Rush Hour Traffic in Switzerland (Zurich, Geneva)

DFG

Hello,

Maybe this doesn’t happen in Switzerland. I’ll ask anyway.

When is the rush hour traffic for Zurich, Geneva, for train and bus?

For trains, these are the hours where train arrival and departure typically extend/go beyond the published time.

For buses, these are the hours when bus arrival and departure typically extend/go beyond the published time. Also, when the bus halts or slows down along the roads, highways.

Thanks.

RedBaron

DFG
Speaking for Zurich area, rush hour is around 06:30 to 08:30 and 16:30 and 18:30,
however it hardly affects the departure times. If there’s a delay, it’s mostly maybe +1 to +3 minutes, sometimes around 5, rarely 10+ minutes. In Zurich city, it still can happen that tramways or buses are 1-2 minutes too early during rush hour!

Buses often have their dedicated lanes on the streets, and the drivers can directly prioritize traffic lights for them (same applies for tramways). This reduces the impact of traffic jams caused by private traffic.
Departures of S-Trains may be delayed 1-3 minutes because of the passenger masses, however such delays are often reduced or caught up when reaching the destination.

You’d rather notice that the trains, tramways and buses are quite full during those times.

Krist

You will notice that even during rush hour public transport is quite punctual. I used to commute for several years from a suburb of Bern to Basel, and that involved first a bus to the main station. The transfer time between the bus and the train was normally around 5 minutes, and in two years I only missed my connection once.

So you may have to adjust your assumptions, and throw overboard any expectations you have that are base on your experience with public transport in other countries.