TGV Seat Reservation

JohnA

Book two FC tickets today on SBB for a TGV train Basel to Zurich on 13 October 2024 in the morning. Do not see any links to make seat reservations. Here are my questions:
Can I do it online and if so how?
Do I need to call to make the reservations?
Or, do I need to do it at the station in Basel?
Thanks!
John A

Danhiel

Hello JohnA

I think that we have a bug on sbb.ch. In the mobile app, reservations for the TGV between Basel and Zürich are not mandatory. On sbb.ch, we have two conflicting messages:

For the following sections seat reservation is required Basel SBB - Zürich HB.

For the following sections, which require reservations, there are unfortunately no seats available: Basel SBB - Zürich HB. Please choose an alternative connection.

If reservations were mandatory and if it were not possible to buy them, the train should no more be displayed in the timetable.

Kind Regards
Danhiel

Danhiel

Krist

It is a good idea to buy tickets in advance to obtain Supersaver Tickets or other discounts. With such tickets, you cannot take every train, but only the train mentioned on the ticket.

JohnA

I have the conformation that seats reservations are not mandatory and not possible on the TGV between Basel and Zürich. If you find another information, it is a bug which will be corrected.

Krist

TGV tickets come with a seat reservation automatically. So your ticket should somewhere mention which seats you have.

JohnA

Krist Looked and looked and looked again. No seat assignments on either the paper ticket or that in my apple wallet.
Thanks for your help!
John

Danhiel

JohnA You can find a seat assignment only on international TGV tickets, for example Paris - Zürich. Between Basel and Zürich, it is a Swiss ticket and you must always buy reservations separately in Switzerland. As indicated in my previous post, I don’t think that the reservation is mandatory.

Krist

I now see that you are going from Basel to Zurich. Between those cities the TGV operates as a normal train. So you got a normal, domestic Swiss ticket that is valid on all trains from Basel to Zurich, and no seat reservations. And you do not need reservations. Between Basel and Zurich normal Swiss rules apply.

Note also that buying a ticket for a trivial domestic trip in Switzerland several months in advance is not necessary. This is mass transit. That train is used by commuters every day, most of whom travel on a pass, and decide which train they take at the last moment.