Swiss Federal Railways, SBB, has come out top in a survey of European rail operators, beating off strong competition from Germany’s Deutsche Bahn and Austria’s ÖBB.
The Great Train Comparison conducted by British travel portal Loco2 compared 16 major European operators and voted the Swiss national railway operator best overall.
The compilers of the first-ever comparative report said that within Switzerland and on international services Swiss trains were “uniformly excellent”.
The SBB scooped first place in four of 12 categories and came second in a further three.
For families with kids, disabled passengers, cyclists and winter sports SBB was unbeatable, Loco2 said.
Swiss Railways were praised for “their ingenuity in converting some of their trains into playgrounds on wheels”, a reference to the Ticki Park adventure area on some intercity trains.