S
I find the restaurant cars can be a very peaceful place, and the tables are an ideal surface for card games, pulling out the laptop, reading, etc. The problem is the food is overpriced IMO. Are there any hard and fast rules about how long I'm allowed to stay at my table? I can understand moving along if it's a busy day and there's people waiting, but on a quiet day Is there anything stopping me from ordering a drink and stretching it out for the entire journey?
The ire of other passengers, mostly. If people are waiting for a restaurant table, you won't be popular. But there are quiet zones on many trains (where mobile phones are discouraged, for example), and many (sometimes all) seats have at least a fold-down table -- why not sit there?
Oddly enough, if the train is totally packed, that's one time when it is acceptable to sit in the restaurant for the whole journey.
For Quiet Zones you'd have to travel first class though. In the 'Mob' class the quiet compartments were discontinued in 2009.
Not so! I've seen (and travelled in) many a mobile-phones-banned zone in 2nd class carriages in Switzerland, all since 2009!
ETA: ... although Google disagrees with me. So what have I been seeing -- old coaches where the signage hasn't been changed since 2009?
It does appear to be true that there is no official 'quiet' carriages for 2. class travelers since 13.12.2009. (Ger: ) http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/news/sto...r--ab-14261320
I guess you have traveled in wagons which have recently been downgraded from 1st to 2nd class, where not all the old signs have been removed.
I often stretch out a couple of beers for the trip between Zurich and Geneva without complaints, or share one of those cheese platters (where the bread keeps coming if you request more).
I feel like the one thing to keep in mind is that if someone else wants to sit at the restaurant car, it's nice to share the table with strangers...
Why not ask for a glass of tap water.
This is generally free in Switzerland.
Tap water on a train? Hmmm, that's not what I'd want to drink at all.
If you (want to hint at) mean to say that you have the right to a glass of water and the Amtsblatt, you're the victim of a former truth that turned into an urban legend. Besides, SBB are governed by federal law while restaurants are governed by kantonal law.
With that said, OP, there are no hard rules, no law or similar that says how much you have to consume within a given time frame. In my (swiss german and son of lifelong SBB employee) mind, a cup of coffe (or mineral water, beer, etc) gives you the right to a restaurant seat for at least half an hour, perhaps up to one hour. Even during rush hour, without feeling any guilt.
Earlier this month while drinking a coffee I looked at the prices on the menu, & in my opinion the food is not extremely expensive. But as you are living in Canada, it might seem that way.
Food and drinks in the train is frowned upon although it does happen.
Can you show us this rule please? Because I know it does NOT exist!
I think he means that the waiters in the SBB restaurant cars are really surly and frown at you when serving the food that they sell (quite legally).
No-one said it is a rule.
I get frowned on all the time when I splash cola over the trousers of the guy sitting next to me and the lady opposite obviously isn't too keen on me eating my home-made curry in the train either.
I regularly eat smelly cheeses and sausages on the train, washed down with a nice red.
No-one dares to look at me wrongly, as I cut them with my chef's knive with an 8" blade.
Tom
Me too. I grab something to eat in the Speisewagen whenever I can. You're on a train. the logistics of getting the food to you is more difficult than in a city centre restaurant. I think the prices are completely OK.
Have you checked what food costs on the train in Canada by the way? It makes the SBB look like a bargain.