On December 23 and 24, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) will be running a special early morning train through the Romande region to Geneva Airport. The public transport provider explained that the train is designed to help families and individuals catch early morning flights from the airport as they embark on their holidays.
According to 20 Minuten, the train will call at a number of major cities within French-speaking Switzerland, so that people from the Romande are able to take early morning flights from Geneva without having to spend money on an overnight stay or parking at the airport. For example, the earliest someone from Biel / Bienne can usually arrive at the airport using a same-day train is 6.56am, whereas the first flights take off at 6am.
Therefore, to help people get away for Christmas, the airport has worked with SBB to create a special Intercity “early morning” train. As it stands, the service will only run on Saturday, December 23 and Sunday, December 24, but is only four minutes slower than the typical day service, despite running in the early hours.
On each day, the special train will depart Biel / Bienne at the jet-lag-inducing time of 2.40am, and arrive at Geneva Cointrin at 4.24am, just enough time to check in for the first flights of the day. On the way, the service will call at Neuchâtel (3.02am), Yverdon-les-Bains (3.25), Morges (3.47), Nyon (4.04), and Geneva Cornavin (4.18).
No specific reservations are necessary to ride on the train, and regular public transport tickets can be used. SBB hinted that some discounted passes may also be available, if booked in advance.
While only a temporary service for the Christmas weekend, SBB said that they were in discussions with the airport to repeat the same type of service in 2024 during peak periods such as the school holidays. For more information, check out the official press release.
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