R3 (RER Vaud)

The R3 is a railway service of RER Vaud that provides hourly service between Vallorbe and Bex in the Swiss canton of Vaud. A limited number of trains continue to St-Maurice. Swiss Federal Railways, the national railway company of Switzerland, operates the service. The service was previously known as the S3.

R3
An S2 at Arnex in 2009; the S2 became the S3 in December 2022
Overview
Predecessor	S2 S5
First service	11 December 2022 (2022-12-11)
Current operator(s)	Swiss Federal Railways
Route
Termini	Vallorbe St-Maurice
Stops	22
Distance travelled	97.9 kilometres (60.8 mi)
Average journey time	1 hour 32 minutes (Vallorbe–Bex) 4 minutes (Bex–St-Maurice)
Service frequency	Hourly
Line(s) used	Simplon line
Route map Legend hh:mm R4 to Le Brassus Regional services to Pontarlier 0:00 Vallorbe R4 0:04 0:05 Le Day R4 0:11 Bretonnières R4 0:14 Croy-Romainmôtier R4 0:19 Arnex R4 0:24 La Sarraz R4 R1 R2 to Yverdon-les-Bains Funicular to Cossonay 0:31 Cossonay-Penthalaz R1 R2 R4 0:36 Bussigny R1 R2 R4 R8 R9 to Allaman to Lausanne-Flon 0:39 0:40 Renens VD 0:43 Prilly-Malley 0:47 0:48 Lausanne Lausanne-Gare to Croisettes to Ouchy–Olympique R8 R9 S40 S41 to Palézieux 0:51 Pully R1 R2 R4 0:54 Lutry R1 R2 R4 0:57 Cully R1 R2 R4 R7 to Palézieux Regional services to Les Pléiades 1:05 Vevey R4 R7 1:07 La Tour-de-Peilz R4 1:09 Burier R4 1:12 Clarens R4 1:14 Montreux R4 Regional services to Les Avants Regional services to Les Rochers-de-Naye 1:18 Villeneuve VD R4 1:22 Roche VD Regional services to Leysin Regional services to Les Diablerets 1:26 Aigle R4 Regional services to Monthey-Ville Regional services to Villars-sur-Ollon 1:32 Bex R4 Regional services to Monthey 1:37 St-Maurice R4 R91 Regional services to Martigny [1][2] This diagram: view talk edit

Operations

The R3 operates every hour between Vallorbe and Bex, using the western end of the Simplon line. The R3 makes a limited number of stops between Lausanne and Bex. The R3 is paired with the R4 between Le Day and Bex, providing half-hourly service. Both the R3 and R4 provide limited service beyond Bex to St-Maurice.^[3]

History

See also: S2 (RER Vaud) § History, and S5 (RER Vaud) § History

The "first" S3 was one of the six original lines of the RER Vaud, then called the Vaud Express Network (French: Réseau express vaudois, REV), when that system was established in December 2004. It ran hourly between Allaman and Villeneuve VD, on the Simplon line.^[4] With the December 2020 timetable change, the S3 was cut back to Lausanne, with the S5 taking over the Lausanne–Villeneuve service.^[5]

The RER Vaud lines were substantially reorganized for the December 2022 timetable change. The "new" S3 was a combination of the former S2 and S5, making local stops on the Simplon line between Vallorbe and Aigle, with limited service from Aigle to St-Maurice.^[6] On 10 December 2023, all RER Vaud lines were renamed as "R" and a number, instead of "S".^[7] In December 2024, the R3 was extended from Aigle to Bex, the service from Bex to St-Maurice was taken over by the RE33 service.^[8]