Just wondering if anyone has information regarding the Swiss Train System vs. Eurail Train System. If I purchase a 3 Country Eurail Pass for Germany, Italy & Switzerland - am I able to travel all throughout Switzerland or would I need to purchase an additional pass for the Swiss Railways? It isn't very clear on their website! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

There is no Eurail train system. A Eurail pass is sold for travel on some combination of NATIONAL railway systems (German Railways, Swiss Railways, Italian Railways, for example.)

Any Eurail pass that names Switzerland is valid for travel on most railways within Switzerland. You would need to pay additionally only for private/specialty railways.

If you'd like help with pass/ticket selection you should share your itinerary - specific journeys (what city to what other city,) number of travelers, travel dates (if you have them.)

Eurail doesn't 'do' trains. They sell (generally expensive) rail passes.

Whether a Eurail Pass makes sense for you - you need to work out the cost difference between point-to-point tix and the Eurail Pass including the cost of seat reservations. (and don't use the inflated ticket prices Eurail uses for comparison)

A pass could pencil out -- it mostly depends on how many train trips you are taking.

To answer the original question, a Eurail pass covers Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and SOME private operators, including RhB who operate the Bernina Express and half the route of the Glacier Express, for example. It gives discounts but not free travel on others.

A Swiss Pass covers SBB and all the private operators covers by Eurail AND some more private operators, including MGB who operate the other half of the route of the Glacier Express.

So yes, a Swiss Pass covers a few more operators than a Eurail pass, but both cover the main SBB.

However, as others have said, outside Switzerland cheap advance-purchase fares bought direct from the operator (www.trenitalia.com for Italy, www.bahn.de/en for Germany) generally blow passes out of the water price-wise.

If you insist on spontaneity and flexibility, an on-the-day flull-flex fare may or may not be greater than the per-day cost of an unlimited travel pass, it depends on how much distance you clock up.

More about your original question: The Eurail company doesn't own or operate any trains. It is a company that contracts with 30 European train systems for the right to sell passes.

It is often confused with the similarly-named company Rail Europe, a company based in North America that is owned jointly by the Swiss and French national railways - their blurb says

"A Single Stop for European Rail Travel
We combine the maps, schedules and fares for over 50 different train companies across Europe, creating one stop to plan and book your European rail travel."

Their fares are frequently much higher than what you can get elsewhere, even on the individual websites of the French (www.sncf.com) and Swiss (www.sbb.ch) railways!

They have managed to come up first on search engines etc., so you might think that what comes up is what you should pay. I urge you to go to these alternative sites rather than booking from Rail Europe, at least until you're absolutely certain that you're getting the best fare from them.

Thank you!! Makes way more sense! As you can tell, I am not an expert in Europe or traveling outside the US! We decided to purchase the Eurail pass for Germany, Italy & Switzerland. Since we will be doing 3 countries, I priceds out each individual country and it made the most sense for us. We don't have an exact date yet, we are flying Space A - military - flights and do not have a departure date yet.

We will be flying into Germany, I believe Frankfurt is where they fly into and will be traveling in Germany for 3-5 days and heading into Switzerland. After reading the Eurail International Travel for Switzerland, it looks like they only have trains from Berlin or Hamburg. Does this mean we can only take a train from there or is that just their direct lines? We were thinking of traveling around the Frankfurt area and heading South to Switzerland, but don't want to have to travel all the way to Berlin to catch the train! There is so much information out there and it is hard to figure out what is what!

In Switzerland we are planning on traveling around for 2 or so weeks, into Zurich, Berner Oberland Area, and are possibly Fribourg before heading into Italy.

In Italy we will be traveling in the Northern part, Genoa - Cinque Terra, Tassorello, Florence or Venice if we have time!

Most Space A flights to Germany land at Ramstein AB, which is at Kaiserslautern, not Frankfurt. Rhein-Main AB, which shared the runway with Frankfurt Airport, closed years ago, and USAF transport operations moved to Ramstein AB.

After reading the Eurail International Travel for Switzerland, it looks like they only have trains from Berlin or Hamburg. Does this mean we can only take a train from there or is that just their direct lines?>

Read the above posts a bit better - Eurailpasses pass for free travel on nearly all German trains - any train you will come across- from the Frankfurt area you can go to Switzerland via Basel with connections all over Switzerland from there or Stuttgart to Zurich - so forget any "Eurail trains" which do not exist.

Again Eurail is a product of participating European Railways - headquartered last I knew in Utrecht - the railways in my understanding own it and split up the proceeds - passes are sold by the railways themselves or more thru agents like Rail Europe in the U.S. and APC Rail in Canada - travel agents work thru them mainly - prices are all the same for passes inside a country.

It again covers all trains in each country operated by the national rail system and many other ones - unless you are going to the Jungfrau Region - up in the hills - Zermatt or the Glacier Express your trains will be covered in full - if transiting Switzerland no problem going Germany to Italy- no extra fees on German or Swiss trains but in Italy a 10 euro seat reservation fee is mandatory before boarding - in Germany and Switzerland just hop on any train anytime with very few exceptions.

Off hand I'd say you would be better off with point to point tickets in German and Italy and a 15-consecutive-day Swiss Pass -perhaps as you are no doubt going to places where the Eurailpass is not fully valid or valid at all and Eurail costs a lot more per day than a Swiss Pass, which covers much more in Switzerland- giving 50% off aerial cable ways and trains to mountain tops where Eurail gives 25% at most and usually nothing for those.

For lots on German, Italian and Swiss trains and passes check www.seat61.com- Man in Seat 61's (who posts above) commercial site; www.budgeteuropetravel.com (I've bought various passes for years there from Byron who if you want to talk to an expert will IME answer any train/pass question even if not buying); www.ricksteves.com and for Swiss trains - www.swisstravelsystem.com.

<i>katieb2europe on Sep 9, 16 at 12:27pm
As you can tell, I am not an expert in Europe or traveling outside the US!</i>

For an illustrated introduction to trains in Europe see http://www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail.htm. That will help move you up the learning curve in a hurry.

A hearty ditto to comments by
<i>PalenQ on Sep 9, 16 at 4:40pm
www.budgeteuropetravel.com (I've bought various passes for years there from Byron who if you want to talk to an expert will IME answer any train/pass question even if not buying)</i>
Byron is a champion of train travel in Europe.

You "decided to purchase the Eurail pass" but from your other comments and questions it appears that you have not done so yet. When you receive your pass the envelope will also include a handy map of the major lines, a schedule of the major lines, and instructions on the use of your pass. The EurailPass is a beautiful thing but do not misuse it. If you are unclear of anything ask before you get on a train. The instruction booklet will give you all the details on what is covered and by how much.

Be prepared for customs and passport control going into Switzerland.