I guess if first class cars had a bike compartment, I would have considered them.

If not better seating, at least I would bugger them nasty capitalists with my mighty manly sweaty stench

They should provide free lubricant gel in 1st Class for precisely this kind of opportunity.

"I do not think that word means what you think it means." Princess Bride

i travel first class (GA paid by company)...but there are more eye candies in 2nd class

It gave you a laugh, one way or the other

But I'm sure going to be more careful now with err my mighty stench

Hmm wasnt there an item in 20 mins a while ago about there being more bugs in first class due to the head rest covers than in second?

If it's a really busy train or a long journey then I'll upgrade to 1st. Short journey or off peak 2nd.

if the company is paying, 1st. otherwise 2nd

I really dont care. most of the time i take 2nd class and to be honest if its in switzerland i do not see the difference between 1st and 2nd.

DB, SNF, SJ...I do see it, but not willing to pay it

SBB has plans to include Basel and Genève-Cornavin in the list of First Class lounges in addition to the current one in Zurich HB for 1st Class GA holders.

Source: Swissinfo in DE ( courtesy translation to EN )

More on the Zurich lounge is here:

http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...nus/lounge.htm

2nd class perfectly OK for us. Might change opinion if I travelled at peak times daily.

Hello! I will be going to Switzerland again very soon and will be making a day trip from Zurich to Lugano and have a few questions..

The last time I took a train in Switzerland was when I was a child... and ever since cars have been my transportation, so my question is, how different are the 1st and 2nd class seats? Is 1st class worth paying extra?
If you buy a 1st class seat, are your seats pre-assigned? For 2nd class, you just buy the ticket and sit anywhere?

Except for this day trip, I won't be using the train for long distances during my holiday, so in this case, do I just buy the adult fare? (no point in getting a half-fare travel card, right?)

What is an IC-tilting train?

Last question.... are the toilets in the train clean...?

Figured out the IC tilting train part.

Here's a good thread to read: Do you prefer travelling 1st class or 2nd class on the trains?

I've never travelled 1st class, but I've seen inside the coaches. You have more room, slightly more comfortable seats (it looks like). I don't think seats are assigned, but it's possible to reserve a seat — which I don't think will be necessary on trips between Zürich and Lugano (a delightful rail journey, BTW!).

Unless money is no object, 2nd class is perfectly adequate. If you can easily afford it, 1st class will be more comfortable, likely quieter, and in the company of a generally more "sophisticated" class of traveler.

Yes, I would recommend just buying the regular fare. The half-fare card would only offer an advantage if you were to take at least a few more rail trips during its period of validity.

I see from your 2nd post that you figured out what an IC-tilting train is, so that's that...

In the vast majority of cases where I or a traveling companion used the toilets on a train in CH, conditions were always at least reasonably clean.

__________________
"Live every day as if it were going to be your last; for one day you're sure to be right." — Harry Morant

The toilets are not clean but rather filthy and I wouldn't advice anyone of using them unless they really, really have to.

You have clearly not travelled on Virgin Trains on a Saturday. Or even if you have, it's best not to let the chance of having a dig at Switzerland pass, eh?

Swiss trains, and train toilets, compare very well.

Look, I really don't understand why you have to defend this place so much...go to any train toilet on the very same Saturday night and you'll find the exact same scenario...as a matter of fact, go to any train toilet after the morning rush....and you'll find that they're unusable. In addition to many being closed down as they only have 2 places in Switzerland, that can empty toilet sewage tanks.

Well exactly -- how clean would you expect any train toilets to be? Which is the more truthful answer to the OP's question, rather than making out that Swiss train toilets compare particularly badly.

My admittedly limited research in this area tells me that no public transport toilets anywhere on the planet are perfect, but I've seen a lot worse than the ones here. The key variable though is how long into the journey you are.

..so you simply choose to label them as clean? Because you've seen much worse? Gee, that makes a lot of sense. Guess what, I've seen a lot of cleaner train toilets...and therefore, they're rather filthy to me. Two sides to every coin.

Texaner's right on the money. 2nd class is perfectly comfortable so theres no need to go for 1st class imo. I've had to travel quite a few times to the Nyon and Lausanne from Zurich for work and 2nd class is great. Toilets were perfectly fine as well