From some point in 2024, passengers using the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) app should be able to book international journeys directly from their mobile phones, the public transport provider recently confirmed. Other quality-of-life updates are also expected in the coming year.

International tickets remain SBB's Achilles heel

Speaking to reporters from CH Media last year, SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot admitted that the lack of an effective international booking system on their mobile app was an “Achilles heel” for the company. Currently, while international tickets are available via the SBB website and at physical ticket counters, unlike Deutsche Bahn and other European providers, buying these tickets directly from the app is impossible.

As a result, many travellers end up booking trips between Swiss cities and abroad using other companies’ websites. Now, according to a report from Tagblatt, along with rolling out new cut-price rail subscriptions, SBB will be launching an international ticketing system on its app within the year.

SBB mobile app to include international tickets from 2024

Speaking to reporters, SBB spokesperson Jean-Philippe Schmidt said that their “goal is to offer the sale of international tickets on the app during the course of next year.” He said that the company was “working hard” to make the tickets available for Swiss travellers, in what 20 Minuten noted has been nearly six years of stop-start development on the idea.

The system will allow users to buy tickets for journeys between Switzerland and Germany, France and Italy. Unfortunately, SBB will not sell tickets to Spain, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Slovenia and other countries that are reachable by rail. Passengers hoping to use these connections will still have to use a different provider’s website.

Seat selections on SBB also promised from next year

What’s more, SBB will join the likes of Deutsche Bahn and Trenitalia in allowing people to book specific seats on trains - currently, only preferences like “window single seat”, “window” and “aisle” can be chosen. Spokesperson Daniele Pallecchi said that while this feature remains a “top priority” for SBB, it is unclear when it will become available.

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