by regular normal train) the following day, breaking the journey with an overnight in St Moritz. Kind regards
Alistair Mackay
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Hello Alistair,
The reservation fee is CHF10 for all or part of the journey Tirano to Chur. If you break the trip at Pontresina then you’ll need 2 reservations per traveler. Probably won’t break the bank? 😉
Tickets are a different issue. A ticket from Tirano to Chur will allow you to alight at Pontresina and re-board the later BEX. Same applies for regular trains heading south. A Chur to Tirano ticket is good for the whole trip even if you jump off at St Moritz for a bit.
I’m assuming here that you are not referring to a Super Saver Ticket which can only be used on a specific journey. Of course if perchance you had a Swiss Travel Pass then tickets are not required at all.
Thanks for the great advice rockoyster . How does the search reservation go if a have a particular seat on the earlier train and then take the later train…. Won’t someone else on the later train possibly have the same seat having boarded on the later train at another station with their own reservation ?
Regards Alistair
Sorry Alistair, you’ve lost me there. You can only make reservations on specific trains. If you have a reservation you have a seat. A ticket is usable on earlier or later trains but the seat reservation is tied to a specific departure.
OK thanks
So for example if I have seat 6a from Tirano to Chur and I alight at Pontresina and the get a later train with seat 12b… 2 journeys and 2 seat reservations Does that mean if someone else books the entire journey from Tirano on the later train then they won’t be able to book seat 12b? Also the price I was quoted for the journey from pontresina to chur was 56 Swiss and that seemed a lot when the entire journey costs around 64 Swiss? Thanks
Alistair
Hi Alistair,
If you are making both trips on the same day, you just need one train ticket (or rail pass) that covers the whole trip. You will need to make 2 reservations though for a seat on each leg of the trip.
Swiss railways tickets are valid for an entire day so you can hop off the train along the journey if you like and continue later that day to finish the trip on the same ticket. So one ticket for the whole trip but 2 seat reservations (for each leg of the trip).
If you book 12b for Pontresina to Chur, no one else can book 12b for on that train between those towns.
PS If you don’t take the Bernina Express train itself, no reservation is needed. So you could take the Bernina Express train to Pontresina and take a regional train on to Chur (or vice versa) without the need for a 2nd reservation.
Fabby Dabby Lucas
Think I’m on the right track now! (no pun intended!)
Alistair
I should have mentioned earlier that I’d buy a ticket Tirano to Chur using the Swiss Train Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable). But make reservations using http://www.rhb.ch/en/panorami c-trains/bernina-express#cart. I’m not even sure you can buy tickets only at the RHB site.
Thank you again.
When you book direct with the Rhaetian Railway site for BEX and you choose your seat, the price they quote will include the fair and the seat reservation I presume … Paying both at the same time.? Tirano to Chur 76 Swiss
Regards Alistair
On the RHB site there is an option under “Tickets/reductions” which says “Ticket Available” . Use that to indicate you have or will be acquiring a ticket elsewhere.
That is correct. But when you said, you will get off at Pontresina on your first leg, that seat you reserve becomes empty for that train. If you need to continue to Chur, you need another reservation for that remaining leg of your trip as it is a different train you are boarding this time. The BEX and regional train are sometimes connected. I was able to board a first class regional train from St Moritz to Chur that is attached to a Glacier Express. It depends on train schedule whether you are riding a BEX, regional train or connected ones. They share the same railroad most of the time, so sometimes they are just connected, the Scenic trains are just fancier. Take care.
OK, thanks …..think I’m up to speed now with things in general, (oh these puns keep coming I’m afraid.!)….surely the ticket prices for train journeys and seat reservations are the same on every Web site… Can’t see the point in variations in prices really. Rhaetian, Trenitalia and SBB surely have parity when it comes to prices!
Regards once again. Alistair
OK …. To finish this thread…. the facts of the matter are :
I can book any train, regional or BEX, and through any ticket site that offers for sale those tickets for whatever part of the journey from Tirano to Chur. To travel on a BEX carriage I just book a seat on a BEX train for each leg of the journey to confirm my seat. The seat then becomes mine regardless of which legs of the journey that I don’t use it for. Regards. Alistair
“The seat then becomes mine regardless of which legs of the journey that I don’t use it for.“
Que?
For the BEX heading north you need two reservations. One for Tirano to Pontresina. One for Pontresina to Chur. Then you need one ticket from Tirano to Chur from SBB.
Heading south on regular trains you just need one ticket Chur to Tirano.
I can’t think of any way to further simplify it.
Gracias amigo.!
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