Montreux railway station

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.

Montreux
The station building in 2020
General information
Location	Avenue des Alpes 74 Montreux Switzerland
Coordinates	46°26′9.1500″N 6°54′37.5631″E
Elevation	395 m (1,296 ft)
Owned by	Swiss Federal Railways
Line(s)	Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye line Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line Simplon line
Distance	24.5 km (15.2 mi) from Lausanne[1]
Platforms	7
Tracks	8
Train operators	Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway Swiss Federal Railways Transports Montreux–Vevey–Riviera
Connections	VMCV buses trolleybuses [2]
Construction
Parking	Yes (281 spaces)
Bicycle facilities	Yes (62 spaces)
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	8501300 (MX)
IATA code	ZJP
Fare zone	73 (mobilis)[3]
Website	SBB website
History
Opened	1861 (1861)
Passengers
2023	17'600 per weekday[4] (MOB, MVR, SBB)
Services
Preceding station SBB CFF FFS Following station Vevey towards Geneva Airport IR 90 Aigle towards Brig IR 95 Vevey towards Annemasse or Geneva Airport RE33 Villeneuve VD towards St-Maurice or Martigny Veytaux-Chillon towards St-Maurice or Martigny Clarens towards Lausanne RegioExpress Limited service Villeneuve VD towards St-Maurice Preceding station RER Vaud Following station Clarens towards Vallorbe R3 Villeneuve VD towards Bex Clarens towards Le Brassus or Vallorbe R4 Territet towards Bex Preceding station Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway Following station Terminus GoldenPass Express Montbovon towards Interlaken Ost PE30 Fontanivent towards Zweisimmen R34 Montreux-Collège towards Les Avants or Château-d'Oex Preceding station Transports Montreux–Vevey–Riviera Following station Terminus R37 Montreux-Les Planches towards Rochers-de-Naye
Location Montreux Location in Switzerland Show map of Switzerland Montreux Location in the canton of Vaud Show map of Canton of Vaud

All of the SBB-CFF-FFS standard gauge passenger trains operating on the Simplon 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.^[1]

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–Lenk im Simmental line, between Montreux and its higher-altitude suburb of Les Avants. In 1903, the MOB was extended to Montbovon.

In 1909, the Chemin de fer Montreux–Glion opened the Montreux–Glion section of the Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway line rack railway was opened, as an extension of the original 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) line of Chemin de fer Glion–Rochers-de-Naye, 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 track gauges:^[5] 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.^[6]

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.

Services

As of the December 2024 timetable change,^[update] the following services call at Montreux:^[7]

Swiss Federal Railways

• InterRegio: half-hourly service between Geneva Airport and Brig.
• RegioExpress:
  • half-hourly service (hourly on weekends) between Annemasse and St-Maurice, and hourly service from St-Maurice to Martigny. On weekends, hourly service to Geneva Airport.
  • two round-trips in each direction between Lausanne and St-Maurice.

RER Vaud

• RER Vaud R3 / R4: half-hourly (hourly on weekends) service between Vallorbe and Bex; hourly service to Le Brassus; limited service from Bex to St-Maurice.

Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line

• GoldenPass Express: four round-trips to Interlaken Ost via Zweisimmen.
• Panorama Express / Regio: half-hourly service to Les Avants or Château-d'Oex and hourly service to Zweisimmen.

Transports Montreux–Vevey–Riviera

• Regio: hourly service to 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 trolleybus line 1, access via escalators to Grand Boulevard.

See also

• Trains portal
• Switzerland portal

• Montreux
• SBB-CFF-FFS
• Montreux-Oberland Bernois
• Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line
• Transports Montreux–Vevey–Riviera
• Rail transport in Switzerland