Interlaken West railway station

Interlaken West is a railway station in the resort town of Interlaken, in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is on the Thunersee line of the BLS AG, and is one of two stations in the town, the other being Interlaken Ost. In addition to trains operated directly by the BLS, the station is also reached by passenger trains of the Swiss Federal Railways and Deutsche Bahn.^[4]

Interlaken West
The station platforms in 2019
General information
Location	Bahnhofstrasse 28 Interlaken Switzerland
Coordinates	46°40′56″N 07°51′05″E
Elevation	563 m (1,847 ft)
Owned by	BLS AG
Line(s)	Lake Thun line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Train operators	BLS AG Deutsche Bahn Swiss Federal Railways
Connections	PostAuto AG Verkehrsbetriebe STI[1] BLS AG on Lake Thun
Construction
Parking	61
Other information
Station code	IW
Fare zone	750 (Libero)[2]
Passengers
2023	6'500 per weekday[3] (BLS, SBB)
Services
Preceding station BLS Following station Spiez Terminus RE9 Interlaken Ost Terminus Spiez towards Montreux GoldenPass Express Preceding station DB Fernverkehr Following station Spiez towards Berlin Ostbahnhof ICE 12 Interlaken Ost Terminus Spiez towards Hamburg-Altona ICE 20 Interlaken Ost One-way operation Preceding station Swiss Federal Railways Following station Spiez towards Hamburg-Altona EuroCity Interlaken Ost Terminus Spiez towards Basel SBB IC 61 Spiez towards Romanshorn IC 81
Location Interlaken West Location within Switzerland Show map of Switzerland Interlaken West Interlaken West (Canton of Bern) Show map of Canton of Bern

The lines through the station are standard gauge and are electrified at 15 kV AC. There are two tracks, narrowing to a single track at either end of the station, and each track is served by a side platform. The station building is situated on the eastern platform.^[4]

The station also provides an interchange with the local bus network provided by PostBus Switzerland and the regional bus line to Thun provided by Verkehrsbetriebe STI. Ships of the BLS-owned fleet on Lake Thun serve a quay at Interlaken West, which they access via the 2.75-kilometre (1.71 mi) long Interlaken ship canal.

History

Originally known simply as Interlaken, Interlaken West was the first station to be opened in the town, when the Bödelibahn railway reached it from Därligen, on Lake Thun in 1872. Two years later the railway was extended to Bönigen, on Lake Brienz, via Interlaken Zollhaus station.^[5]

Over time, Zollhaus station became the more important station, being also served by the Brünig railway and the Bernese Oberland railway. As a result, Interlaken station was renamed Interlaken West, and Interlaken Zollhaus was renamed Interlaken Ost.^[5]

Services

As of the December 2023 timetable change,^[update] the following services stop at Interlaken West; all eastbound/southbound trains terminate in Interlaken Ost:^[6][7]

• EuroCity / InterCity / Intercity Express (ICE): hourly or better service to Basel SBB. Most northbound trains terminate in Basel; a single EuroCity and an ICE continue to Hamburg-Altona and one ICE continues to Berlin Ostbahnhof.
• InterCity: service every two hours to Romanshorn.
• RegioExpress: service every two hours to Spiez.
• GoldenPass Express: 4 daily round-trips between Montreux and Interlaken Ost.

References

1. "Liniennetz Interlaken und Umgebung" (PDF) (in German). Libero. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
2. "Zonenplan Plan des Zones" (PDF) (in German and French). Libero. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
3. "Passagierfrequenz (2023)". Interlaken, Switzerland: SBB CFF FFS. 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2024 – via data.sbb.ch – SBB DATA PORTAL.
4. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Verlag Schweers + Wall GmbH. 2012. p. 82. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
5. "The history of BLS Navigation". BLS AG. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
6. "Bern - Thun - Spiez - Interlaken" (PDF) (in German). 25 October 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
7. "Abfahrt: Bahnhof/Station Interlaken West" (PDF). BLS AG (in German and English). 10 December 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

External links

• Media related to Interlaken West railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Interlaken West railway station – SBB