SBB
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 7 train services by recommenders
Recommended for booking any Swiss journey by selecting origin and destination, with reliable trains. Common caveat: the support helpline costs money.
Recommended for booking any Swiss journey by selecting origin and destination, with reliable trains. Common caveat: the support helpline costs money.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Reliable, competent Swiss trains
“SBB is just generally very competent and has insane amount of traffic in comparison to any European rail”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Kidnapped by Deutsche Bahn” “Swiss Rail (SBB) is still the poster child for a decent rail system.”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Britain's railway privatization was an abject failure” “Swiss trains (SBB) are extremely reliable”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Britain's railway privatization was an abject failure” Easy online booking for any journey
“you're able to book any journey within Switzerland (and even cross-country) by just selecting origin and destination”
Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Japan's trains are great. Why is booking one so hard?” “everything can be booked on the SBB website/app”
Comment from 19 Jun 2026 in “Japan's railways stayed one while splitting apart” Good app and website
“My recent visit to the country was smooth thanks to the SBB app.”
Comment from 19 Jun 2026 in “Japan's railways stayed one while splitting apart” “it's actually very good, but it's still an "app experience"”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card”
Other train services people recommend
The four most recommended other train services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amtrak | 25 | 20 | 56% | 6 | — | — |
| SBBThis page | 11 | 2 | 85% | 6 | — | Approved |
| ÖBB | 8 | 3 | 73% | 5 | — | — |
| SNCF TGV | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“you're able to book any journey within Switzerland (and even cross-country) by just selecting origin and destination”
“it's actually very good, but it's still an "app experience"”
“I usually use the app Fairtiq or the official SBB app”
“can become really unhelpful if there has been an "accident involving a person"”
“SBB translates that to Herzogenbuchsee... not what I had expected.”
“My recent visit to the country was smooth thanks to the SBB app.”
“everything can be booked on the SBB website/app”
“charges to call their helpline if you can't figure out their automated lockers”
“it was god-sent. So well made”
“They need to add more trains or at least more cars.”
“SBB is just generally very competent and has insane amount of traffic in comparison to any European rail”
“Swiss trains (SBB) are extremely reliable”
“Swiss Rail (SBB) is still the poster child for a decent rail system.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.