>> We are planning to take the train from Wengen to St Moritz on August 31. I have couple questions:
1. The timetable shows that there about 8 stops between Wengen and St Moritz. How do know which stop i need to transfer to a different train? For example, the first stop is Lauterbrunnen and second stop is Interlaken Ost. Do we have get off at Lauterbrunnen and board on a different train to Interlaken Ost? What would the indication of switch in the timeable?
Hi Katie, and welcome!
I think the part of the timetable you are referring to is where it shows you all the transfers involved in a journey, rather than just stops along the way.
When you do a search in the SBB online timetable, the first screen shows the first 4 options for the trip, with times of arrival and departure, trip duration and number of changes (transfers) on the way.
When you expand one of those options, you see any transfers that need to be made to complete the journey. This level of information also shows the platform numbers of arrival and departure of each service, together with the name and number of the train and the direction it is travelling in. I think this is the screen you have seen.
You could then expand it even further by clicking on "Show intermediate stops", which will show you all the stations you will travel through without transferring.
To illustrate, the attached screenshot (transfers. jpg), shows that if you took the 8:03 from Wengen, you would need to change trains at Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken Ost, Bern, Zürich HB and Chur. At each transfer point there is a line drawn across the table. Platform number and time of arrival are shown above the line, with details of the connecting service below the line. The "Show intermediate stops" link, which you can use to display the intermediate stops between transfer points, is outlined in red in the screenshot.
At the level of detail where all stops are dispayed, there is likewise a line drawn across the timetable at each transfer point, separating arrival information from departure information in relation to the transfer (see attached screenshot "stops. jpg").
>> 2. The timetable shows the rate of occupancy. some trains show "Very high occupancy expected". do I need make a reservation for those trains? if a connection train is full? what should i do so i won't miss the one after?
The only high-occupancy sector I saw in the timetable for the morning of 31 August was that between Bern and Zürich, departing Bern at 9:32. This sector would be part of a journey leaving Wengen at 7:33 in the morning.
High occupancy is typical of trains between Bern and Zürich in peak hour: most of these people will be commuters travelling to work. You could just avoid taking the 7:33 service from Wengen, or else make a reservation for the sector from Bern to Zürich.
What other locations are included in your itinerary? It might be possible to re-arrange your itinerary to make the trip to St Moritz shorter and/or more scenic.
Enjoy your trip!
Alpenrose
