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    Switzerland’s GROUNDBREAKING High-Speed Train!



    Welcome aboard Switzerland’s groundbreaking new high-speed train. This is the SBB Giruno, a low-floor high-speed train that has an interior with many pleasant surprises. All that, while speeding under some of Europe’s biggest mountains!

    Thumbnail image – By Kecko from Rural area of Eastern Switzerland – SBB Giruno by Stadler, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79121001

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    Journey Details:
    Origin: Lugano
    Destination: Zürich HB
    Company: Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS)
    Train: SBB 501 ‘Giruno’
    Accommodation: First Class Seat (1st)
    Distance: 179 kilometres / 111 miles
    Price: 114.00 CHF (£89.70 / €105.10 / $123.30)
    Time: 1 hour 57 minutes, arrived 3 minutes late

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    40 Comments

    2. nashorn9745 on

      You can’t call this a high speed train it doesn’t do more than 200 kmh and the average speed is less then 120 kmh. The Interieur is a waste of space and they brake down too many times find one where there is nothing broken.

    4. Stadlerfan on

      For sure there is level-boarding on the Giruno. each of both cars next to the restaurant (1x first and 1x second class) have one level-boarding door for swiss/italian/austrian 55cm plattforms and one for german 76cm. So both classes are accesible for wheelchairs without any step.

    5. Alan Bradley on

      It’s always funny to see you in places I’ve been. Lugano’s lovely. One night I did Lugano -> Zurich on a non-high-speed train. The same route, but an excellent dining car.

    7. Ilya Kholopov on

      Hope NS bought some of those to realise the full potential of the high speed line with 250 kph instead of ICNG’s 200 kph. Stadler’s trains seem to be also more reliable

    9. Enrico Monti on

      Sadly now the tunnel is out of use for some time due to a derailment. I travelled twice through that tunnel, once in 2022 between Basel and Milan via Lucerne onboard a Trenitalia ETR 600 and last June onboard a Giruno between Zurich HBF and Bologna.

      The first journey was quite crammed but the Giruno was great, save for a customs control just after departing Lugano

    10. Pikachu on

      While the Gotthard Base Tunnel is an engineering marvel, but I prefer the scenery of the old Gotthard mountain line. I actually took the TILO regional train from Milan to Bellinzona before change for SOB Treno Gottardo service to Zurich just to enjoy the scenery of the Gotthard pass.

    12. Mathias Lietz on

      Und wie hat die Schweiz das bezahlt? Mit Blutgeld! Schweiz – das steht für Mafia, Korruption, Verrat! An der Hand jedes Schweizers, dem arrogantesten Pack der Welt klebt das blutige Elend dieser Welt!

    16. Marc on

      I think some of the wagons on this train do have level boarding since SBB is legally required to provid level boarding with the "Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz". At least at stations with the platform hight of Zürich HB there should be some level boarding for wheelchair users.

    19. buzzukfiftythree on

      Great video, thanks. We used the Giruno units while on holiday in Switzerland in Sept 2022. Together with the Base tunnel, they’re a real game changer for travel between the north and south of Switzerland. We loved them – far less cramped than the Pendolinos. If one is holidaying in Switzerland and wish to do some sightseeing by public transport🎉, it is well worth buying a Swiss Pass to reduce travel costs. You can use it on all train services (except some mountain routes), buses (including post buses), trams and even most lake steamer services. In the past Swiss train tickets were expensive compared to UK prices but, to be honest, there’s not much of a difference now for turn up and ride prices. Plus Switzerland has far less discriminatory pricing and you’ll often pay the same to travel in the City rush hour as off-peak.

    23. Mark Hazeldine on

      Lovely looking train! I had a feeling this was going to be a good one. I love how in Switzerland, everything just….works (usually). SBB's livery and interiors are so classy. Definitely my favourite country for trains (with the Netherlands coming in close behind). Albie, have you been on an Astoro yet? I'd love to see a video of those!

    26. Ryk Mat on

      It should be remembered that the Swiss locals use public transport far more than any other nation, and for regular travel, they use pre-paid time tickets, which are infinitely cheaper than individual tickets. There is a unique product in Switzerland called the General Abonement, which is a subscription ticket for all public transport in the country. Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as the Jungfrajoch Bahn or some shipping lines. But these exceptions are all so tourist-oriented that they can hardly be considered public transport. The cost of an annual GA is around half of the monthly median wage.

    30. G C on

      Fact: as per Oct 2023 with the only available panoramic route (the basis tunnel is still non operating after 2 months…) Zurich Milan 4h17min 285 km –> 66.5 Kmh as AVG speed …. How the hell can you call it "high speed train" ???

    32. SaPpHiReFlAmEs99 on

      I would like to point out that even for Swiss salaries, the prices of trains in Switzerland are excessively high for most locals. This is a huge problem that must be tackled by the Swiss government but at the moment moment nothing is being done

    33. theExcaliburOne on

      the only issue with the swiss network is their low platforms and it makes me sad

      also the clockface scheduling discourages them from improving journey times, this also makes me sad

    35. Raffa 85 on

      You have to do the Gotthard Panorama Route. It goes up the mountain and through the old Gotthard tunnel. It is amazing. View wise and engineering wise

    36. Luke Go on

      I love this train's first class. Because of this class, this train is my favorite train in the world.
      Granted, I haven't visited Japan yet…

    38. Orange Glacier on

      Its very likely that from the revised timetable in December the Giruno will start running on the EC(E) 151/152 Frankfurt <-> Milan, replacing the currently used ETR 610 of Trenitalia.

    39. Severity One on

      It ought to be mentioned that both "train" and "Zug" predate the iron horse, and both terms come from the meaning "to pull". Which makes sense.

      Lake Lucerne has an absolutely epic name in German: Vierwaldstättersee, which translates to "lake of the four forested settlements". But "Lucerne" is a bit shorter.

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