Discounted rail passes in Switzerland for disabled

Hello, does anyone know if there is a discount on rail passes in Switzerland for those that are disabled? I'm legally blind and thus disabled and will be accompanied by a seeing "eye" companion.

<<"Hello, does anyone know if there is a discount on rail passes in

Switzerland for those that are disabled? I'm legally blind and thus

disabled and will be accompanied by a seeing "eye" companion.">>

I recall that a blind person could ( a few years ago) travel for free or at a substantial discount, as long as they had a traveling companion. I got elected to be a traveling companion one time, when a blind person sat beside me and asked if I would mind being his companion for ticketing purposes.

Perhaps Arno and Annika can pin point a link.

Try this, at least for a start -

www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/passengers-with-a-handicap/blind-and-sight-impaired.html

Slowpoke

Slowpoke, thanks for the information. I'm just trying to figure out if that also applies to myself as a US citizen visiting and what I need to bring with me for proof. Maybe Arno or Annika can assist.

Arno & Annika,

It would be great if you could provide some insight on this. According to "special conditions of international carriage " (SCIC), as well as numerous sites including the SBB travel for those disabled and blind and their guide or companion should be mostly free. There is also mention of a disabled passengers ID card. I'm not sure what exactly this is, but most definitely would be interested in finding out what I need to do to handle that. Thanks, Joe

Hi Joe -

this link for contact may help. There is a contact e-mail address for travelling with a handicap partway down the list.

www.sbb.ch/en/meta/con tact.html

When I have contacted them on other issues, I've always gotten one of those automated "We'll get back to you real soon" kind of messages. Then , they have done so, usually within 24 hours.

Slowpoke

Hi Joe,

The tourist passes such as the Swiss Travel Pass are unfortunately not discounted for disabled passengers. There are options to have a companion to travel along for free, but as far as I know that's for Swiss residents only, because the required ID can only be issued by local authorities. Please see www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/passengers-with-a-handicap/travel-discount/id-card.html for details. Various kinds of assistance is offered to blind travelers for free, like help boarding trains. You'll find details through the link provided by Slowpoke.