During a trip earlier this summer, Travel Pulse contributing editor Claudette Covey interviewed Hugo Furrer, head of Swiss Travel System, SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) in Bern, Switzerland, about the Swiss rail system and how travel agents can sell Swiss Passes. Furrer also discussed the July derailment of the Glacier Express, which covers a seven-hour journey across the Swiss Alps from Zermatt to St. Moritz. The Swiss Travel System is the brand name for the entire range of Swiss public transportation services available to visitors. All trains, postal buses and ships on lakes and rivers -- as well as buses and trams in urban areas -- are part of the Swiss Travel System.

What are the benefits to U.S. travel agents in selling Swiss Rail products to their clients? When travel agents sell Swiss Passes to their clients, they can be assured of many happy returning customers. We recommend that agents sell Swiss Passes to all their clients traveling to Switzerland. Travelers with a Swiss Pass enjoy plenty of benefits, not only unlimited travel by train throughout Switzerland, but also free travel by bus and boat and even city transport systems in 41 Swiss cities – in addition to free entry to more than 400 museums all over Switzerland. There are also 50 percent discounts on most mountaintop excursions by mountain train or cable car. Traveling in Switzerland by train, bus and boat is easy. With a Swiss Pass in hand, travelers can board any train, bus or boat, without prior seat reservations or additional bookings. Selling Swiss Passes to your clients is also very easy – just go to http://agents.raileurope.com and order them online and earn a commission.

Do you have any advice on ways in which agents can go about convincing clients of the benefits of traveling by Swiss Rail? Swiss Rail is known as the most reliable, punctual, comfortable and safest of rail systems. And this is true not only for the trains but for the entire Swiss Travel System, which offers excellent connections by other means of transportation, even to the remotest areas in Switzerland. Many Swiss -- like me -- do not have cars, because it’s just so convenient to travel by train. Agents also can educate their clients on the fact that some of the world’s most famous scenic train rides are in Switzerland, like the famous Glacier or Bernina Express – lines that you cannot experience by car, only by train. Gas is very expensive in Switzerland and our roads are narrow. Highways have a maximum two lanes per direction.

Is the value of the Swiss Pass another selling point that agents can use? Yes, Swiss Passes offer excellent value for money. Train, bus, boat and even museums -- everything is included. Children under 16 years of age travel completely free on the entire network, if they are accompanied by at least one parent.

Which rail pass products are the most popular and why? The Swiss Pass, our top offer, enables visitors to travel free of charge on the Swiss Travel System’s entire network for periods ranging from four days to one month. Most popular are the Swiss Passes for consecutive travel days. Our best seller is the Eight-Day Swiss Saver Pass in first class. For only $521 per person, travelers enjoy all the benefits of the pass, can board any train, bus or boat they want and visit most of the museums. Point-to-point tickets are comparatively expensive, so if clients travel at least between three cities in Switzerland, a Swiss Pass with all its additional benefits pays off well.

You’ve mentioned scenic routes. Can travelers use the Swiss Pass to travel these routes? Clients with a Swiss Pass can access all the scenic routes without buying separate tickets. For most of them, however, a seat reservation including a small fee is required. We recommend travel agents book these reservations in advance, which they can easily do through Rail Europe.

What are your own favorite scenic rail routes? My favorite is the Bernina Express in the very southeastern part of Switzerland. It features a fantastic four-hour train ride from Chur via the Engadine Valley traveling over the Bernina Pass to Tirano in Italy. This train line became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. On the last part of the journey, travelers can enjoy a sudden change in climate, which is unique in Europe. From the Bernina Pass at 7,435 feet above sea level, with glaciers nearby, the train heads southward and will reach 1,000 feet in just an hour and a half, where travelers can enjoy a cappuccino under palm trees. Another of my “must do” favorites is the Wilhelm Tell Express, a beautiful train/boat connection between German-speaking Central Switzerland and the Italian-speaking Ticino. Your clients will travel in style and enjoy the beauty of a historic paddle steamer plowing through the deep blue waters of Lake Lucerne and the comfort of a modern panorama car on the famous Gotthard train line, one of the most important Alpine transit routes in Europe.

How will the Swiss Rail system grow in the coming years? There’s not much space to grow. Our rail system is already very dense – the densest in the world, and it is also one of the heaviest used. The most important addition to the network will be the opening of the Gotthard base tunnel – the world’s longest rail tunnel (36 miles long), which will be opened in the end of 2017, connecting Central Switzerland to Ticino and reducing travel time by about one hour.

What are you key markets and your emerging markets for rail passes? For Swiss Rail, of course, the key market is the domestic market. From abroad, the majority of the travelers come from neighboring Germany. For products like the Swiss Pass, which are available exclusively to travelers from abroad, our key markets are the United Kingdom, North America, India, Germany and Japan. Clients from those five markets generate 75 percent of our turnover of Swiss Travel System products. Our fast growing markets include South Korea, Australia, Thailand, China, the Middle East and Russia.

How has the recession impacted North American sales and what is your outlook for the remainder of this year and 2010? We have experienced a drop in sales of about six percent in 2009 versus 2008 in North America. In 2010, we haven’t seen a real trend of recovery yet. As for our outlook, that’s difficult to say. Overall we are optimistic, as many markets show good growth. The North American market, however, is still unstable and erratic.

Can you provide travel agents with an update on the derailment of the Glacier Express on July 23 in the Swiss Alps– and how the situation has been remedied? And were there any Americans onboard? Service has been resumed. All trains are operating according to schedule. The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGBahn), which operates the Glacier Express, has said that government experts investigating the derailment have determined the accident was caused by human error. MGBahn (MGB) has acknowledged that the company bears the responsibility for the consequences of the accident. The investigating authorities determined that the train was traveling at excessive speed at the time of the accident. MGB has informed us that there were seven U.S. citizens onboard. None of them were injured. They were sitting in one of the cars unaffected by the incident.

You’ve said the Swiss Rail is one of the safest of rail systems. How should agents deal with clients who are concerned that because of the derailment it may not be safe to travel by Swiss Rail? The last incident with one fatality was on Oct. 24, 2003. One person was killed at an acc