I had the displeasure for riding on the train this Saturday morning. When I sat down I could get the distinctive smell of curry, and since there was no one around,I could not fathom from where this smell was emanating.
On closer inspection I realized that the side of the table was smeared with a curry sauce, and since the heating was on, and the spices were strong, I started to feel nauseous. I looked over to the seats on the other side of the aisle, and saw that the window was smeared with ice cream.

How very, very disgusting. Train fares are consistently rising, there is an expected 40% rise over the next 5 years, but the trains get filthier and filthier. I wish my written German was good, or else I would be posting out a few letters.

Write in English anyway. The SBB are asually good at dealing with English on top of the rest.

Pather, were you in CH or England?

what do you suggest for improvement?
cleaning squad on every (running) train?

IMO you were unlucky with this particular train. Compared to my experience with public transport in Germany and the UK, Swiss trains have been relatively clean.

right. i havent heard from exploding train toilets here as i did in Germany (mind: brand new ICE train). and for comparison: try n get on the train from munich to hamburg and compare that to a ride from zürich to geneva. and then lets talk again.

I was on the S5.

I would expect the train to be decently clean, its was 9am, the sauce was pretty1 dried up, so was the ice cream, I can only imagine it was from the night before.

And for the prices charged, i think cleaning the train once a day is not asking for much

Try London to Manchester. For the adventurous, go after 9pm.

My point is the high Train fares, as compared to the services rendered. Out bus stops are now equipped with Digital LCD screens, which is completely unnecessary. the money is not channeled in the proper areas.
Swiss trains, at swiss prices, I expect more!

if he was in england it wouldn't have been curry and ice cream smeared everywhere

Curry and ice cream seem more tolerable than beer, piss and vomit.

I'd also imagine you had some tolerable company, and not a group of hooligans chanting after the match the night before, or some young knobs cussing loud and playing music, or even young ladies shrieking on their mobiles or to their friend 2 feet away in some incomprehensible woman-chatter.

Regardless, even if the odours were repulsive, were there not any other carriages?

Precisely, for the train fares you paid, you were able to avoid everything I mentioned in my previous post.

yes, I did, and I'm not living in England, nor would i wish to live in England, and were the English trains (London tube - in reference) ever clean?
It cost me roughly £4 from north London to Heathrow single , converted to Francs, Sfr 5.90, and its a distance well over 25kms.
From my town to the next town, which is 5kms away I pay Sfr8.

Now, can you see why I feel that the exorbitant train fares warrant cleaner trains?

Agree whole heartedly about the beer, piss and vomit - but I think the talking (very) loudly on phones is FAR worse here than anywhere else I`ve been!

what would that journey cost now?? also not really comparable at the moment due to the insanely strong CHF against the £ a couple of years ago 8chf would have been £3.

get yourself a 1/2 price rail pass

I do have one, I needed to compare actual prices.

this is the exact reason why i am paying more for a car....its clean, no one bothers you and I love driving...(keep in mind I do not commute everyday) when I do travel I kinda like being stuck in traffic for a bit, always have....

as for cleaniing trains everyday. I agree that the big trash and messy crap should be cleaned up once a day, otherwise a once a week cleaning should be good

The OP is having a rant about the train here! Why do you compare it with England?

Because it is not as bad, it means it is acceptable? I don't take the train often but the rare occasion I did, I have to agree with the OP, it was dirty!

For the ticket price, you expect to have someone cleaning it daily.

and I could say about planes as well....

erm..high prices? germany has hell of a more expensive train network and less, non-existent service at all. as this is mass transport...you cant expect it to be the orient express 24/7.

I think SBB is pretty damn good value compared to most European systems - especially if you have a half tax card & especially compared the British network - I mean have you actually ever tried to navigate the Monty Python-esque ticketing & fares system there & experienced the general state of British trains?

A single to Heathrow which is in zone 6, is £5.00 (£4.50 with Oyster). A daily travel card (only useable until midnight of that day) is £8 off peak & £15 anytime use.

As a loosely comparable situation, a Zurich city Tageskarte from Zurich airport, and usable anytime for a full 24hrs is chf 12.40 full fare/6.40 half tax.
A single fare to Zurich HB is 6.40/3.20

It also can also take over an hour to reach central London on an often overcrowded, hot & sweaty tube train.

Care to do the maths again?



Sounds like you need to get a Half Tax Card.