Hi abdul qadir
I’ve travelled on both the Glacier Express and ordinary trains over the route, in June 2012 and May-June 2018. For me there’s no contest – ordinary trains every time! These were my experiences.
Advantages of the Glacier Express (maybe):
Better suited to groups of tourists
A guide on board
A running commentary via cheap headphones (though many of those seemed not to be working)
Coffee served to your seat (and very expensive meals should you wish)
Very large windows
You don’t have to change trains at Andermatt (and possibly Disentis / Muster)
Advantages of ordinary trains:
Likely to be far less crowded – more chance of stretching your legs and swapping seats for changing vistas
Likely to be far quieter
You’ll be more likely to share your carriage with Swiss people going about their ordinary business
Though the train will stop at a few more wayside stations, this will be part of the fun, there’ll be a greater geographical and local awareness, and in any case the journey from Zermatt to Chur will not take much longer than the specified ‘Express’ for the reasons given by 1960man
Breath of Swiss mountain air, stretch of legs, refreshments, etc, at Andermatt
Ordinary carriages are less stuffy – I’ve found the Express carriages, though apparently air conditioned, can be like greenhouses with the extra glass and get very warm
Some of the ordinary trains still have pull-down windows for fantastic fresh air and photographs. The windows are large in any case, but do not extend to the roof. Some end carriages still have a small window view overlooking the track to the rear
No surcharge!!
A further recommendation, if time allows and you are on some kind of pass, is to stop off at Andermatt and take the return trip – 15 minutes each way – down a precipice of a railway branch line to Goeschenen, on the old Gotthard Pass route. An hour is plenty, and will see you onto your next train. The drop of about 350 metres in 5 or 6 kilometers is spectacular, and I think ranks with the Glacier Express itself for thrills. Rail and road twist in and out of the gorge and intertwine with the old road and packhorse bridge. Well worth a detour if you can. Photos of the Gorge and Andermatt junction station attached. If you look at the top of the Andermatt picture, you may be able to trace the telegraph poles that show the course of the main route as it snakes down to Andermatt