Wekiva

I'm assisting my brother on a trip he's about to go on. He's got all of his train tickets except for one last connection. They're coming from Florence and going to the Lauterbrunnen valley on June 17. They've been able to get train tickets from Florence to Milan and are now trying to get from Milan to Brig Switzerland. Once they're in Brig they'll start using their Swiss Pass.

The problem is they still haven't released the tickets for the Milan to Brig leg. I've tried Trainitalia, sbb.ch and Rail Europe...and all say something related to tickets not selling yet. One of them simply says no tickets available while the others say something about being too early. Is there something unusual about that leg? He's been trying to get these tickets for 2 months, thinking they'd open up 90, 60 or 30 days prior. But we're w/in the 30 day window and still nothing. I told him worst case he'll take an Uber.

Is there something I'm missing? Any other ideas? He'll just keep checking but it seems unusual that they haven't opened up yet.

k_marie

Try TrainLine,

Melnq8

I just tried to make a dummy booking on SBB from Milan to Brig for a random date in June and had no problems. Gave me the option of a 40 chf fare or a 28 chf fare and even let me make a seat reservation.

Wekiva

Did you try June 17? Days before and after it have been open but not that date. SBB has told him that they're releasing those tickets in the future. It just seems strange that we're now less than 30 days out and it's still not available. As I'm checking now I think the issue is it's a Saturday, and other Saturdays in June give the same error message. I think they're holding on releasing the weekend dates possibly?

bilboburgler

clear cookies?

J62

I also tried.

i see these am trains
7:20 direction Basel
8:20 direction Geneva
11:20 direction Frankfurt


SBB
Milan to Brig, June 17th. Cannot buy any tickets.
Also tried the 7:20 to Basel and 8:20 to Geneva. Cannot buy any tickets.

Trenitalia
Milan to Brig, June 17th on trenitalia.com. Cannot buy any tickets

Bahn.de
11:20 (that stops in Brig).... I can buy tickets...

so seems to me like a system error...

Wekiva

Thanks…will tell him to try Bahn.

Melnq8

I just tried SBB for June 17 - got as far as the second page and then the notice "The requested seat category is no longer available" - I get this notice for both first and second class.

Maybe send an email to SBB? The times I've contacted them I've always gotten a response within a few days. Maybe they can tell you what's going on.

And FWIW, we don't usually book tickets in Switzerland, unless we're able to get a Super Saver Fare or Saver Fare, which is a non-refundable discounted fare offered weeks in advance. Otherwise, we just get tickets on our day of travel via the SBB app.

Having said that, I've never taken a train from Milan to Brig, so that might be a moot point.

Falcio

June 17 is after June 11 and June 11 is the deadline for all European railway companies to upload their summer schedules.
This will be a season of construction works on all the railway lines involved in Milan's 2026 Winter Olympic games. I'm not surprised the new schedules for some trains running towards Switzerland and the mountains haven't been uploaded, yet.

Nobody else can get those tickets, it's not that the train you want is secretly selling out. Just wait for June 11 and see what happens.

Christina

I have no trouble booking that ticket on Trenitalia, I just tried a few minute ago, there were several options all day long, every 2 or 3 hrs. This was for 6/17/23. Cost is around 24 euro as I recall.

The search resolved to lefrecce.it which is the type of high speed train it is, I guess, but is owned by Trenitalia. You can search that website directly if you want, also, to start with but weirdly it resolves back to trenitalia and then lefrecce again.

www.lefrecce.it

The only issue is you cannot book a direct train that day or Thursday, I think. But you can book a direct train Friday. But you can book it, just you have to change at the second to last station to Brig (Domodossola), so it takes about 3 hrs instead of 2 direct.

neckervd

In fact, it's actually impossible to buy tickets for international trains lalong the Simplon line (not only for Saturdays in June). But the trains will run nevertheless and are seldom full.
But don't worry, You can even buy your ticket at the last possible moment at a ticket machine.
But don't pay up to Brig, if you have a Swiss Travel Pass. The latter is valid from Domodossola onwards.
In Eurocity trains, seat reservation is compulsory up to Domodossola only.

Wekiva

Yep, after more research that's what he ended up doing. It's strange how some in this thread could buy to Brig. I checked all of those and on my end it would only allow you to get part way through the purchase process before getting to a dead end. But we're good now. Thanks for the help/input everyone.

Melnq8

It's strange how some in this thread could buy to Brig.

Maybe because we were making dummy bookings and didn't get far enough into the purchase process.

Regardless, I'm glad it worked out.

Splitter13

Hi there - I am facing this same issue above where I need to travel from Milan to Spiez and the direct train does not have tickets available for Saturday 26 Aug. I have been waiting for them to be released but all sites are noting that tickets have not yet been released. Does anyone have any tips on how to get around this? Thanks for your help

Jean

Available on Trenitalia...

https://www.lefrecce.it/Channels.Web...trenitalia.com

Splitter13

Hi Jean - thank you but I can see none of these available options are direct. I can see there is normally at least a few direct trains per day (tomorrow for instance but this is not available on 26 Aug). The options available have multiple changes and are quoted to take 5-6 hours as opposed to the normal/direct 2-3 hours.

neckervd

The railway line Milan - Domodossola is closed for works between Sesto Calende and Arona until Sept 10th.
The direct railway line Milan - Lucerne/Zurich is closed until the end of the year because of a accident in the Gotthard tunnel.
Remainig solutions:
Milan - Domodossola by EC bus instead of EC train (takes 2 3/4 hrs);
train to Sesto Calende -.bus to Arona - train to Domodossola (takes 2 hrs 50 min)
train via Novara (change) to Domodossola(takes 3 hrs 20 min)
any bus from Milan to MXP plus Comazzi bus (must be booked ahead) to Domodossola.
Domodossola - Spiez takes 1 1/2 - 2 hrs.
You may also reach Locarno by direct TILO train (takes 1 hr 50 min) and then change to a Domodossola bound Centovallina train (1 hr 45 min). This solution is covered by Swiss Travel Pass between Chiasso and Domodossola - Brig.
Milan - Spiez via old Gotthard tunnel - Lucerne or Zurich takes 6 hrs, covered by Swiss Travel Pass from Chiasso

Melnq8

I just checked SBB (Swiss rail) for your route (which goes via Domodossola) and found this note, which might be a contributing factor:

Interrupted service Milano Centrale - Domodossola (I)

Interrupted rail services between Milano Centrale and Domodossola (I).
This is due to engineering work.

The restriction lasts from 21.08.23, 00:00 until 10.09.23, 23:59.

Passengers travelling between Milano Centrale and Domodossola (I) please use the replacement buses.
It is not possible to transport bicycles on the replacement buses.

The online timetable has been changed.

I do see tickets available for the above route, switching to the bus on August 26.

The shortest travel time is 4:10 and involves one change (from train to bus).

Melnq8

Oops, posting same time as neckervd.

Splitter13

Thank you both so much for your help! This is all really helpful. It looks like the best option will be the bus to Domodossola and then train to Spiez (as I don’t have Swiss Travel Pass, but do have Half Fare Card). Appreciate your assistance.