🇨🇭 Country
Train routes in Switzerland
71 routes · high-speed 3 · classic 24 · night train 3 · scenic 24 · heritage 1 · mountain 15 · luxury 1
71 routes cross Switzerland in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express at 1,270 km; the fastest is the TGV Lyria, running up to 320 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1855. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
Open the world railway map →Part of the Europe train map: every route on the continent, one map.
High-speed (3)
- ICE
Crosses Germany from end to end, Berlin to the Swiss border, finishing down the Upper Rhine past Freiburg to Basel in about seven hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - TGV Lyria
A Lyria Euroduplex glides from Paris into Switzerland at Genève-Cornavin; the 2010 Haut-Bugey line trimmed the run to about three hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - TGV Lyria
Via the LGV Rhin-Rhône to the Swiss border at Basel, then along the Aare to Zürich. Paris to Switzerland’s largest city in almost exactly four hours.
Wikipedia ↗
Classic (24)
- Gotthard Express
Threads the 57.1 km Gotthard Base Tunnel: the longest and deepest railway tunnel on the planet.
- Gäubahn IC
The Gäubahn intercity: over the Rhine at Schaffhausen, past the Bodensee’s back country and down the Neckar cuttings into Stuttgart.
Wikipedia ↗ - RE7 Bern–Luzern
The Emmental cut-through: cheese country and covered bridges between the federal city and the lake at Lucerne, hourly.
Wikipedia (IT) ↗ - IC61 Basel–Interlaken
Basel to the Bernese Oberland in one seat: Olten, Bern, then the lakeside crawl past Thun and Spiez to Interlaken under the Eiger.
Wikipedia (DE) ↗ - IR 90 Geneva–Brig
The IR 90 follows the whole north shore of Lake Geneva, then turns up the Rhône between towering valley walls: Lavaux vineyards, the castles of Aigle and Sion, and the Simplon railhead at Brig.
Wikipedia (FR) ↗ - Ligne des Horlogers
The Watchmakers’ Line: out of Besançon and up the Doubs gorges to 1,000 m Jura plateaus, crossing into Switzerland at Le Locle for watch-capital La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Wikipedia (FR) ↗ - IC 1
Switzerland’s flagship express and spine of the clockface timetable: Zurich to Geneva across the Mittelland, Bern and Lausanne on the way, every half hour.
Wikipedia (DE) ↗ - IC 3
The approach every Glacier and Bernina rider actually takes: along Lake Zurich and the Walensee’s cliff wall to Chur, where the narrow gauge begins.
Wikipedia (DE) ↗ - Neuchâtel–Pontarlier railway
The Franco-Suisse line of 1860 through the Val-de-Travers, single track over the Jura from Pontarlier down to the Neuchâtel lakeshore.
Wikipedia ↗ - Seetalbahn
Opened in 1883 by British investors down the Seetal lakes to Lucerne — for a century a roadside light railway, and rebuilt on its own alignment in the 2000s.
Wikipedia ↗ - Thur Valley Line
Switzerland's fourth-oldest railway, opened on 16 May 1855 down the Thur valley to Romanshorn, where trains once met the Lake Constance ferries.
Wikipedia ↗ - Olten–Lucerne railway
Built by the Schweizerische Centralbahn and open to Lucerne since 1856 — double track, electrified, and still the fast way north to Olten and Basel.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bern–Neuchâtel railway
The Direkt Linie of 1901, driven almost dead straight across the Grand Marais — and still part of the shortest rail route from Bern to Paris.
Wikipedia ↗ - Burgdorf–Thun railway
Opened in 1899 as the first electrified main-line railway in Europe, running from Burgdorf over Konolfingen to Thun.
Wikipedia ↗ - Delémont–Delle railway
Opened in stages from 1872 through the Jura canton — Glovelier, Porrentruy, Boncourt — and over the French border to Delle.
Wikipedia ↗ - Fribourg–Ins railway
Single track built by the Fribourg–Morat–Anet company, running from Fribourg past Murten and its lake to Ins in the Seeland.
Wikipedia ↗ - Brig–Domodossola railway
The Swiss–Italian side of the Simplon: 41 km from Brig to Domodossola, almost half of it inside the 19.8 km Simplon Tunnel of 1906.
Wikipedia (IT) ↗ - Winterthur–Etzwilen railway
An 1875 single track north out of Winterthur through the Thur valley wine villages to Etzwilen near the Rhine.
Wikipedia ↗ - Huttwil–Wolhusen railway
Emmental single track of 1895, running from Huttwil down to the Little Emme and the junction at Wolhusen.
Wikipedia ↗ - Broye Line
Single track across Romandy's Broye valley, crossing its sister line at Payerne on the way from Lake Neuchâtel to Fribourg.
Wikipedia ↗ - Lausanne–Vallorbe line
The climb from Lake Geneva into the Jura at Vallorbe — since 1870 the shortest rail route between Paris and Milan.
Wikipedia (FR) ↗ - EuroCity Zürich–München
Electrified through in 2020, which cut an hour off the run: out of Zurich by Winterthur and St Gallen, over the Rhine at St Margrethen, along Lake Constance through Bregenz and Lindau, then the Allgäu to Munich.
- Vereina Car Shuttle
Metre gauge under the Silvretta: cars loaded at Selfranga near Klosters and carried through the 19 km Vereina tunnel to the Engadine, open when the Flüela pass is shut.
- Biel–Bern railway
Bern to Zollikofen opened on 16 June 1857 as part of the Centralbahn line to Olten; the Bernese state railway carried it on over Lyss to Biel in 1864.
Wikipedia ↗
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Night train (3)
- Nightjet
The founding route of the Nightjet brand: over the Arlberg while you sleep, Alps at both ends.
Wikipedia ↗ - Nightjet Zurich–Amsterdam
Asleep along the Rhine, awake on the IJ: the 2021 revival that re-linked the Alps to the canals, sliding past Cologne’s floodlit cathedral at midnight.
Wikipedia ↗ - EuroNight Praha–Zürich
The Czech–Swiss night link revived in 2023: the Elbe sandstone gorge at dusk, the Rhine plain at dawn, Zurich by breakfast.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (24)
- Glacier Express
“The world’s slowest express”: 291 bridges, 91 tunnels and the 2,033 m Oberalp Pass at an average of 36 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bernina Express
A UNESCO World Heritage railway: 7 % grades with no rack, the Brusio spiral, and the highest rail crossing of the Alps at 2,253 m.
Wikipedia ↗ - GoldenPass Line
Lake Geneva’s riviera to Lucerne over the Brünig Pass — two trains: the gauge-changing GPX to Interlaken Ost, then zb’s Luzern–Interlaken Express.
Wikipedia ↗ - Centovalli Railway
Fifty-two km, 83 bridges and 31 tunnels between Piedmont and Ticino: chestnut forests, waterfalls and stone villages a hundred valleys deep.
Wikipedia ↗ - Mont-Blanc Express
A metre-gauge mountain line under Mont Blanc, using third-rail power and a rack section to climb the Chamonix valley from Saint-Gervais into Switzerland.
Wikipedia (FR) ↗ - Chur–Arosa Line
Seventy curves and the record-setting 1914 Langwieser Viaduct carry hourly trains from Chur up into the ski resort of Arosa.
Wikipedia ↗ - Arlberg Railway
Eight hours Zurich to Vienna on Austria’s only east–west mountain mainline: the Trisanna gorge, Wiesberg Castle and a 1,310 m summit in the 10.2 km Arlberg tunnel.
Wikipedia ↗ - Lötschberger
The 1913 mountain line the base tunnel made optional. Felsenburg spirals, a 14.6 km summit tunnel, then the Bietschtal bridge on a ledge above the Rhône.
Wikipedia ↗ - Voralpen-Express
Hourly cross-country trains link the abbey city of St. Gallen with lakeside Lucerne across the pre-Alps, taking in the Wattwil moorland, the Rapperswil lake dam and the Rothenthurm high bog.
Wikipedia ↗ - Gotthard Panorama Express
A paddle steamer up Lake Lucerne, then the 1882 Gotthard line’s spirals and the Wassen church seen thrice — summer-only, once daily, seat surcharge.
Wikipedia ↗ - Albula Railway
The UNESCO Albula line spirals through helical tunnels and sweeps over the six-arch Landwasser Viaduct, a curved stone bridge running straight into a cliff, on its climb to St. Moritz.
Wikipedia ↗ - Treno Gottardo
The everyday Gotthard panorama train: hourly IRs over the 1882 mountain line’s spiral tunnels, no surcharge, from Basel or Zürich to Locarno’s palms.
Wikipedia ↗ - EC Transalpin
One train, one panorama car, half the Alps: Zurich to Graz over the Arlberg, past Zell am See, the Ennstal and the Gesäuse gates — the day-long EuroCity people ride for the window.
Wikipedia ↗ - Berner Oberland-Bahn
Jungfrau gateway since 1890: from Interlaken Ost the BOB splits at Zweilütschinen — one arm to Lauterbrunnen, this one climbing to Grindelwald under the Eiger’s north face.
Wikipedia ↗ - Chemins de fer du Jura
Metre gauge across the Franches-Montagnes plateau: horse pastures and firs at 1,000 m from watch-town La Chaux-de-Fonds to Saignelégier, then a wooded ravine descent to Glovelier.
Wikipedia ↗ - Prättigau Line
Metre-gauge Rhaetian track climbing the Prättigau from the Rhine valley at Landquart to the high spa town of Davos, open since 1890.
Wikipedia ↗ - Engadine Line
Metre gauge down the Lower Engadine from the Albula line at Bever to the spa at Scuol-Tarasp, opened in 1913 and never joined to Austria.
Wikipedia ↗ - Biel–La Chaux-de-Fonds railway
Single track up out of Biel through the Jura gorges to the watchmaking city of La Chaux-de-Fonds at 1,000 m, worked since 1874.
Wikipedia ↗ - Jura Railway
The Jurabahn of 1857 follows the Birs out of Basel into the French-speaking Jura, through Delémont and the Moutier gorges down to Biel.
Wikipedia ↗ - Cadenazzo–Luino railway
Hugs the north-eastern shore of Lake Maggiore, crossing from Ticino into Italy on the way to Luino.
Wikipedia ↗ - Tonkin Line
Opened in 1859 by the Ligne d'Italie, running from the Rhône at Saint-Maurice out to Lake Geneva at Le Bouveret and the French border.
Wikipedia ↗ - Glarus Line
The Glarnerlinie of 1859, single track up the Linth valley under the Glärnisch and the Tödi to the road-head at Linthal.
Wikipedia (DE) ↗ - Rheinfall railway
Named for what it passes: the 1857 line from Winterthur to Schaffhausen runs along the Rhine Falls, Europe's widest waterfall.
Wikipedia ↗ - Appenzell Line
Metre-gauge adhesion track from Gossau up through Appenzell to Wasserauen under the Alpstein, running continuously since 1949.
Wikipedia ↗
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Heritage (1)
- Blonay–Chamby Museum Railway
Switzerland’s first museum railway (running since 1968): Belle Époque steam and electrics cross the Baye de Clarens viaduct high above Lake Geneva on 3 km of 1902 branch line.
Wikipedia ↗
Mountain (15)
- Jungfraubahn
Tunnels INSIDE the Eiger to Europe’s highest station at 3,454 m, the “Top of Europe” since 1912.
Wikipedia ↗ - Gornergrat Bahn
Europe’s highest open-air railway climbs from Zermatt to 3,089 m: the Matterhorn framed in the window from the first curve to the summit ridge.
Wikipedia ↗ - Pilatus Railway
The steepest rack railway on Earth: 48 % grades since 1889, with Locher’s horizontal cog wheels gripping a ladder no ordinary train could climb.
Wikipedia ↗ - Rigi Railways
Europe’s first mountain railway (1871) still ratchets up from Lake Lucerne to the Queen of the Mountains. Mark Twain rode it and wrote home about it.
Wikipedia ↗ - Montreux–Rochers-de-Naye Railway
Climbs 1,700 m from Lake Geneva’s shore to a marmot-filled Alpine garden in under an hour, on Abt rack track dating to 1892.
Wikipedia ↗ - Wengernalpbahn
The world’s longest continuous cogwheel railway links Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald over Kleine Scheidegg, under the Eiger’s north face.
Wikipedia ↗ - Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway
Volunteer-run steam locomotives claw over the 2,160 m Furka Pass past the Rhône Glacier on track abandoned when the base tunnel opened in 1982.
Wikipedia ↗ - Brienz Rothorn Bahn
A 25% steam rack line, Europe’s highest unelectrified railway, climbs from Lake Brienz to a 2,244 m summit in an hour.
Wikipedia ↗ - Schynige Platte Railway
Vintage 1914 cars grind up an Abt rack to a 2,000 m ridge, with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau lined up across the valley and an alpine garden at the top.
Wikipedia ↗ - Monte Generoso Railway
A rack line from the shore of Lake Lugano to a 1,704 m summit whose Mario Botta “Fiore di pietra” lookout takes in the Alps from Monte Rosa to the Apennines.
Wikipedia ↗ - Stoosbahn
The world’s steepest funicular: a 110% maximum gradient climbed by barrel cabins that rotate to keep the floor level, 744 m up to car-free Stoos.
Wikipedia ↗ - Niesenbahn
Climbs 1,643 m over 3.5 km up the pyramid of the Niesen — and the service stairway alongside is the longest on earth at 11,674 steps.
Wikipedia ↗ - Gelmerbahn
An open-car ride up a 106% grade — Europe’s steepest funicular until Stoos overtook it in 2017 — built to serve the Gelmersee dam works.
Wikipedia ↗ - Funiculaire Sierre–Crans-Montana
Switzerland’s longest funicular: 4.2 km and 927 m of climb from the Rhône valley vineyards at Sierre to the Crans-Montana plateau.
Wikipedia ↗ - Fribourg Funicular
Europe’s last funicular driven by wastewater: since 1899 the descending car is weighted with up to 3,000 litres of city sewage.
Wikipedia ↗
Luxury (1)
- Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
Belmond’s restored Art Deco sleepers of the 1920s–30s: black tie encouraged as the Alps slide past the champagne bar.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons — each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Switzerland?
The TGV Lyria, running Paris to Geneva at up to 320 km/h. It is one of 71 routes in Switzerland in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Switzerland?
Yes — 3 sleeper services in this atlas serve Switzerland: Nightjet (Vienna – Zurich), Nightjet Zurich–Amsterdam (Zurich – Amsterdam), EuroNight Praha–Zürich (Prague – Zurich).
Can you cross the border by train from Switzerland?
Yes — 20 of its 71 routes continue into another country: Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (Paris – Venice), Bernina Express (Chur – Tirano), Nightjet (Vienna – Zurich), Gotthard Express (Zurich – Milan), among others.
Which is the most scenic railway in Switzerland?
Switzerland has 39 scenic or mountain lines in this atlas. The longest is the Arlberg Railway, 811 km.
Cross-border lines continue into
- 🇦🇹 Train routes in Austria 63 routes
- 🇨🇿 Train routes in Czechia 30 routes
- 🇫🇷 Train routes in France 109 routes
- 🇩🇪 Train routes in Germany 136 routes
- 🇮🇹 Train routes in Italy 81 routes
- 🇱🇮 Train routes in Liechtenstein 4 routes
- 🇳🇱 Train routes in Netherlands 17 routes