About this journey

Locarno station sits within the adjacent municipality of Muralto, near the shore of Lake Maggiore, serving as the terminus of a branch line from Giubiasco on the Gotthard Railway, operated by SBB CFF FFS. Since 1990, the station has existed in two distinct layers: a surface standard-gauge SBB terminal above, and an underground metre-gauge FART terminal below, built where the two railways' former goods yards once stood. The journey departs from this unusually layered starting point aboard the SOB RABe 526 TRAVERSO, a Stadler-built unit, heading north on the InterRegio service that runs hourly toward Arth-Goldau before continuing onward to Basel SBB.

The route traces one of Switzerland's great transversal connections, passing through the Alpine and pre-Alpine landscapes that separate Ticino from the Swiss Plateau and the Rhine. Basel SBB station, reached after just under four hours, stands at the far northern end of this crossing — a contrast in character and geography to the Italian-influenced lakeside setting where the cab ride begins.