You can usually buy your ticket on the trains, except on local trains (train régional - they are marked by a sign on the door, kind of like an eye), but it always costs more to buy them on the train (5CHF). They will stop completely selling tickets on trains from december this year.

So - it's always better to buy your ticket at the machine (tickets here are not for any particular train, so if you're afraid to miss your last train because of buying a ticket, just buy it earlier in the evening). If you have in iPhone there's an app to buy tickets (only for yourself).

The fine on local trains if you don't have a ticket is 80 CHF.

This has been extended to the 'regio express' trains (coded RE) which also have the yellow 'eye' warning stickers.

Dominic, I would not get into the habit of buying a ticket on the train.  SBB has been trying to discourage this activity for a long time and they will stop selling them altogether in Dec (as Eva indicates).

I finally bought an annual abo and I wish that I had done it sooner.  It's nice to jump on-board without fishing for coins and standing in a queue.

Thanks for the advice.

So local and regional trains need a ticket in advance. What does that leave? National only

I'm not keen to buy any season ticket as I use the train infrequently and the cost would not be worth it.

Guess i'll have to stick to buying them at the machine.

Two alternatives worth considering for occasional travel:

1 The half price card which costs about 125 CHF

2 Some communes sell day passes, price varies but usually around 40 CHF

Dominic, you also have the option of buying multiple journey cards (6 trips).  You carry these with you and validate them in the machine when you board the train. This might be a good compromise.

For trips within the Mobilis fare zone, you can get multiday cards that cover 6 days; you validate these before boarding as well.  Then your are covered in the relevant zones for unlimited travel on that same day.

Dom, you tight-fisted Pom!  Just leave an extra five mins and buy your ticket along with all the other good Swissys.  As Richard says, the best option for you sounds like the "Multi-course" - you don't save any money, but you don't have to queue.

But if you "forget" to validate your ticket before you get on the train (that's what the little orange boxes on the platforms are for) then you get fined as if you didn't have a ticket.

Thanks for the info on the evil "yellow eye" everyone - always wondered what that was for!!

BTW - the demi-tarrif is now CHF160 (unless you choose to take out an SBB Credit Card) and worth every cent.

it's an extra 10 CHF since the beginning of 2011 :)

If you know you are staying a while the three year half farecard is a much better buy

Yep, the half-fare is a must have.  It can also be combined with a multicourse/multijour.

Cheers all. I think i'll look at the multicard thingie as I dont know how long I'm staying in Swiss so annual or longer cards may not work out well for me.

Oh and Carolyn, I am not a tight fisted Pom. Im just lazy.