Switzerland public transportation in a wheelchair

Accessibility

This was the first time I traveled by public transportation only as a wheelchair user, and what better place to give it a try than Switzerland? The public transportation system is orderly and easy to understand, though it isn’t cheap.

Throughout this entire trip, we used the SBB app and website for trip planning, ticket purchasing, and accessibility information. You can choose only barrier-free routes and filter them into self-boarding, boarding-with-assistance, or pre-booked assistance categories. If a self-board option existed, we always chose it, even if it wasn’t the fastest. It allowed us to be spontaneous with our time and plans and not stress about assistance booking in advance. If your chosen route requires assistance, you must call a local toll-free number (on the SBB website) at least an hour before the scheduled departure.

Most trains that allow self-boarding are platform level, with only a small gap. Only once did we find ourselves in a situation where the platform was lower than the train, and nobody was there to meet us, although I called for assistance. Luckily it wasn’t a significant height difference, and other passengers helped us. All train doors are marked with 1st or 2nd class, stroller, bicycle, or wheelchair signs. Try to board the wheelchair ones (although the bicycle worked for us too) – they’re more spacious and have wheelchair-accessible restrooms.

In some cases, the train stations aren’t wheelchair-accessible and thus, don’t have boarding assistance services. All the information about accessible travel is here, and a map with all the accessible stations is here.

All the buses we encountered were wheelchair-accessible, with a manual ramp at the second door. Press the wheelchair button at the door, and the driver will come to open the ramp.

We traveled via boat on lakes Thun and Lucerne. Very easy and accessible in both cases.

Lucerne to Bürgenstock Funicular on Lake Lucerne

Thun to Spiez on Lake Thun

Most cableways and funiculars are privately owned, and accessibility information isn’t available on the SBB website. Here’s my experience on Harderbahn in Interlaken. The older ones usually have wheelchair weight/size restrictions, so better to directly check with them in advance. For our entire 8-day itinerary, click here.

There aren’t any discounts for people with reduced mobility in Switzerland unless they are residents of the country.

Fully accessible Eiger Express Cableway

Harderbahn – only manual/lightweight wheelchair users can be accommodated.

Travel Cards

There are many different travel passes to reduce the transportation costs in Switzerland: cards by region, city, etc. The SwissPass and the Half-Fare card are the most popular ones among tourists. SwissPass includes all public transportation, many museums, some tourist attractions, and selected mountain excursions. It doesn’t include the privately owned cableways and funiculars; you’ll only have a partial discount on those. The Half-Fare card gives you half-price on all public transportation, including the privately owned options but doesn’t include any attractions. The SwissPass is more expensive and can be purchased for 3,4,6,8 or 15 days. The Half-Fare card validity is 30 days.

Here you’ll need to plan, decide which locations and attractions you want to visit, and calculate in advance. The most costly are the various cableways and funiculars.

For example, our eight-day trip would have cost us 578 CHF without travel cards, over 600 CHF with an 8-day Swiss Pass, and 410 CHF with a Half-Fare card. For someone who wants to visit many museums and not take as many mountain excursions and cableways as we did, SwissPass may be the cheaper option. And those who use public transportation just to get from point A to B and don’t want any attractions or excursions won’t need any travel cards.

Another option to reduce transportation costs is to purchase all tickets in advance (at least two months). This is an excellent option if you like to have a pre-planned itinerary and know exactly where you want to go each day.