StopInjustice Link opens in new window. In the past, passengers entered a train or bus then a controller passed by to charge them for their ride. That has not been the case in most European countries for a couple of decades. That you could count on being able to buy a ticket on a train may have been the case in a very distant past, but I remember that going away already in my childhood, half a century ago. When I was a small child you still could buy a ticket from the train conductor if you boarded at a station without a ticket office, but only if you immediately went to him. If you waited till he passed through your compartment you got a fine. And there is good reason for that. If you were to permit people to just buy train tickets when they are discovered without a ticket then most people would not buy tickets. If the conductor does not come you end up travelling for free, and if they come you just pay. Great for the passengers, not great for the railway that could lose 80% or more of its income. Do not forget that more often than not you will not encounter a conductor on Swiss trains. That you have to have a ticket before you board has been the norm for a very long time. And in the past that meant you had to make sure you went to the station on time to buy a ticket at a manned ticket counter, where there might be queues. Nowadays it is easier than ever before to buy tickets. You have ticket machines, and you have mobile phone applications that permit you to buy a ticket in seconds. However that is not an excuse to wait till the last moment with buying a ticket. Things can go wrong. Buy the ticket when you know you will be traveling. I often buy my tickets the day before. If you wait till the last minute with buying a ticket, and then something goes wrong, than it is indeed you that are at fault.