I have some train ticket questions

Location: Zurich


I took the train from my home (in Zurich) to the Airport- total time to get there was 20ish minutes.

1) As soon as I arrived, I realized I was there a day early.
Can I get back on the train and go back home with the same ticket
My assumption is that the ticket is 1way and I would need to purchase a 2nd ticket. remember it's only a 20min ride, so is the ticket useable for a duration of time, or just a point to point ride.

Different scenario - similar locations
2) If I buy a ticket at the airport station to return home (zurich 20min ride) can I use that ticket for local travel after returning home? for how long. For example, I buy the ticket from the airport station to HB. But I get off at an earlier stop to go shopping. Can I get back on public transportation to continue my journey home. I thought I read somewhere that I can use the train ticket on public transportation for up to 1hr after the designated journey of the ticket. I've been doing this for some time now and thought maybe I should check and see if I'm doing this legally. Possibly a different way of asking. I buy a ticket to journey from HB to the airport, but I live 10 stops away on the tram line X. does my ticket to the airport cover my tram ride to the HB - and if YES then how long do I get to use this ticket before the actual train journey.

The "Einzelbillet" has a validity for a certain number of hours, for certain ticket zones. I think that as long as you stay within these limits, you can travel as much as you want.

When talking about "train tickets" you need to distinguish between:
- SBB tickets, these are sold directly by the train company and give you the right to only travel on trains
- ZVV ticket, these are Zurich-area transportation tickets, and they include any mode of transport (including SBB trains).

ZVV tickets are defined by two things: the area in which the ticket is working (google "ZVV zone map") and the time frame in which you are allowed to be travelling there. It does not matter how much, with which transport or in which direction you are traveling. Times are usually 1h or 24h, but can be others.

So if you have a truly SBB ticket (e.g. when you buy it in SBB app to travel from Bern to Zurich HB) - you can't use local transport in Zurich (unless you paid an extra for local ticket).

However, SBB app actually sells you ZVV tickets when it makes sense. And this is very likely what happens when you go from Zurich HB to Zurich Airport, because they are very close. You should double check, but what SBB app will sell you, will likely be: "1 hour ZVV ticket for zones 110 and 121" - and that what it is, you can move for 1 hour with any transport mode within zones 110 and 121, so in this case to answer your questions:
- yes you can quickly go back from the airport with the same ticket
- yes you can use trams in Zurich after coming from the airport

Time validity is printed on the ticket. So:

Validity times are between half hour and 2 hours: https://www.zvv.ch/zvv/en/travelcard...le-ticket.html

Thank you for this information. I just looked at one of my SBB app to see a recent trip to the airport. It say's (as you mentioned) it's a ZVV single ticket for Zones 110, 12, zurich airport via HB it is valid from date/time to date/+1hr time (9:30 - 10:30)
So based on your comments and what the ticket say's, I'm legally ok to use the local transport for 1hr of the purchase of the ticket. and It's OK for me to return to the original location if it's all within the 1hr timeframe.
Again - thank you --- I honestly just wanted to make sure I understood the rules.

Keep in mind though that contrary to ZVV tickets, train tickets are always unidirectional (a return ticket by train is just a combined sequence of two unidirectional ones). So if your journey leaves the ZVV area, that part is usually a train ticket and can be used in one direction only (discounting return tickets).