Bernina Express route open air carriages??

Hello there,

New to the website/forum, but I am Swiss! (Although I've only been a few times.) Traveling through Switzerland this summer from London to Italy, so that we can travel the route of the Bernina Express. I am inclined to just take the actual Bernina Express, but have heard some talk about open air carriages along the same route. The very nice people at Rhaetian Railways pointed me to the information about the open air carriages from St. Moritz to Tirano, but it seems that if you were to do that, you'd have to go from Zurich to St. Moritz first, and then you would miss some of the most exciting pieces of the Bernina Express, no? Are there also open air carriages on the actual Bernina Express route, on regional trains or something, that are just not advertised at all?? I love the idea of having an open air carriage (and not having to leave Zurich at 7!), but haven't been able to get a straight answer on this, and certainly don't want to miss the only BE of the day! Btw, why do they only have one a day, and so early? Seems like it would behoove them to have at least one more later in the day.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hello sbollag! The open air carriages will ride on Sundays between St. Moritz and Landquart. We just mentioned it in this forum topic :-)! That's partly the same route as the Bernina Express. So you could get from Landquart to St. Moritz in an open carriage, and then continue your trip by getting to Tirano using the Bernina Express (or a regular regional train).

Thanks much for the response. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, we are just passing through, so do not have much flexibility, and sadly we will be doing this part of the trip on a Thursday, so we'll have to miss that. I think the easiest thing is probably just to do the regular Bernina Express, that seems like the least complicated method. I was hoping that there were open air carriages from Chur to Tirano, following the same route as the Bernina Express, but oh well...

Hi
The open ausicht wagons are listed in timetable 950
www.fahrpanfelder.ch
There is a a train out of Chur at 8:58 am arriving in Samedan where you change for a train at 10:49 am arriving in Pontresina at 10:55 am. Here you change for a train leaving at 11:04 am which as the auschitwagon attached on the rear.
In Poschivavo you will have to transfer to a regular coach on the same train to Tirano. This is the exact route of the Bernina Express.
Dick

Hi Dick,

Thanks very much for the detailed response. Now I understand. That sounds like quite the adventure, but I think more than we are up for, as we will be traveling with all of our stuff, and that is a lot of train changing! :-) Very much appreciate the assistance though. Think we'll stick with the regular old Bernina Express this time around, that seems like the most hassle-free option, but maybe in the future we'll do one of these more adventurous options, when we have more time. Thanks again!