highlanderfil

Hi, fellow FTers! Need some help answering a couple of questions. Parents are traveling to Lucerne in November and are running into a bit of a problem getting from there to the Zurich Airport. Their flight leaves on a Sunday, at 9:45 and there are no convenient direct trains available. So what I'm trying to figure out is:

1. If they do take a train that requires a transfer, they will be arriving at platforms 7 or 8 and the train that leaves to the airport leaves from platforms 33 or 34. It looks like the second platform is directly underneath the first one by looking at the railway map - is that truly the case?

2. If they don't end up taking the train, their only option seems to be a taxi. Swiss-taxi.com seems to be the only option that isn't super expensive (if you consider 170 CHF cheap). Is there a difference in price between calling a taxi to the hotel or going to the train station square and just catching a cab (and is that even possible)?

Thanks!

KLouis

There's a direct train at 04:55 arriving at Zurich Flughafen at 06:13. I know that this may sound very early, but even by taxi one should plan to be at the airport early (e.g. think of a traffic-related problem!). The next trains are, indeed, with a connection at Zurich HBF.

highlanderfil

I'm aware of the early direct train. Trying to avoid it is the point.

KLouis

When I lived in Switzerland ages ago, one day we got some electricians in our building (U of Basel) who put emergency lights at one end of the very long corridor, relatively far from the steps. We asked why they would not put emergency lights at the other end of the corridor and we got the answer that there is never a power problem in Switzerland. Then, upon asking why they were installing the emergency lights, the answer was "in case there is a power outage". This closed the circle...

About one year later (I was already living in the US) I heard about the big blackout that hit all the west of Switzerland.

In other words, even in Switzerland, do abide by Murphy's law and take the early train. You can always get some sleep in the plane.

WorldLux

For 42 miles, it's pretty good value for a taxi in Europe ...

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What about taking the train the evening before and sleeping at an hotel in Zurich/ near the airport.

highlanderfil

Non-refundable hotel booking, although it may prove to be an option.

OK, I think the second the question has been answered as I thought it would be. Making a decision would be substantially easier if there was someone here who has done a similar trip before and knows the platforms at the Zurich HBF. Anyone?

WorldLux

Depending on where you're from, car rental might be an option. Pick one up in Luzern the afternoon before, drive to ZRH and drop it off there.

highlanderfil

Not an option.

kuroko

Was last weekend in Zurich - platform 33/34 is two levels down, there is an escalator & elevator on every platform to go down. 5-7min is enough for the transfer (if you do not know the station)!

highlanderfil

Boom! This is the advice I was looking for, excellent. So you can confirm, 33/34 is directly below 7/8? This may solve all our problems.

greg5

Is this a flight within Europe, or a longhaul flight?

Here's a list of the departures from Luzern:
http://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de...r.download.pdf

kuroko

Exactly. They should take the stairs/elevator/escalator on the platform rather than walking into the main hall. All signs are quite clear though

greg5

It's really tough to route this, but they could transfer in Thalwil. They would have to wait outside for a bit, though it is covered.

Lv. Luzern 06.10
Arr. Thalwil 06.45 track 5
Lv. Thalwil 06.52 track 5 (train S24)
Arr. ZRH 07.26

Might still be cutting it close if it's a long haul flight though. And it doesn't leave much pad in the schedule if something goes wrong.

highlanderfil

ZRH-TLV, which begs another question: how early do they really need to arrive for a flight to Israel?Thanks, I've researched the trains to death at this point.

highlanderfil

That's not so bad. When I was looking at transfers at the Zurich HBF, I found two trains: one arriving at ZRH at 7:16 and the other at 7:42. This gives us a third option.