Time enough to transfer

Miedoabo70

We will be travelling on December 27th from Zurich HB to zermatt (one transfer in Visp). When booking a through ticket to our destination our transfer time from arrival to next departure is 7 minutes. Which is exactly the time the site says it will take from one platform to the next. Do I need to worry about a slight delay meaning we won’t make our 2nd train? We are planning to buy a supersaver ticket but that only applies to the exact trains. I don’t want to have to repurchase another ticket from Visp to Zermatt the day of especially since I am worried about holiday travel and availability on that final leg.

TatianaR

Hello Miedoabo70

Thank you for your question.

Yes, the connection is considered an official transfer connection. Visp station is not huge and seven minutes is plenty of time.

If your connection from Zurich HB to Visp is delayed and you miss your connection, you can use your ticket for the next one. In such a situation, it is best to ask the personnnel on the train or at the station for confirmation so that you can still use the ticket

You can find more information about saver tickets here.

Have a nice day.
Best regards, TatianaR

Krist

You should never have to pay extra because the railways messed up. If you miss a connection due to a delay you can take the next train. That is pretty much how it works all over the world I assume.

But for this trip the cheapest ticket is probably going to be a Saver Day Pass, and that is not bound to a train. So you have even less reason to worry, as that is fully flexible.

Miedoabo70

Should I be concerned that we won’t be able to get on a train at VISP if we choose a Saver Day Pass because of a full train? I am assuming there should be a big influx that day for the holiday week.

Krist

That a train is so full that nobody can board, is really something that does not happen a lot. When it does, it would probably get the evening news…

And if a train is so full that nobody can board anymore the kind of ticket you have will not matter. All holders of tickets and passes valid for a train have exactly the same rights.
(If you thought that a ticket came with a guaranteed place on a train, then you are mistaken. That is not how trains work.)

But SBB runs engought trains, and runs rather long trains, so it is rare that not everybody has a seat. And even if there isn’t a seat for everybody you can still board, as it is permitted to travel standing as well.

If you want a guaranteed seat on a particular train you need a reservation. Reservations are separate. Few people bother with reservations here though, but if you want one you can get that on www.sbb.ch. However only for the Zurich - Visp part. On Visp - Zermatt you cannot reserve seats.