Descending this valley, with the aid of several more spiral loops, the train eventually arrives at Bellinzona, the capital city of Ticino that is famous for its three World Heritage listed castles.

[4][5][7] The whole journey takes about 5 hours and 30 minutes,[1] divided roughly evenly between the boat and train rides, and operates once a day in both directions, almost daily (except on Mondays) between mid-April and mid-October.

The section on Lake Lucerne is normally operated by a historic paddle steamer, whilst the train uses air-conditioned 1st class coaches with panoramic windows.

The Swiss South Eastern Railway (German: Südostbahn, SOB) operates hourly InterRegio (IR26/46) services (named Treno Gottardo, lit.

in addition, direct trains (InterCity/IC and EuroCity/EC) also operate between Lucerne, Bellinzona and Lugano via the less scenic but shorter Gotthard Base Tunnel route.