Montreux railway station

Updated on Dec 22, 2023

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Elevation 390 m (1,280 ft) Connection PostBus Switzerland		Opened 1861 Platforms in use 7

Location Avenue des Alpes 74 1820 Montreux Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut, Vaud Switzerland Operated by SBB-CFF-FFS Montreux-Oberland Bernois Transports Montreux–Vevey–Riviera Connections Postauto and Vevey–Montreux–Chillon–Villeneuve buses Address Avenue des Alpes 45, 1820 Montreux, Switzerland Similar GoldenPass Line, Rochers de Naye, Montreux–Glion–Rochers‑de‑Naye railway, Alps, Chillon Castle

Montreux railway station (French: Gare de Montreux) is the largest of the railway stations serving the municipality of Montreux, in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

All of the SBB-CFF-FFS standard gauge passenger trains operating on the Simplon railway line call at this station, which is also the western terminus of the GoldenPass Line narrow gauge railway lines to Zweisimmen and to Rochers de Naye.

History

Montreux railway station was opened in 1861, when the then Jura–Simplon Railway (JS) opened the Lausanne–Villeneuve section of its standard gauge Simplon railway line to Sion. This line is now owned and operated by SBB-CFF-FFS.

In 1901, the station became a junction station upon the opening of the first section of the metre gauge Montreux-Oberland Bernois railway (MOB), between Montreux and its higher altitude suburb of Les Avants. In 1903, the MOB was extended to Montbovon.

In 1909, the Glion–Montreux section of the Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye rack railway was opened, as an extension of the 800 mm (2 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in) Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway, opened in 1892. It is now operated by Transports Montreux–Vevey–Riviera.

Location

The station is on a hillside above the lake.

Access to and from Montreux's main street, Grand Rue, is by escalators, elevators and stairs. The Rue de la Gare provides access to and from the old town, which is divided from the lake shore by the standard gauge railway tracks.

Layout

The station complex is in many ways a rarity. Montreux is most distinctive for being one of the few stations in the world (and the only station in Switzerland) served by three different rail gauges: SBB-CFF-FFS 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in), MOB 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) and MVR 800 mm (2 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in). Its having three gauges is something shared by Gare de Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the French Pyrénées.

Second, access from the station building to the railway platforms is from the second floor, not the ground floor, due to the slope of the city, while the service facilities are at ground floor level, and access to the underpass can be found on the first floor.

Apart from these unusual features, the station also lacks a track 2. In the past, the designation track 2 was allocated to a passing loop not equipped with a platform. However, in 2006, as part of work done to increase the height of the platforms to 55 centimetres (22 in), this track was provided with a platform and renamed track 1, and the former platform 1 was removed.

The SBB-CFF-FFS serves the main platform with track 1, and also operates track 3, which, together with the MOB tracks 4 (east half) and 5 (western half), serves a centre platform. Track 4 partially divides that platform in two.

Tracks 6, 7 and 8 serve a further central platform, which is similarly partially divided in two by track 7. Track 8, operated by the MVR, is situated underneath both a hotel and the MOB/MVR headquarters, known as the GoldenPass Centre.

Whereas tracks 4 and 7 are used by regional traffic to and from Fontanivent, Sonzier and Les Avants, tracks 5 and 6 are for trains to and from Zweisimmen.

Long distance

TGV Brig – Visp – Sion – Martigny – Aigle – Montreux – Lausanne – Vallorbe – Dijon – Paris-Gare de Lyon (seasonal)

EC Genève-Cornavin – Lausanne – Montreux – Sion – Brig – Domodossola – Milano Centrale (– Venezia Santa Lucia) (four times daily, one train pair to Venice)

IR Genève-Aéroport – Genevè-Cornavin – Lausanne – Vevey – Montreux – Aigle – Sion – Sierre - Leuk – Visp – Brig (twice hourly, one of them with additional stops at Gland, Renens, Bex and Saint-Maurice)

RE Saint-Maurice – Aigle – Montreux – Vevey – Lausanne (combined during peak times)

REV

The Réseau Express Vaudois (REV) serves Montreux every hour with two lines:

S 1 Yverdon-les-Bains – Lausanne – Vevey – La Tour-de-Peilz – Clarens – Montreux – Veytaux-Chillon – Villeneuve

S 3 Allaman – Lausanne – Vevey – Montreux – Villeneuve (runs faster between Lausanne and Montreux)

MOB

GP Montreux - Chernex - Chamby – Montbovon – Château-d’Œx – Saanen – Gstaad – Zweisimmen (– Lenk)

R Montreux – Fontanivent (hourly, weekdays only)

R Montreux – Sonzier (hourly)

R Montreux – Les Avants (weekdays only)

MTGN

R Montreux – Glion – Caux – Rochers-de-Naye

Bus traffic

A total of three VMCV bus stops serve the station:

Vernex-Dessus on motor bus lines 4,5 and 6;

Montreux Gare on motor bus lines 4,5 and 6;

Escalier de la Gare on trollybus line 1, access via escalators to Grand Boulevard.

References

Montreux railway station Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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