Introduction

Today I’m on my way to Geneva. Back in the good old days, the Swiss Federal Railways had a direct train service from Basel via Biel to Geneva. Then a few years ago, they announced that the route was no longer commercially viable and discontinued it. Today, there are two routes to get from Basel to Geneva, either via Biel (but with a change of train) or via Berne. The overall journey time on the two routes is comparable at two hours and 44 minutes and two hours and fifty minutes, respectively.

I’m travelling via Berne, for the simple reason that there are more connections on this route, which is a safer bet in case of traffic disruptions or irregularities on the line.

First Leg: Basel SBB to Berne

It‘s already getting dark when I make my way across the square to the station. Inside, the Christmas decorations have yet to be removed.

Access to the trains is via a wide bridge that connects all platforms. Luckily, it‘s Sunday evening and most people are probably busy settling in after the holiday, so the station is not too busy. Otherwise, during rush hour it tends to get very busy and a bit tight.

The train to Berne departs at 17:28. It‘s a Eurocity to Milan and will be leaving from platform 11. On the way to Berne it stops once, briefly, in Olten. The journey time between Basel and Berne is 58 minutes.

The service to Milan is operated by the same type of train that is used on services to Munich. There are two First Class carriages and another half carriage in the dining car.

The seats are configured in a 1 + 2 configuration, with forward and rear facing seats in an aircraft cabin configuration or facing each other.

The seat pitch is good, the seats are comfortable and there is plenty of storage space. On international services it is recommended to make seat reservations, whereas a reservation is not required and usually unnecessary on domestic trains, unless you‘re travelling on a public holiday.

My only real complaint with this train is that the lights within the cabin are very bright.

We depart Basel with a delay of two minutes. Even so, we arrive in Olten one minute ahead of schedule.

It makes no difference today anyway, because it‘s already dark outside. But even if it were still light, the trip to Berne is boring as hell. Mainly because the train takes the high speed line that runs mostly underground between Olten and Berne.

Second Leg: Berne to Genève Cornavin

The train arrives on time, and the SBB app is telling me that my connection to Geneva will be leaving from the opposite platform. The train from Zürich to Geneva arrives right behind my train from Basel. It calls in Freiburg and Lausanne en route to Geneva.

Freiburg, or Fribourg, marks the language border that separates the German from the French speaking part of the country. Heading south, all announcements on the train are first made in German and then in French up to Freiburg. Then after Fribourg it changes, and announcements are first made in French and then in German. It‘s complicated…

The dining car is located on the upper deck of the carriage between the Second and First Class coaches.

The dining car is not very busy, with only two other tables occupied.

There is storage space for jackets and suitcases at both ends of the cabin.

The journey from Berne to Geneva takes one hour and 46 minutes. As soon as the train leaves the station, the waiter comes to take my order.

To start, I have the leek and potato soup, which is a bit of a gamble on this train. The soup is lovely. That’s not the issue. But this is one of those trains that is prone to unexpected, violent shaking, so basically, anything could happen.

Luckily, I manage the soup without any major spillage, but these trains really do suck!

For the main course, I have Älpler Magrone. This is a typically Swiss dish made of little macaroni and served with a beef sugo, cheese, fried onion, and apple compote. However, I tell the waiter he can hold both the cheese and the apple.

And then for dessert, I have a mint tea and the Bündner Nusstorte, which is a favourite of mine from Canton Graubünden.

By the time I finish the meal, the train is arriving in Lausanne and we have only another thirty minutes to run to Geneva. I pay the bill and then move to the First Class carriage for the remaining journey.

The train arrives in Geneva on time, at 20:18. from here it continues to Geneva airport, which is a journey of another five minutes or so.