Glacier Express and Bernina Express: tickets, passes and seat reservations

The short answer

On both trains you pay twice, in effect: once for the journey and once for the seat. The Glacier Express prices page says the total consists of a mandatory seat reservation and the price of the ticket.[3] The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) says the same of the Bernina Express: a valid ticket and a mandatory seat reservation.[7]

A pass can replace the ticket but never the reservation. SBB says the Swiss Travel Pass covers panorama trains "excl. seat reservations and/or supplement".[12] The Glacier Express FAQ says the trip is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass apart from the obligatory seat reservation, and that the reservation costs an additional charge that no travel card covers.[2] The RhB's FAQ lists free travel on its trains, the Bernina Express and Glacier Express included, for Swiss Travel Pass, GA, Eurail and Interrail holders, and says the reservations on both trains must be bought in addition.[9]

Who runs which train

The Glacier Express is sold by Glacier Express AG, based in Andermatt, and runs between Zermatt and St. Moritz.[1][5] The Bernina Express is the RhB's, from Chur to Tirano in Italy, with a connecting Bernina Express Bus between Tirano and Lugano.[6]

The RhB's Bernina Express page says the line has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since July 2008, and the Glacier Express's own history page begins with the Albula Line and notes its World Heritage listing in 2008.[4][6] The RhB says the "Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina Landscapes" was designated in 2008, covering the Albula Line from Thusis to St. Moritz and the Bernina Line from St. Moritz to Tirano.[10] The Swiss Commission for UNESCO describes the site as the line between Thusis and Tirano, 128 km long, and marks it as transboundary.[11]

The operators describe the scale of the journeys in their own figures: Glacier Express speaks of an eight-hour journey over 291 bridges and through 91 tunnels, and the RhB of 196 bridges and 55 tunnels on the Bernina Express from Chur.[6][1] Glacier Express dates its first run from Zermatt to St. Moritz to 25 June 1930, and year-round running to the opening of the Furka Base Tunnel on 26 June 1982.[4]

Glacier Express: the reservation rules

According to the Glacier Express FAQ, a seat reservation is obligatory for every passenger, and children under six, who travel free, have no right to a seat unless one is reserved for them. With a 2nd-class Swiss Travel Pass you can travel 2nd class; for 1st class or Excellence Class the FAQ says you need a 1st-class pass or ticket, or a class upgrade bought at a station or on board when seats are free.[2]

The reservation can be bought before the ticket. The FAQ says it stays valid without a ticket as long as you hold one by the time you are on the train, and that tickets go on sale up to six months ahead. Other points from the same FAQ:[2]

• You can board at Zermatt, Brig, Andermatt, Chur, Filisur, Samedan or St. Moritz, subject to minimum distances; the short sections are sold only in the summer timetable, on four named trains.
• The train changes direction during the journey, so a seat facing forward cannot be guaranteed.
• Online seat reservations cannot be changed or cancelled.

When 2026/2027 reservations opened

This is where the operator's pages need reading together. The Glacier Express home page said in October 2026 that seat reservations for journeys on or after 5 December 2026 would be sold in its webshop from 13 October 2026, from 9:00 at the earliest.[1] Its FAQ gives the general rules: 1st and 2nd class can be booked 93 days before travel, Excellence Class for the whole timetable period, and "sales for travel dates from December of the following season start at the end of October at the latest". The FAQ also describes an annual break in service from mid-October to the beginning of December.[2]

XTOUR's reading is that the specific date on the home page is the one to act on for this season. The 93-day rule would put early-December dates on sale in September, and the FAQ's "end of October at the latest" is later than 13 October, so neither general statement matches this year's opening exactly. The RhB's FAQ, which sells both trains, gives a third general window, "between mid and late October".[9] XTOUR reports all of them and does not reconcile them.

Bernina Express or regional train

This is the distinction the RhB itself warns travellers about. Its blog post explains that the Bernina Express and the RhB's regional trains share the Bernina Line and both cross the World Heritage site, but are booked differently.[7]

• Bernina Express: panoramic cars, on-board service and a ticket plus mandatory seat reservation; holders of a GA, Swiss Travel Pass or day pass select "seat reservation only". The RhB says its seats are often fully booked well in advance.[7]
• Regional trains: ordinary coaches with windows that open, running to the regular timetable with more connections; only a ticket is needed.[7] The RhB "strongly recommend[s]" a seat reservation on them between St. Moritz and Tirano, but its reservation page also says that once the limited reserved seats are sold you can still travel without one.[8]

The RhB adds a caution about resellers: in translations, regional trains may be called the Bernina Express, and "Bernina Red train" or "Trenino Rosso" generally means the regional train.[7] Its reservation page answers "Is this the Bernina Express?" with "No, this is a Rhaetian Railway regional train".[8]

Bernina Express dates and a diversion

The RhB's Bernina Express page said in October 2026 that bookings ran to 12 December 2026 and that further dates for the coming season would open on 13 October 2026 between 9:00 and 11:00.[6] The RhB's FAQ says Bernina Express reservations can be made for the entire timetable period, that a timetable period usually ends between early and mid-December, and that the Bernina Express and Glacier Express are activated in the online shop between mid and late October for the coming period.[9] Read together, the 12 December limit is the end of the current period and 13 October is this year's activation date.

The same page said in October 2026 that trains 951 and 952 would be diverted via Landquart, Klosters and the Vereina tunnel to Pontresina from 29 October to 13 November 2026 because of engineering works. Children aged six to under sixteen pay half the fare, according to that page, but the reservation supplement in full.[6]

Where to book: the sources differ

Switzerland Travel Centre, which describes itself as a subsidiary of SBB and Switzerland Tourism, says panoramic-train reservations must be booked "separately directly with the relevant railway company", naming the Glacier Express, Bernina Express, GoldenPass Express and Gotthard Panorama Express.[13] The Glacier Express FAQ is broader: individual reservations are possible on its own website, at all manned Swiss stations, at main stations abroad and through travel agencies that sell train tickets.[2] XTOUR has read only the reseller's listing for the GoldenPass Express and Gotthard Panorama Express, not their operators, so it says nothing more about them.

The Swiss Travel Pass itself is covered in what the Swiss Travel Pass covers. For the Zermatt end of the Glacier Express, see Zermatt and the Gornergrat railway.

What XTOUR does not tell you

XTOUR does not publish fares, reservation supplements, timetables, journey times of its own or seat availability for either train, and it does not sell them. Prices and timetables are on the operators' own pages. For Switzerland as a whole, see Switzerland.