Montreux railway station

Montreux railway station (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 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–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 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: SBB-CFF-FFS, MOB and MVR. 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 cm, 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.

Services
the following services call at Montreux:

Swiss Federal Railways

 * InterRegio: half-hourly service between Geneva Airport and Brig.
 * RegioExpress:
 * hourly service between St-Maurice and Annemasse (on weekdays) or Geneva Airport (on weekends).
 * single daily round-trip between Renens VD and St-Maurice.

RER Vaud

 * RER Vaud / : half-hourly (hourly on weekends) service between Vallorbe and Aigle; hourly service to Le Brassus; hourly service to St-Maurice on weekdays.

Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line

 * GoldenPass Express: four round-trips to Interlaken Ost via Zweisimmen.
 * Panorama Express / Regio: half-hourly service to Les Avants 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.