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Another Swiss here. Brutally expensive? Sure, when you look at full fare tickets. Since every Swiss, who uses public transport owns a half fare card those pric

Another Swiss here. Brutally expensive? Sure, when you look at full fare tickets. Since every Swiss, who uses public transport owns a half fare card those prices are (mostly) halfed, though. When it comes to commuter travel prices become outright reasonable. The best deal, if you use the train for a regular commute intercity is the Generalabonnement[0]. ca. $4000 (6500 for first class) for a year of unrestricted travel throughout the (almost) whole country on any train is actually a steal. There are also special saver tickets, restricted to a specific train and usually booked well in advance, which can be outright cheap. [0] https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/ga/ga-travelcard-prices.html https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/ga/...

tauchunfall 4y ago
German here, who traveled a lot through Switzerland. I find it even more amazing that there are more people who have a Generalabonnement than a Bahncard 100 (the German equivalent which is a bit cheaper). [1] Commuting between Fribourg and Zurich was always great, even when there were only circa five minutes to change trains in Bern. It's so efficient, I always catched my train in Bern. [1] >2019: 500'000 Exemplare des GA sind seit dieser Woche im Umlauf. Dies entspricht im Vergleich zu vor 20 Jahren einer Verzwanzigfachung. >Anzahl der Besitzer einer BahnCard 100 bis 2021. Die BahnCard 100 der Deutschen Bahn wurde lange Zeit immer beliebter, im Jahr 2021 gab es rund 36.000 Besitzer.
- phaer 4y ago
  > I find it even more amazing that there are more people who have a Generalabonnement than a Bahncard 100 (the German equivalent which is a bit cheaper). [1] To contextualize this a bit: Switzerland has about a tenth of the German population (~8.5M vs ~83M)
- ls15 4y ago
  > I find it even more amazing that there are more people who have a Generalabonnement than a Bahncard 100 (the German equivalent which is a bit cheaper). GA costs about 50% of a typical monthly Swiss salary. BC100 costs about 100% of a typical monthly German salary.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - xenonite 4y ago
    Germany has a 8.7 times larger area, and a 7.4 times longer rail network though.
    - jlelse 4y ago
      Yes, but in Germany you probably don't travel 8 times as much.
pera 4y ago
Is there any alternative to this? Because that's about 4 times the price of the normal monthly local bus pass in the US and the UK. Most people don't need to travel around the country, they just need to commute to their jobs.
- CaptainZapp 4y ago
  Yes, there are. Mostly, but not necessarily, within regional transportation networks. As a for example: I pay roughly $1200 for one year of travel within the city of Zurich and the adjacent zone including the airport. This includes any mode of transportation, except taxis. A Generalabonnement makes more sense, though, commuting from, say, Zurich to Basel, which is not uncommon. Edited to add: Regional commuter passes also allow for use of intercity trains, provided that they stop within your zone of validity.
  - pera 4y ago
    ah cool that sounds very reasonable then
  - snovv_crash 4y ago
    If you just want Zürich city it is less, about $850/year
    - CaptainZapp 4y ago
      That sounds about right.
- soco 4y ago
  Apparently half a million Swiss did the math and decided 4 times that local bus pass price is worth their money. It's not like you have to get a GA. I don't and I'm happy with the half-fare abo, my daughter has a local pass and a half-fare abo (which doesn't help to the local pass reductions), but if you go in the mountains or skiing enough weekends (and many do) you will save lots with the GA - as the mountains are often not in your local bus network.
- 4y ago
Stevvo 4y ago
However you look at, it's brutality expensive. It's nearly always cheaper to drive.
- Youden 4y ago
  That depends on a lot of factors. If you live in or around Zürich for example, the median price just to rent a parking space is CHF 200/month, or CHF 2400/yr. For comparison, an adult GA is CHF 3860/yr, so paying for a parking space in Zürich alone puts you 2/3rd of the way to the cost of public transportation, even disregarding costs like insurance, the car itself, registration, vignette, fuel, vehicle maintenance, tyres and parking costs away from home.
  - chinathrow 4y ago
    Where did you get the price figure for a parking space in Zürich? It's CHF 300 per year in a blue zone where you have to find a spot whenever you feel like parking your car.
    - Youden 4y ago
      That number was from Immoscout24 listings of parking spaces for rent [0]. If you have vacant spaces in blue zones near you, that's a viable option. There are plenty of places where that's not the case though. [0]: https://www.immoscout24.ch/de/parkplatz/mieten/ort-zuerich https://www.immoscout24.ch/de/parkplatz/mieten/ort-zuerich
    - throwaway2412 4y ago
      I pay 250 / month for a parking space in an underground garage. That's close to the upper limit from what I've seen. Usually, the prices start around 100-150 for a dedicated parking spot outside.
- CaptainZapp 4y ago
  Maintaing a car (bottom line) in Switzerland hits you with a minimum of 800 Franks a month, or almost 10'000 Franks a year. A first class Generalabonnement is virtually half the price of that. So, no. It's certainly not cheaper to drive.
kenneth 4y ago
Swiss expat living abroad. I'm in Switzerland just enough every year to feel the pain of the full fare tickets, and yet not enough to justify the cost of the half-fare card. I live in Asia, but I'm often flying in and out of Switzerland from short hops around Europe, and it's rather shocking and sad to pay far more for the train home from the Airport than my flight cost, almost every single time. Also then I do fly in long haul, I usually have the choice of a $100 train ride from Zürich or a far cheaper connecting flight to GVA followed by a $30 train. I would much rather take the train from ZRH but it's almost always cheaper to fly. Switzerland's public transit system is absolutely amazing and I use it anytime I'm in Switzerland — but we have to admit it's one of the most expensive in the world.
ggambetta 4y ago
> a year of unrestricted travel throughout the (almost) whole country on any train Any train, or boat, or tram, or bus,... :) Source: expat in Zürich and loving it!

tauchunfall 4y ago

German here, who traveled a lot through Switzerland. I find it even more amazing that there are more people who have a Generalabonnement than a Bahncard 100 (the German equivalent which is a bit cheaper). [1] Commuting between Fribourg and Zurich was always great, even when there were only circa five minutes to change trains in Bern. It's so efficient, I always catched my train in Bern. [1] >2019: 500'000 Exemplare des GA sind seit dieser Woche im Umlauf. Dies entspricht im Vergleich zu vor 20 Jahren einer Verzwanzigfachung. >Anzahl der Besitzer einer BahnCard 100 bis 2021. Die BahnCard 100 der Deutschen Bahn wurde lange Zeit immer beliebter, im Jahr 2021 gab es rund 36.000 Besitzer.

phaer 4y ago
> I find it even more amazing that there are more people who have a Generalabonnement than a Bahncard 100 (the German equivalent which is a bit cheaper). [1] To contextualize this a bit: Switzerland has about a tenth of the German population (~8.5M vs ~83M)
ls15 4y ago
> I find it even more amazing that there are more people who have a Generalabonnement than a Bahncard 100 (the German equivalent which is a bit cheaper). GA costs about 50% of a typical monthly Swiss salary. BC100 costs about 100% of a typical monthly German salary.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- xenonite 4y ago
  Germany has a 8.7 times larger area, and a 7.4 times longer rail network though.
  - jlelse 4y ago
    Yes, but in Germany you probably don't travel 8 times as much.

pera 4y ago

Is there any alternative to this? Because that's about 4 times the price of the normal monthly local bus pass in the US and the UK. Most people don't need to travel around the country, they just need to commute to their jobs.

CaptainZapp 4y ago
Yes, there are. Mostly, but not necessarily, within regional transportation networks. As a for example: I pay roughly $1200 for one year of travel within the city of Zurich and the adjacent zone including the airport. This includes any mode of transportation, except taxis. A Generalabonnement makes more sense, though, commuting from, say, Zurich to Basel, which is not uncommon. Edited to add: Regional commuter passes also allow for use of intercity trains, provided that they stop within your zone of validity.
- pera 4y ago
  ah cool that sounds very reasonable then
- snovv_crash 4y ago
  If you just want Zürich city it is less, about $850/year
  - CaptainZapp 4y ago
    That sounds about right.
soco 4y ago
Apparently half a million Swiss did the math and decided 4 times that local bus pass price is worth their money. It's not like you have to get a GA. I don't and I'm happy with the half-fare abo, my daughter has a local pass and a half-fare abo (which doesn't help to the local pass reductions), but if you go in the mountains or skiing enough weekends (and many do) you will save lots with the GA - as the mountains are often not in your local bus network.
4y ago

Stevvo 4y ago

However you look at, it's brutality expensive. It's nearly always cheaper to drive.

Youden 4y ago
That depends on a lot of factors. If you live in or around Zürich for example, the median price just to rent a parking space is CHF 200/month, or CHF 2400/yr. For comparison, an adult GA is CHF 3860/yr, so paying for a parking space in Zürich alone puts you 2/3rd of the way to the cost of public transportation, even disregarding costs like insurance, the car itself, registration, vignette, fuel, vehicle maintenance, tyres and parking costs away from home.
- chinathrow 4y ago
  Where did you get the price figure for a parking space in Zürich? It's CHF 300 per year in a blue zone where you have to find a spot whenever you feel like parking your car.
  - Youden 4y ago
    That number was from Immoscout24 listings of parking spaces for rent [0]. If you have vacant spaces in blue zones near you, that's a viable option. There are plenty of places where that's not the case though. [0]: https://www.immoscout24.ch/de/parkplatz/mieten/ort-zuerich https://www.immoscout24.ch/de/parkplatz/mieten/ort-zuerich
  - throwaway2412 4y ago
    I pay 250 / month for a parking space in an underground garage. That's close to the upper limit from what I've seen. Usually, the prices start around 100-150 for a dedicated parking spot outside.
CaptainZapp 4y ago
Maintaing a car (bottom line) in Switzerland hits you with a minimum of 800 Franks a month, or almost 10'000 Franks a year. A first class Generalabonnement is virtually half the price of that. So, no. It's certainly not cheaper to drive.

kenneth 4y ago

Swiss expat living abroad. I'm in Switzerland just enough every year to feel the pain of the full fare tickets, and yet not enough to justify the cost of the half-fare card. I live in Asia, but I'm often flying in and out of Switzerland from short hops around Europe, and it's rather shocking and sad to pay far more for the train home from the Airport than my flight cost, almost every single time. Also then I do fly in long haul, I usually have the choice of a $100 train ride from Zürich or a far cheaper connecting flight to GVA followed by a $30 train. I would much rather take the train from ZRH but it's almost always cheaper to fly. Switzerland's public transit system is absolutely amazing and I use it anytime I'm in Switzerland — but we have to admit it's one of the most expensive in the world.

ggambetta 4y ago

> a year of unrestricted travel throughout the (almost) whole country on any train Any train, or boat, or tram, or bus,... :) Source: expat in Zürich and loving it!