Idnas71

Hello to all. I've been busy exploring all kinds of options for spending three days in Switzerland. I think I want to visit Stein-am-Rhein and Schaffhausen on kind of a crazy train route from Innsbruck to Lucerne. Some of the connections are just a matter of minutes and I wonder if this is something to worry about. Example: Innsbruck to Buchs arriving at 10:58. Buchs to Rorschach departs at 11:01 and arrives at 11:38. Rorschach to Romanshorn departs at 11:41 and arrives at 11:59. Romanshorn to Stein-am-Rhein departs at 12:02. See what I mean?

Also... I was wondering if there is luggage storage at Stein-am-Rhein and Schaffhausen?

Thanks so much for your time.

Grasshopper

Trains in Switzerland are famous for being exactly on time. The problem is if you have to run down the stairs and to another track and then up again. I've missed trains for this reason. How big is Buchs? If it's a one platform station, you will be fine.

TopMan

I think Swiss Federal Railways will tell you that anything greater than 4 minutes is doable but as Grasshopper has indicated, it is often a matter of getting onto the correct platform. When you are dragging luggage that makes it eve harder.

Buchs, as I recall, is not one of these big stations with LOTS of platforms but there may be at least three or four.

Have you looked up your itinerary using an on-line timetable and do you know that the options are, IN ADVANCE, in case you do miss a connection?

My experience has been that there may be another connection within the hour (one reason I always carry a Cook timetable)...so I would be prepared to possibly miss but if you do it probably won;t be because the train was late.

Good luck.

Patrick

This isn't a very exact answer, but I hope a helpful one. I've done a LOT of railpass travel in Switzerland. I've had a LOT of those 2 or 3 minute connections, and always figure if I miss one, I'll have to just take the next one. But so far, I never have missed. Usually, those connection times are set up to actually make connections. And often they are set up so that you literally get off on the platform and get on at the other side. I have often seen them hold trains just for a minute or so, making sure that everyone has made those tight connections. It's always worked for me!

I know there used to be storage at Stein am Rhein, because we left our luggage there overnight in lockers when we turned our car in at Konstanz and spent just one night at a hotel in Stein-am-Rhein, taking the train the next morning, but I'm not sure if they are still there since the days of 9/11 and the terrorism threats.

FlyFish

As others have indicated, the only question is the size of the station and how many platforms you may need to cross - the trains will be exactly on time. I've made 3-minute connections several times, and my record is a 1-minute connection at Zweileutschienen in the Berner Oberland (but there's only a single platform there).

111op

I agree with all of the above. It doesn't sound as bad as it looks, and print out train schedules in advance so that you'll know what to do if you miss the connections.

Furthermore, on the bright side, sometimes the connecting train waits for you. It must depend on which train you're connecting from, no doubt. For example, if you're going to C from A and connecting in B, there may be many people who need to connect in B to go to C. If that's the case, the connecting train will wait (I think).

Idnas71

Thanks, everyone, for your advice and opinions. The only rail resource I've used so far is the www.rail.ch website and I just put in Innsbruck to Stein-am-Rhein to see what would come up. There were many more options than the one I listed. I would like to see a more overall schedule of the whole region.

I have not even found these in-between towns on a map yet so I'm pretty clueless at this point on how many platforms there may or may not be.

One thing for sure, I am traveling as light as possible. One rolling carry-on suitcase and a backpack. My friend will do the same, but she is a little on the elderly side and I'd hate to have her sprinting up and down stairs to catch a train. If I can be assured of another one coming through in a short time, that would be fine.

Do you have to validate your train ticket at each station when there are multiple connections, or will all the connections be listed on my ticket and I'd just have to validate at the first leg of the journey, say, Innsbruck?

rach

Idnas:
You do know that you can find the actual train platform assignment online, well in advance, right?
Innsbruck to Buchs arrives on track 4.
Buchs to Rorschach departs from track 5 and arrives in Rorschach on track 5 as well.
Rorschach to Romanshorn leaves from track 4 and arrives in Romanshorn on track 5.
Romanshorn to Stein departs from track 4 and arrives on track 2.
As long as you are swift, not lugging unwieldy baggage and not shy about using your elbows, you can probably make all the connections. Get near the exit when the train is due to pull in and head in the right direction without pause. I have travelled to Germany, Austria and Switzerland 7 times using the rail, and Sw. is the most efficient.
Even if there is a cow blocking the road or some other obscure reason for a train delay beyond your control, the conductor phones ahead, and tight connections will often wait a few minutes for all the passengeres who may be in the same boat!

rach

Looks like we were both posting at the same time!
In regards to your ticket, if you purchase Innsbruck to Stein, you do NOT have to validate at every point. A conductor MAY be around to check on some legs, other sections rely on the honor system (ie: you have a paid ticket in hand). As you can see from my previous post, the furthest platform change you would likely have to make is ONE, but that may involve steps and a short run through the underground passage to the next track. Usually 1/2, 3/4, 5/6 can be reached from the same platform.....Happy travels!

amymarie75

In Switzerland, it is not 100% crazy to expect to make such a short connection. However, in order to do so, you must be Swiss or at least well prepared. Trains come through on the same platform every day and it would be optimal if you were able to find out beforehand the platforms on which you will be arriving and departing. You can get very acurate information at the ticket counter in Switzerland for trains arriving in and departing from Swiss cities. I know that you are coming from Innsbruck so you might have to rely on information provided by the conductor instead.

A word of caution...the railsystem in one country does not necessarily have 100% up to date information regarding the train schedule for another country. The last time I was travelling to Munich from Zurich I missed what seemed on paper to be a 15 minute connection. As it turned out, the Swiss had out of date information - though having lived for 2 years in Switzerland, I would guess that the Swiss would somehow blame this error on the Germans

I can't say anything for sure about the locker situation at the locations you mentioned but can say that there are usually lockers at most midsized stations.

Depending on the type of ticket you have, most do not require multiple validation.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your trip.

Robespierre

By the way (I trust this isn't too obvious), just because two platform numbers are consecutive doesn't mean they're adjacent. The usual arrangement puts track 1 next to the terminal, 2-3 at the first &quot;island&quot;, 4-5 at the next <i>et cetera</i>. But (and this is a big but if you've got 3-minute connections) some cities aren't that way at all (Lausanne comes to mind immediately).

Having said all that, it has been my experience in 40 years of travel to Europe on probably 200 trips that if SBB says there's a connection, you can take it as gospel.

hopscotch

My experience is the same as Robespierre. Tracks are arranged as 1, 2 and 3 from the same platform, 4 and 5, etc. You get off one train and walk 20 steps across the platform to your next train. Ask the conductor on your arriving train. They are always extremely helpful about connections and have the latest information. Do be at the door when the train arrives and get off before new passengers start to board.

I think that Luasanne is in French speaking Suisse so they may do it differently there.

sundown

If you happen to carry a PDA, SBB has an absolutely awesome downloadable timetable available on their website at www.rail.ch (do a search on your trip and on the results page will be a link called &quot;Mobile Tools&quot; or something like that). You pick your routes and download whatever you wish (I guess a complete timetable would eat up too much room on your handheld.) I found it easier to use than a printed timetable. It includes track numbers, which would be extremely useful in this case.

Also, in case you're not familiar with the Swiss train system, you won't be stranded all day waiting for the next train even if you do miss your connection. Your wait should not exceed an hour and might well be less than that.

PalQ

Put angst to rest, though i've been on plenty of Swiss trains lately that were late, these type of connections of often held up unless the train hits a cow, as in the above posting scenario, and will be a few minutes late. If later well you just take the next train, and they run hourly Buchs-Rorscach, so you won't be too inconvenienced.Trains probably run twice an hourly on your other Swiss
cnnections. At Buchs, a small station, no doubt you just go from one platform to the other waiting train.

Idnas71

I sure appreciate all the helpful advice here. I don't have a PDA, but if I did I would definitely take advantage of the downloadable timetable. It looks like if I were to miss one segment that there will be other options, so I'm not going to worry about that anymore.

I'm still uncertain about including Innsbruck in my itinerary for an overnight, although I'm leaning heavily towards it. I did finally make a decision to stay my final two nights in Lucerne, so that is somewhat of a relief.

I'm sure I'll have more questions for you guys about Switzerland so consider this a forewarning. I've already posted various questions about Venice, Milan, bobsledding, etc. Thanks so much!

PalQ

Message: Put angst to rest, though i've been on plenty of Swiss trains lately that were late, these type of connections of often held up unless the train hits a cow, as in the above posting scenario, and will be a few minutes late. If later well you just take the next train, and they run hourly Buchs-Rorscach, so you won't be too inconvenienced.Trains probably run twice an hourly on your other Swiss
cnnections. At Buchs, a small station, no doubt you just go from one platform to the other waiting train.

suze

If there's a place in the world to attempt a 3-minute transfer... it's Switzerland! As already suggested, ask the conductor to help you know what to do, show him your ticket, whatever. I think that is better than trying to figure it out for yourself even if you have the schedules, know the platform numbers, etc.

FlyFish

This may be a good place to relate my absolute favorite Swiss rail story, which I'll try to keep brief.

We were going skiing in Grindelwald and took an IC train from the Zurich airport to Interlaken Ost, then the BOB up to Grindelwald. After getting to the hotel, one of our group realized that he'd left his small daypack, with passport, cash, and may other valuable things on the IC train (yeah, I don't know how that's possible either, but he did), which of course was who-knows-where by then.

He was devastated, but I told him to have faith. We went down to the police station, filled out a report with details on train numbers, etc. The daypack was waiting for him, absolutely intact, at the Grindelwald station by breakfast time the next morning. You just gotta love a country where something like that can happen.

111op

My Swiss rail story isn't quite as dramatic, but they allowed me to buy a pass and get the discounts retrospectively (so they issued a refund between the train tickets I had bought and used and the amount for the pass).

Something like that, anyway. I was amazed.

PalQ

As for luggage lockers - i've rarely seen a Swiss station without them; almost assuredly the towns you talk about have them. I was in Suisse a few weeks ago and lockers in all stations were plentiful and in operation, unlike some countries where they have been shuttered because of terrorism fears.