New Voralpen-Express trains from December 2019

  • Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    18 October 2019 at 6:04:02 #824245

    Hello travelers,

    The Voralpen-Express is a train that connects St. Gallen to Lucerne; a pre-alpine route without high peaks, but beautiful scenery with mostly rolling hills. New more comfortable “Traverso” trains will start running on this route from 15 December 2019. From 2020/2021, they will also be used from Basel and Zurich to Locarno via the scenic Gotthard route, and from Bern to Chur. The trains have two catering zones and a family zone and a remarkable copper colored exterior. Note that there’s no guarantee that the new rolling stock will be used at any specific time. Older and newer trains may both be used for a while.

    For more details, photos and a video of the train, please see:

    Tip: if you arrive in Zurich and travel to Lucerne, an alternative for the direct route is taking a train to St. Gallen and switch to the Voralpen-Express there. This trip takes about 3.5 hours instead of 60-70 minutes.

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    Pickergal
    Participant
    88 posts
    18 October 2019 at 13:24:09 #923875

    Arno,

    Would the Voralpen-Express be free with the Swiss Travel Pass? It doesn’t look like there is a reservation fee. Is that correct? We are seriously considering taking this route to Lucerne once we arrive in Zurich.

    Thank you so much for the info.

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    18 October 2019 at 15:20:16 #923876

    Yes it’s covered by the STP: https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisstravelpass/ validity. No reservations required. It’s just really a commuter train. I saw one parked in a siding near Herisau two days ago. It looks the goods. They say it is copper coloured but I thought it looked gold. Whatever it is a big step up from its rather rather tired and daggy predecessors.

    ps Arno – I just got here too soon. Was really looking forward to a ride on the new train.

    Pickergal
    Participant
    88 posts
    18 October 2019 at 15:36:26 #923877

    Thank you Rockoyster.

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    18 October 2019 at 17:53:47 #923878

    Well Rockoyster, I’m sure you don’t need an excuse to go back to Switzerland, but now you have one 😉

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    18 October 2019 at 18:02:44 #923879
  • The thread ‘New Voralpen-Express trains from December 2019’ is closed to new replies.

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