Combining beauty and luxury with twenty first century technical excellence, Switzerland’s most up-to-date panoramic educate adventure ultimately begins offevolved on December 11 — 3 years later than deliberate and a hundred and fifty years after it turned into first proposed.
The new Golden Pass Express (GPX) will at once join 3 of the usa’s maximum vital vacationer destinations: Montreux, Gstaad and Interlaken, a unique direction made feasible via way of means of modern new trains able to converting the gauge in their wheels and the peak in their train bodies.
Thanks to the precise layout of the brand new trains, passengers can continue to be of their cushty seats at some point of the 3-and-a-zone hour journey, immersing themselves withinside the ever-converting view via sizable panoramic windows.
The awesome adventure, taking in a number of Europe’s maximum stunning lakes, secluded valleys and excessive mountain passes, cuts throughout the grain of important Switzerland, following a alternate direction that has existed because the Middle Ages.
The end result is a in reality memorable adventure for vacationers, however one which has usually been a hard mission for railway engineers and operators.
Until now, the Golden Pass Express idea has been in large part a advertising workout for the 3 railway businesses involved, linking the tourism hotspots of Montreux, Interlaken and Luzern however requiring modifications of educate.
As a end result, the GPX has in no way captured the creativeness of travelers withinside the identical manner because the mythical Glacier Express.
From December though, one of these interruptions might be removed and the Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) Railway is assured that its elegant new GPX panoramic trains will boom the recognition of the direction, in particular with global site visitors looking a continuing enjoy.
In only a few seconds, the trains can transfer from the meter-gauge song of the MOB to the Swiss general gauge of 1,435 millimeters, getting rid of the want for via passengers to exalternate trains en direction. Between Zweisimmen and Interlaken, the trains run over the tracks of the Bern Lotschberg Simplon (BLS), Switzerland’s biggest personal railway.
Trains which could exalternate gauge (the space among their wheels) are not anything new — Spanish Talgo trains were capable of transfer among general gauge (1,435 millimeters) and wider Iberian tracks for decades, however the GPX trains have an brought degree of complexity that makes them a global first.
Immersive experience
As properly as converting gauge, the state-of-the-art vans underneath every carriage improve the peak of the frame to in shape the better structures of the BLS stations.
The exalternate in gauge is facilitated via way of means of designing the vans with half-frames, that could slide 435 millimeters sideways relative to every different. To do that, they were prepared with impartial wheel pairs with out an axle in among the 2 aspects of the bogie.
The elegant carriages are a collaboration among Swiss educate builder Stadler, international delivery large Alstom, which designed and constructed the gauge-converting bogies, and the mythical Italian layout studio Pininfarina.
Famous generally for its automobile creations, from Ferrari to Peugeot, Pininfarina is some distance from new to the rail industry. It turned into answerable for the outside appearance of Italy’s ETR500 excessive-velocity educate, Eurostar’s outdoors colour scheme and, again in 1993, Pininfarina and MOB labored collectively on a preceding era of trains referred to as the Crystal Panoramic Express.
“Having to cope with new protection requirements has been a stimulus to our creativity, in preference to a limitation,” stated Alfredo Palma, layout challenge supervisor at Pininfarina.
“In each challenge, whether or not it’s miles automobile, transportation or architecture, our purpose is to create stunning items at the same time as overcoming technical or regulatory obstacles. With MOB we’ve created a educate that gives an immersive tour enjoy, in overall symbiosis with the splendor of the encompassing nature.”
Costing $93.five million (89 million Swiss Francs) for simply 23 vehicles, they may be an high priced strategy to a hassle relationship again a hundred and fifty years, whilst an immediate provider among Montreux and Interlaken turned into first proposed.
However, that value might be balanced towards the apparent blessings of supplying a greater handy direct provider — and the extra passengers it’s miles possibly to attract. Many of these passengers might be global site visitors from North America and Asia, familiar with paying top class fares to enjoy the pleasant of Switzerland’s splendid Alpine surroundings from its myriad scenic railways.
Technological challenge
Despite the delays as a result of production troubles and the Covid-19 pandemic, MOB and its partners — BLS, the cantons of Bern, Fribourg and Vaud and the Swiss Federal Office for Transport — agree with that the funding will make a right away contribution to the region’s economy.
“With the Golden Pass Express we are facing a awesome technological challenge, transferring from slim gauge to traditional gauge,” stated Georges Oberson, wellknown supervisor of MOB.
“We additionally desired this vacationer educate to be stunning and elegant. That’s why we assigned the mission to Pininfarina, one of the maximum prestigious layout businesses withinside the global.”
Passengers have a preference of 3 classes — Second Class, First Class or, for 28 fortunate human beings in keeping with journey, the posh of reclining leather-based seats in Prestige Class. First and Prestige Class vacationers also can ee-e book an at-seat provider of domestically produced food and drinks to decorate the adventure.
Initially, the brand new GPX trains will run via from Montreux to Interlaken and vice-versa simply as soon as a day, leaving Montreux at 9:35 a.m. and Interlaken at 9:08 a.m.
From June 11, 2023, the provider will ramp as much as 4 go back journeys in keeping with day, leaving Montreux at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m., 12:35 p.m. and 2:35 p.m. and returning at 9:08 a.m., 11:08 a.m., 2:08 p.m. and 4:08 p.m.
Stunning views
What can vacationers anticipate from a GPX adventure, and the way does it evaluate to different scenic railways?
Heading east, the journey begins offevolved at the seashorelines of Lake Geneva withinside the stunning city of Montreux — domestic to the global-well-known Jazz Festival and generations of musicians and artists. A tourism hotspot for greater than a hundred and fifty years, it stays extremely famous with global site visitors and a perfect base for exploring western and central Switzerland.
From their city middle station, MOB trains climb quick up the mountain aspect, an increasing number of lovely perspectives of the lake switching from aspect-to-aspect because the educate negotiates a sequence of 180-diploma turns via the vineyards to benefit height.
Eventually, whilst it could climb no further, the road dives into the 2.five-kilometer Jaman Tunnel, in the end rising into the superb Hongrin Valley withinside the bucolic Gruyere region — well-known for its dairy cows, and the cheese and chocolate crafted from their milk.
High mountains tower over lush inexperienced valleys because the MOB winds via cautiously manicured farmland and similarly neat Alpine villages.
After leaving the junction station of Montbovon, the road begins offevolved to climb again, passing Chateau d’Oex to attain the global-well-known hotel of Gstaad — a long-installed wintry weather playground for the wealthy and well-known.
Having crossed the linguistic divide among French-talking Canton Vaud and Canton Bern, in which Swiss-German dominates, the railway passes via in moderation populated highland usa to the summit of the road earlier than losing via a sequence of loops into Zweisimmen.
Previously, GPX passengers might exalternate from their MOB panoramic educate right into a larger, greater traditional BLS educate to retain their adventure, however they are able to now loosen up of their seats because the educate passes over the complicated gauge-converting device for the subsequent leg.
As its call suggests, Zweisimmen stands on the confluence of hands of the River Simme — the Gross Simme and Klein Simme. Our direction follows the unified river north after which east via the stunning Simmental for 35 kilometers, attaining the seashorelines of Lake Thun at Spiez.
Spiez is a primary railway junction in which our direction crosses the global predominant line from Basel and Bern to Italy thru the Lötschberg and Simplon Tunnels.
Daytrippers can exalternate right here to revel in a awesome trip over the unique Lötschberg mountain direction to Brig withinside the Rhone Valley earlier than returning direct to Montreux.
Unforgettable journeys
But the GPX maintains along Lake Thun, step by step descending to the water’s aspect for the memorable very last leg to its vacation spot and Switzerland’s unique vacationer hotspot — Interlaken.
In the literal subculture of many German region names, Interlaken is precisely that — a city sitting on a slim stretch of dry land among of Switzerland’s biggest lakes — Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.
A famous vacation spot in its personal right, it is also the start line for a number of Switzerland’s maximum unforgettable journeys — now no longer least the 3-degree journey via the north face of the Eiger to Jungfraujoch — Europe’s maximum railway station at 3,454 meters (11,332 feet).
You also can retain via way of means of Zentralbahn panoramic educate to Luzern thru Meiringen and the Brunig Pass. Meiringen is a “should see” for Sherlock Holmes fans, near the Reichenbach Falls, in which Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional hero and his nemesis fell to their death.
Like a lot of Europe’s scenic railways, MOB is based closely on tourism. Over the remaining 3 years, it’s been hit tough via way of means of the regulations on global tour and the continued absence of site visitors from key markets in Asia. According to latest surveys, passenger numbers aren’t predicted to go back to pre-Covid degrees till 2024 on the earliest.
However, with the lovely new GPX trains, MOB has created an brought enchantment to the Golden Pass direction as a way to seemingly permit many new site visitors to enjoy this underrated gem of a adventure.
