Bernina Express or the Red Train?

The Bernina Express is the panoramic, reserved train; the red train most people ride is the regional service on the same line, with windows that open and no reservation needed. Both belong to the Rhaetian Railway, both are red, and between St. Moritz and Tirano they run over exactly the same track. The scenery is identical. What differs is the carriage you sit in, how you book it, and whether you can get off.

Side by side

Rhaetian Railway, rhb.ch, checked October 2026.

Why the day trips use the regional train

Look at what the most-reviewed day trips from Milan actually include and the pattern is plain. Autostradale Viaggi's Bernina day puts you in second class on the regional train, where the windows open for photos. TAOTRAVEL's Bernina day lists opening windows as one of its highlights, and Z V's Bernina tour includes a second-class ticket with opening windows. Only a few tours, such as Frigerio Viaggi's Bernina Express day, sell a guaranteed panoramic-car seat as an option, and they charge more.

For photography that is the right call. Through the panoramic glass you get reflections and tinted light; at an open window you get the shot clean, and the cold air at the pass. Reviewers on the regional train keep coming back to it. One spent almost the whole ride leaning out of the window; another, from Brazil, points out that the train was the regional one rather than the Bernina Express, and rates it the better of the two because the window opens.

Why you might still want the Bernina Express

The panoramic car is the more comfortable ride. In first class the seats are arranged two and one across the aisle, wider and with more legroom; in second class two and two (rhb.ch). The windows reach the roof edge, which matters for the glaciers and peaks above you rather than beside you. You have a reserved seat, so there is no scramble in summer, and snacks and drinks come to you. If you are travelling the whole way from Chur, over the Albula line and the Landwasser Viaduct, the Bernina Express is also the through train.

Which to choose

• You want photos and freedom: the regional train. A return ticket from Tirano lets you stop at Alp Grüm and Ospizio Bernina.
• You want the full panoramic experience: the Bernina Express, booked on rhb.ch, or a day trip with a guaranteed panoramic-car option, such as the Bernina Express from Milan day.
• You want both: ride one each way. The day trips from Milan mostly use the regional train, so the panoramic car would be the leg you add yourself.

Is there anything the regional train misses?

Not on the Bernina line itself: the track, the viaducts and the views are the same. The one practical difference is space. In high summer the regional trains fill up, and seats are first come first served unless you pay the optional reservation. A recent ticket-holder who arrived just before departure found only a few seats left, so get to Tirano or St. Moritz station early. The Rhaetian Railway also runs Pullman-car trips on the line from time to time; those are separate products, sold on rhb.ch.