European Railway Timetables

[LouJ]

I am having trouble finding "old fashioned paper style" timetables for European Railways. I have found the internet version of DB's kursbuch so that is one country solved. I am particularly interested in the French, Swiss and Italian versions.

Can anyone help?

 

[Gordon]

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Hi Lou


France

http://www.ter-sncf.com/

Choose your region from the map or drop down lists.

Once in your chosen region, look for the links to Fiches Horaires. Note that French fiches horaires are not perfect, styles vary from region to regions, and they are not strictly speaking traditional printed railway timetable extracts but they do the job.


Switzerland

Switzerland is the best country in Europe (the world?) for info for enthusiasts so you can’t go wrong. You can find all the timetables (fahrplanfelder.ch), then you can find out what locomotive or power units and what rolling stock is used (reisezuege der Schweiz).

From the graphic timetables you can find out exactly where it will be and how long it will stay at a station, and you will be able to identify every other train in the area at the same time, when you will pass trains on single track lines etc etc.

There is also a site (swisstrains.ch) which shows trains running along a map (in real time but so far this is based on the schedules not actual running). Last but not least RhB Rhatische Bahn publishes its loco diagrams (turns).

The links are:
http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/

This site gives you:
the PDF Kursbuch timetables in full
Graphic timetables (includes distances, gradient profiles and track layouts) for national and local (aka ‘private’) lines

http://www.reisezuege.ch/reisezuege/

This site gives you traction and rolling stock by train number (and day of operation!). IT is fully interactive, so if you are interested in a specific loco you can find what trains are hauled by same. If you want to ride in a passenger coach wit opening windows, you can find all trains which include these coaches in the consist (US term used as a special favour!)

http://www.swisstrains.ch/
The ‘trains running across the map’ site

There are equivalents to the Swiss ‘Reisezuege’ site for Germany but I can’t remember the link offhand.

All this and much more is available via the European railway Yahoo groups: ERG (no questions allowed) and its cousin group European Railway Discussion (questions discussion)

In particular on the files section of ERG there is a link to all the ‘traditional’ timetables around Europe (some railways provide them, some don’t)

Thus you may or may not find Italy in the list, or you can ask on ERD

all the best

Gordon (London UK)



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[LouJ]

Thanks for all the info. I have something to be getting on with now. Should keep me busy for a few evenings sorting through all of them.

 

[33056]

If you still want a paper timetable for Switzerland, then they are should be readily available in the ticket offices at larger Swiss stations. Unless you particularly want the bus section (in a separate book), I would suggest politely asking if they keep hold of that bit as it is huge! Can't remember the price offhand, but there is no reduction for just having the rail part.

In the past, I have got a copy of the timetable from the Swiss Travel Centre in Covent Garden (London), might be worth a quick phone call to see if they still sell them.

 

[Gordon]

...paper timetable for Switzerland, they should be readily available in the ticket offices at larger Swiss stations. ...the bus section (in a separate book), ...suggest politely asking if they keep hold of that bit...
In the past, I have got a copy of the timetable from the Swiss Travel Centre London

In response to the two points
I picked up my 2011 copy late in the evening a month ago today in Samedan. Price is SFR16 which is a lot at today's CHF - GBP exchange rate.
The bus timetable is actually two separate books both the same size as the rail section (and heavy despite lightweight paper) I decided to leave the bus sections in my hotel room at Ibis Chur but they have not (as I had hoped) sent them on to me as 'recovered lost property' - pity

The Swiss Kursbuch is no longer sold at STC's London office - which is irritating as I work nearby.

The bus books and lack of a separate price for just the railway book irritates me, though I'm fairly certain the sales of the bus books separately would be limited. A large proportion of the Swiss population doesn't travel far from home, especially not across the language zone divide, so I doubt very much that - for example - more than the odd person resident in far eastern St Gallen canton ever needs the bus timetable for small villages north of Lausanne
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
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I forgot to mention yet another source of info for Swirtzerland, the taktfahrplan Netzgrafik.

You can get a copy here:

http://www.bahnonline.ch/wp/29304/netzgrafik-fahrplan-schweiz-2011.htm


This is the lightest form of portable information on Swiss train timetables. It is readable if printed on A3 colour (it is even just about readable when printed on A4). It shows times at all interchange points and although it doesn't show every intermediate station, enough stations for it to work as a companion fo many journeys. A few years ago I obtained the glossy A2 hard copy version and used it in place of the complete Kursbuch, for example I was easily able to use it to plan a not that simple journey from Appenzell back to Filisur, via Herisau, Uznach, Ziegelbrucke and Chur.