Disentis/Muster connection times

[peteb]

I'm planning a journey from Chur to Zermatt via Disentis and Andermatt. There is only a 3 minutes connection between terminating Chur service and the onward Andermatt service. Is this sufficient for a connection, does the Andermatt wait? It looks like a pretty remote place to be stuck for an hour for the next train.

 

[rvdborgt]

I'm planning a journey from Chur to Zermatt via Disentis and Andermatt. There is only a 3 minutes connection between terminating Chur service and the onward Andermatt service. Is this sufficient for a connection, does the Andermatt wait? It looks like a pretty remote place to be stuck for an hour for the next train.

Don't worry. There's enough slack in the timetable and they will wait (within reasonable limits).

 

[peteb]

Don't worry. There's enough slack in the timetable and they will wait (within reasonable limits).

Thanks for that reassurance!

 

[MisterT]

I can confirm what @rvdborgt says. I've made these connections many times over the years. Last time was in January this year and even with the 10+ minute delay we had due to too many passengers trying to enter and exit the trains, the connecting trains were still waiting for us.
In all the years, I think I've only had it happen once that the connecting service didn't wait, and that was only because the rack system on the train failed, so we had to crawl our way down from the Oberalp pass, with a 30+ minute delay as a result. But those are obviously very exceptional circumstances.

 

[peteb]

Great, I'm a lot more confident now! Thanks

 

[Tester]

Great, I'm a lot more confident now! Thanks

Welcome to Switzerland, where connections are taken seriously!

I too have made the journey many times, and have yet to have an enforced hour in Disentis.

 

[30907]

Disentis isn't exactly back of beyond (not that I've ever had time to explore.)

Standard advice on connections: what's Plan B? Can you still get to (Zermatt) that day?

 

[37201xoIM]

Welcome to Switzerland, where connections are taken seriously!

I too have made the journey many times, and have yet to have an enforced hour in Disentis.

Correct - 'slim' (as they call them in Swiss German, i.e. tight) connections that are almost guaranteed are one of the fundamental features of the Swiss Taktfahrplan system. (I say "almost" because there couldn't really be no exceptions, as per above, and similarly a train will often not wait for a bus, and so on... but for that reason buses and branch trains generally have slack built into their timings.)

(And I too have connected numerous times in Disentis and never been left behind except when I wanted to be! There's usually time for a phot of the loco in fact. Unlike Brits, the Swiss don't let trains leave early...)

 

[Austriantrain]

Correct - 'slim' (as they call them in Swiss German, i.e. tight) connections that are almost guaranteed are one of the fundamental features of the Swiss Taktfahrplan system. (I say "almost" because there couldn't really be no exceptions, as per above, and similarly a train will often not wait for a bus, and so on... but for that reason buses and branch trains generally have slack built into their timings.)

(And I too have connected numerous times in Disentis and never been left behind except when I wanted to be! There's usually time for a phot of the loco in fact. Unlike Brits, the Swiss don't let trains leave early...)

And even if for some reason they cannot wait, there is (except for the last connection of the day) another train an hour later…

 

[robvulpes]

.... and, almost certainly, the connection will be the opposite side of the same platform, so you should be able to reach a door of your connecting train within 30 seconds of exiting the first. (Incidentally, no longer certain that you'll have a loco, rather than a unit, on either train. There's mixed working at present.)

 

[Watershed]

And even if for some reason they cannot wait, there is (except for the last connection of the day) another train an hour later…

And if the last connection of the day is missed, there's every chance an additional relief service will be put on to save passengers from having to be put in a taxi - see here for an example (it wasn't even a Swiss service that caused the missed connection!).

Switzerland knows how to properly run a railway, in a way that we probably never will

 

[HamworthyGoods]

And if the last connection of the day is missed, there's every chance an additional relief service will be put on to save passengers from having to be put in a taxi - see here for an example (it wasn't even a Swiss service that caused the missed connection!).

Switzerland knows how to properly run a railway, in a way that we probably never will

Swiss Railways also have a far greater level of funding than GB to achieve this.

 

[Watershed]

Swiss Railways also have a far greater level of funding than GB to achieve this.

True, but a lot of it is down to attitude rather than anything else. Witness some of the incredulous excuses made for failing to hold a connection, as described in this thread.

Whilst we will never have infrastructure or timetables as good as the Swiss, there's an awful lot more that could be done within the current funding envelope - there's just nobody in a position of authority that cares enough.

 

[Austriantrain]

Swiss Railways also have a far greater level of funding than GB to achieve this.

And regularly approved by the people in referenda.

 

[37201xoIM]

Swiss Railways also have a far greater level of funding than GB to achieve this.

Investment: yes, certainly; subsidy: actually no, not really - it fluctuates but per pax-km is a similar order of magnitude.

Given the different outcomes each network achieves, it underlines the case for "investing to save".