Rail Travel in Switzerland

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Has anyone traveled by train in Switzerland? Is it user-friendly for a couple in their 70's? Is there a recommended rail pass?

See Rick Steves link on rail travel in Switzerland. http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/switzerland.cfm

Its user friendly. One comment: Be on time. They are very prompt and leave exactly on time.

Some years ago, I used Swiss trains to travel around the country for two weeks and found the service to be very dependable and efficient. However, I do remember having sometimes to carry my bag up and down flights of stairs and then up and down steps into the cars.

Maybe the situation has changed since then; I hope someone reading this can give you more current information. If I were you, though, I'd pack only as much as I could carry up and down one or two flights of steps without strain. I wouldn't depend on finding porters at all stations, especially smaller ones.

We plan to take the train from Basel to Geneva and Geneva back to Zurich airport in Dec/Jan. I've traveled by train in Switzerland in the past without problems.........usually purchase tickets in advance on line from European Railway (forget the website) but it was easy. I purchased 8 tickets in 2009 for TJV from Paris to Geneva, varying ages and the tickets came in the mail before we departed.