Purchased 1st Class tickets and sitting on floor

DRF

This experience would be inconceivable for most travelers from civilized and modern countries. My wife and I purchased two 1st class tickets from Zurich HB to St Anton on RJX 165. These tickets were purchased several months ago. At no point were we directed to separately purchase seats. We are learning from travelers that this frequently happens in Switzerland and that Swiss Rail does not cap the number of tickets it sells for a given train. We are literally sitting on the floor in the train’s corridor as I write this. Upwards of 50 other ticket holders were asked to leave the train and find alternate transportation. Apparently in Switzerland, buying a ticket for a specific train guarantees you nothing. What a complete embarrassment for the country and the Railway. Shameful.

RolandP

Hello DRF

Good day.

This is not the SBB Customer Service. Kindly note, the RJX is jointly operated by SBB (Swiss Railways) and ÖBB (Austrian Railways). The RJX is an Austrian train. St. Anton is a station in Austria, the ticket sales is managed by ÖBB, while SBB acts as a reseller.

In Europe, it is very common that train tickets do not include a seat reservation, yet the latter is rather optional. The ticket solely includes transportation, not seat assigments and no guaranteed seats. In Europe, train travel is mass transit, as suburb trains in the U.S.
In case the train is fully booked, yes, people have to stand. However, this is not an issue for the people living here.
If there is not sufficient space in 1st class (which is happening rarely, and this I personally confirm working as a ticket conductor myself), you can ask the train staff for a confirmation. With it you can ask for a compensation which consists of a downgrade of your ticket to 2nd class. Please contact the company from which you had purchased your tickets.

St. Anton being very famous among Americans; and it is skiing high season now; thus, it is adviasable to reserve seats. A profound travel preparation could have been helpful and avoid this experience.

Kind regards,
Roland

Tafunge25

Note that the number of tickets sold for a specific train is indeed limited. However, most tickets sold are actually valid on all trains on that day and there it can of course happen that more people chose to take the same train. Within Switzerland, you have the right to a remboursement of the 1st class ticket to exchange it into a 2nd class ticket - ask the train staff for a confirmation of the overcrowded 1st class.
While tickets only guarantee the tranport from A to B and do not comprise a seat reservation, it is still possible to reserve seats on some long distance or international trains, but for national travel, barely anyone does that.

DRF

Thank you RolandP. Where exactly in my post did I indicate a belief that St. Anton was in Switzerland? And who cares that this train is passing through Austria - it is actually going all the way to Budapest. I bought the ticket on SBB, who appear to be managing the 1st leg to Buchs. All of these posts are reinforcing comments that I am hearing on the train - that the local passengers are aware of this practice but that it’s unusual for North American passengers to know this, since where we are from, a railroad like Amtrak or Via Rail would not knowingly oversell by hundreds of seats, nor sell 1st class tickets when none are available!! What a bizarre practice. What I want to know from SBB is the process for refunds.

RolandP

Hello DRF

Here is the form, in your mother tongue:
https://sbb-tickets.cc/en/help-and-contact/customer-service/praise-comments/reklamation.html?stepId=3.3

but that it’s unusual for North American passengers to know this

That’s why I said, preparation work could have helped in this case.

Kind regards,
Roland

Krist

DRF What a bizarre practice.

This is not a bizarre practice. This is also not deliberate. Trains are mass transit. Does the MTA in NY limit the number of tickets it will sell for a train? Does Go Transit in Toronto?

Tickets are not for a train but for a route. And most tickets are sold without the railways even knowing what train the person buying the ticket intends to take. In the past we only indicated origin and destination when buying a ticket, and would buy tickets without even knowing the schedule. So how are railways supposed to limit the sale of tickets? (And imagine the uproar if someone were to go to the station and hear that there are no more tickets…)

A ticket from Zurich to St. Anton allows you to travel from Zurich to St. Anton. And if you want a guaranteed seat you also should get a seat reservation.