Getting There By Rail
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Swiss Federal Railways, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen – SBB (website: www.sbb.ch) operates the majority of services on Switzerland’s rail system. On some routes there are specialised cars for wheelchair and rail is often the preferred mode of domestic travel. SBB in Zurich is also known as Züri Rollt. Further information is available from national rail enquiries (tel: (0900) 300 300).
The busy Hauptbahnhof (tel: (0512) 221 111), Zurich’s main railway station, dates from 1871 and is located on Bahnhofplatz. In addition to the Tourist Information Office, it offers a range of shops and very good restaurants, as well as left luggage, luggage transport, banking, postal and telecommunication facilities.
Rail services: Trains run frequently from major Swiss centres. High speed InterCityExpress (ICE) services operate from Stuttgart (journey time – 2 hours 50 minutes), Karlsruhe (journey time – 2 hours 55 minutes), Frankfurt (journey time – 3 hours 55 minutes), Hanover (journey time – 6 hours 20 minutes) and Hamburg (journey time – 7 hours 35 minutes). CityNightLine trains depart from Hamburg, Hanover and Dortmund arriving in Zurich in the morning. Another train arrives from Berlin and Dresden. A ‘hotel’ high quality sleeper service also links Zurich with Barcelona (journey time – 13 hours 45 minutes). Cisalpino tilting trains connect Zurich with Milan (journey time – 4 hours 30 minutes). There are day and overnight trains to and from Rome (journey time 9 hours 45 minutes) and Venice (journey time – 7 hours 45 minutes), Vienna (journey time – 9 hours) and Budapest (journey time – 14 hours 30 minutes).
Transport to the city: The Hauptbahnhof is in the city centre and has excellent connections with both tram and bus lines.
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