Bernina Express Info
 

When planning my trip to Switzerland I found various bits and pieces about the Bernina Express (BE), the route from Chur to Tirano. While this info was most helpful, I thought I would share what I learned on our journey in the beginning of October.

The BE and the regular trains run on the same tracks with the BE cars. The BE cars have windows that extend toward the roof. Price-wise the BE has a supplement to the regular fare for this route. The BE makes fewer stops, but does stop at several stations.

From Chur to Pontresina we went on a regular train. There were various types of second class cars: the newest had seats arranged 4 by 4 on either side of the aisle and directly across from each other. There are large windows, some of which can be lowered. There were other second class cars that appeared much older with seats not as cushioned and smaller windows. Some cars had all the windows opened. The third type of second class cars had very old seats and windows that only opened at the very top. The train was more crowded in the nicer seats.

From Pontresina to Tirano we were on a regular second class car attached to 5 BE cars. We did not pay any supplement. The car we traveled in had the newer type seats and large windows offering excellent views. There
was a fair amount of narrative as the train traveled along it's journey. Our train left Pontresina at 9:52 with a scheduled arrival in Tirano at 12:02. It made 5 stops along the way to let passengers on and off. In contrast on other days we took the regular train round trip from Pontresina to Alp Grum ( along the way to Tirano) and while there was some narrative it did not provide as much info as the BE train we took to Tirano. Seats on the right side of the train provide the best views. Of course most important is to go on a clear day. Lots of fog at the higher altitudes can obscure your view.

I had read about "open air" cars, but I never saw any on the train we took or the ones we passed.

Are you saying that being in one of those 2nd class cars is just as good as being in one of the First Panorama coaches or not? That's really what everybody around here CONTINUOUSLY debates over, and over, and over.

Frankly, your opinion on that is as important as anybody else's.

marking

I guess I got my answer.

I thought the open roof car is only a summer thing. October can be already too cold for that.

People interested in open air cars can just have a look at the timetable:
http://www.fahrplanentwurf.ch/filead...f/2015/950.pdf
Trains with open air cars (July/August only):
Pontresina dp 11.04, 15.04 and 17.04

The seat configuration in the 1st BEX car looked nicer (I didn't go into it.). Since none of the cars in the BEX or the ones I was in were anywhere near full I don't think the extra space in first is worth it. If you are a fanatic about having your own space then you might prefer first class seats. I imagine in July and August it gets crowded, but not the case with any of the trains I saw. For me the extra expense for both the BEx and first would not be worth it. Our seats were quite comfortable and there was one other person in our car. Views were great when there wasn't cloud cover. Our ticket from Pontresina to Tirano was ~ 17 CHD. To pay the supplement for BEx was 14 CHD and I don't know the upgrade cost to first. Could not see paying that difference. I don't think the view could be twice as good.

These trains operate entirely within the Swiss Canton of Graubunden (known in some older guidebooks as The Grissons) and are operated by the Rhaetian Railway, which is actually a separate company from the main SwissRail system. Therein lies a bit of why sometimes info is hard to come by, but all SwissRail passes work throughout the system. I would agree that the conductor ticket checks on these lines were less frequent and less fussy than on other Swiss trains, so for a lot of passengers a seat is a seat, but perhaps this would be a different story if it is a busier time of year and the trains were closer to capacity.

We took a train a few hyears ago and did not have the BE special car option - it was still marvelous!! A side trip down the Inn valley to Scuol is recommended, if one's time allows. Regardless, travel in this region is highly recommended.

On the trip from Chur to Pontresina, conductors checking tickets were visible. On the portion from Pontresina to Tirano today, not one conductor came through our car. I did see a conductor going thru the BEX cars. We took the train twice from Pontresina to Alp Zug over the weekend and saw conductors regularly. In Pontresina the trains were referred to as the Little red trains."