Public transport tickets in Switzerland

Public transport tickets in Switzerland allow you to access all forms of transport to reach your destination. The cost of each ticket is dependent on its type. Typically, tickets bought in advance and tickets that restrict your route make your fare up to 50 percent cheaper. There are also a number of Travelcards available for those who travel regularly, which can be loaded onto your SwissPass. 

Swiss Travelcards

If you are a frequent user of public transport, you might consider purchasing a Swiss Travelcard. 

Half Fare Card in Switzerland

As the name suggests, the Swiss Half Fare Card (Halb-tax Abo) allows you to purchase tickets for trains, boats, buses and trams across Switzerland at half the regular price, the same fare as someone under the age of 16. As of 2025, the Swiss Half Fare Card costs 190 francs per year. 

GA Travelcard (Generalabonnement)

A general card or GA Travelcard (Generalabonnment) is a season ticket that allows unlimited travel on all forms of public transport in Switzerland. As of 2025, it costs 3.995 Swiss francs per year for a second-class GA Travelcard, and 6.520  francs for a first-class GA Travelcard. There are discounts for children, young people, seniors and people with disabilities. 

GA Night

Available exclusively for people under the age of 25, the GA Night offers the holder free travel on the SBB network between 7pm and 5am (7am on weekends and public holidays). It costs 99 francs per year. 

Regional Travelcards

There are around 20 fare networks in Switzerland. If you regularly travel a route that lies within one fare network, you can purchase a Regional Travelcard. Regional Travelcards can be bought for seven days, one month, or 12 months. 

Point-to-Point Travelcards

If you regularly travel the same route by public transport, you can purchase a Point-to-Point Travelcard, which can be valid for between one and 12 months. Point-to-Point Travelcards are suitable for journeys in regions that don’t have fare networks, or when your journey takes you beyond the limits of one fare network. 

Modular Travelcards

Rounding out the Travelcard options, Modular Travelcards are ideal if you regularly travel between different fare networks or outside a fare network on public transport. Modular Travelcards offer flexible route combinations, and is essentially the sum of a discounted Regional Travelcard plus a discounted Point-to-Point Travelcard. 

Swiss train tickets

If you’re a less frequent user of public transport in Switzerland, it makes more sense to purchase a one-off ticket. These Swiss train tickets are all on offer: 

SBB point-to-point tickets

The cheapest way to travel between cities in Switzerland is the point-to-point ticket. The point-to-point ticket is essentially SBB’s version of the single ticket: you pay for a single or return journey between two specified stations or bus terminals. Point-to-point tickets are only valid on the date specified (starting at midnight and ending at 5am the following day). You are usually restricted to travelling the fastest or most direct route. 

Saver Day Pass 

The Saver Day Pass allows you to travel throughout Switzerland on trains, boats, buses and trams for 24 hours. As of 2025, it costs 52 francs (or 29 francs if you have a Half Fare Travelcard). You can also buy regional day passes for individual fare networks. 

Zone tickets

Zone tickets are fares that allow you to travel anywhere within a specified zone or zones. Every canton is divided into travel zones. Zone tickets allow for unlimited travel on any mode of transport in the zones you have paid for. Tickets are valid for either one, two, or 24 hours. Zone tickets can range from one zone to the entire network of your region.

Short trip

A short trip ticket only allows for travel within a single zone. These tickets are the cheapest but do not allow for travel outside the zone in which they are purchased. You can extend your short trip ticket to another zone by purchasing a zone extension ticket.

Group tickets

If you are travelling together with friends and family, you can also save up to 30 percent by purchasing a group ticket. Group tickets are available for groups of 10 or more. 

Swiss Travel Pass

Specifically designed for tourists and not those who live in Switzerland, the Swiss Travel Pass gives you unlimited travel by train, bus and boat (including panorama trains) across the whole of Switzerland. You also get free admission to many Swiss museums, and discounts on other excursions and offers. 

Swiss Travel Pass price in 2025

As of 2025, the Swiss Travel Pass costs 244 euros for three consecutive days of travel, or 279 euros for three days of travel within one month. Young people under the age of 25 get a 30 percent discount. 

Swiss council tickets

In the past, councils (Gemeinde), use to offer discounted tickets to residents that allowed free zonal travel in the canton for a day. Sadly, the system of council-issued tickets was phased out at the start of 2024.

How to buy a public transport ticket in Switzerland

Every train station and large bus stop in Switzerland will contain a ticket machine. The machines are in English and will allow you to select a specific ticket. For point-to-point tickets and advance tickets, it is advisable to either go to a ticket office in a main station or to book online. You can also pay for any type of ticket on a bus.

You can also purchase tickets on your mobile phone via the SBB app, or the app of the travel company in your local area, such as ZVV or TpG. 

SwissPass

Available as both a physical and a digital card, the SwissPass is a travel pass that can be loaded with all kinds of travelcards in Switzerland, including:

• Half Fare Travelcard
• GA Travelcard
• Regional Travelcard
• Point-to-Point Travelcard
• Modular Travelcard
• Junior Travelcard
• Children’s Co-Travelcard
• P+Rail Travelcards

When you purchase one of the above travelcards for the first time, you will receive a SwissPass card. You will need to present proof of identity and a recent, high-quality passport photo to add to the pass. If you buy your travelcard online, your SwissPass will be posted to you. 

You can then load your SwissPass onto the SwissPass Mobile app to present your travelcard digitally. 

Even if you don’t purchase a travelcard, you can still get a SwissPass for free, either via the swisspass.ch website, or via an SBB point of sale. 

You can use your SwissPass to rent vehicles, bicycles and e-bikes in Switzerland, as well as make cashless payments for public transportation in Switzerland: simply tap your SwissPass on the ticket machine to pay. You will be invoiced monthly for the journeys you make. The SwissPass can also be used as a ski pass at over 80 ski resorts in Switzerland. 

Swiss ticket inspections

S-Bahn trains and buses operate a self-inspection policy for validating tickets. This means that you are expected to possess a ticket, but you will not be routinely checked. However, do be warned that checks occur on occasion. If you are caught without a ticket, fines can range from 60 Swiss francs to 20 percent of your annual income for regular infringements. You will always be checked for tickets on Intercity, InterRegio and RegioExpress trains.

Taking a bike on public transport in Switzerland

The rules for taking a bike on a train are dependent on the type of public transport:

• Bikes must have a half-fare ticket for your journey.
• Bikes are allowed on buses if there is room to hold them. Some buses will not allow bikes during rush hour periods, especially in large cities.
• Trams do allow bikes so long as there is still room. Bikes must be held at the back of trams and must be monitored at all times.
• Bikes are not allowed to travel on S-Bahn trains at peak times. This is 6-8am and 4-7pm, Monday - Friday. At all other times, bikes may travel on S-Bahn trains. Do look out for the bike symbol on the train to show you where you can store your bicycle.

Intercity, InterRegio, Regio and RegioExpress trains always allow bicycles. However, for certain routes or days bicycle spots must be pre-booked in order to be accepted. These are:

• Any Intercity train going through the Gotthard base tunnel (Zurich to Ticino).
• Any Intercity train with the code IC 5 and 51.
• Any Intercity train on public holidays in Switzerland.