Sunday 15 September 2013

Six Days in Basel; Day 5 - The Golden Pass trains

We’d paid slightly extra for a Swiss Flexi Pass, so that we could take a break between our 3 x day long 'around Switzerland by train' adventures.

The cheaper equivalent class Swiss Pass could have used for three consecutive days, but we didn’t want to be spending more than eight hours on trains three days in a row.
So this was supposed to be a day off from the slightly manic itinerary, a day for exploring Basel and relaxing.

But I found myself wide awake before 8 in the morning, so I called Paul to wake him in his room and persuaded him that the day of leisure could wait, thereby making having paid extra for a Swiss Flexi Pass slightly pointless.

If we were to do the trip again we agreed that we actually would opt for a 3 day Swiss Pays and use it consecutively on days 2-4, followed by a day of leisure on day five and day six would have been for the trip to Strasbourg.

Having been woken, Paul’s mood darkened further when I told him he’d better take a travel sickness pill with his breakfast. Tilting trains make Paul’s stomach turn and the first train of the day was the tilting ICN train from Basel to Lausanne.




So Paul loathed this journey but I loved it. The train went through a spectacular gorge between Delémont and Moutiers and then along the shores of both Lake Biel and Lake Neuchatel for mile after mile.


We changed trains at Lausanne for the short, but spectacular journey by IR train on to Montreux, this is by far the most spectacular stretch of railway along the north shore of Lake Geneva - frequently the train is right upon the shore.





Montreux is where we changed for the MOB train, which shares the station with the mainline (SBB) trains.
I’d spotted in the Thomas Cook timetable (praying btw that its compilers find a new publisher) that our particular train from Montreux was described as a ‘Golden Pass Classic’ train, but wasn’t sure what was meant by this.

To our delight the train was actually a replica of the trains that originally travelled the line and resembled a scaled down ‘Orient Express’. 






It also travelled on a rack railway as it climbed out of Montreux for amazing views of Lake Geneva - sit on the left of the train as it departs from Montreux to make the most of these.

Despite the sporadic screams of delight from the Chinese tourists sharing our carriage, the experience of being conveyed in the equivalent of a comfortable armchair sent Paul off to sleep. 
He now probably holds the distinction of being the only person to have ever slept his way from Montreux to Zweisimmen.

I had to wake him because we had to change trains at Zweisimmen on to our second Golden Pass train of the day.



As per usual we simply crossed the platform from one train to another.
Unlike all of the other scenic trains we had travelled on, the train from Zweisimmen to Interlaken Ost isn’t on a narrow gauge line, so we were soon speeding along with the wind rushing through the open windows, which helped wake Paul up.



Sit on the left of this train, particularly when it departs from Spiez, the railway line hugs the shore of Lake Thun as it makes its way to Interlaken.




Confusion set it in again at Interlaken Ost station. I scanned the departure sheet looking for the ‘Golden Pass train on to Luzern. It’s branded as a Golden Pass train in the Thomas Cook timetable and on the Swiss Rail Map, but it I couldn’t see it listed.


The penny gradually dropped, ZB, who operate the route between Interlaken and Luzern has evidently decided to not use the ‘Golden Pass’ branding on its trains. Instead the train was listed as the Luzern-Interlaken express -  even though we were about to set off in the opposite direction from Interlaken Ost station to Luzern.



Of all the trains we took, the difference between 1st and 2nd class was the most minimal on this train.
We decided to have a meal in the restaurant car, the food was reasonably priced in comparison to any other meal in Switzerland, but all the seats had been taken. 
If you wanted to eat on this train, then the lesson learned was that you have to take your seat in the restaurant car as soon as you board.

Sit on the right of the train as it departs from Interlaken for incredible views over Lake Brienz 



and also to make the most of the spectacular ascent from Meiringen.

The train was on a rack railway here, so if you want a rack railway experience in Switzerland, you don’t have to seek out trains, such as the RB line, that ascend mountains.

The ZB trains pull into the main station at Luzern/Lucerne, so it's platforms are beside the mainline trains, so it was  an easy on the one level transfer to the train back to Basel.



Trains taken:
10:03 ICN train from Basel to Lausanne
12:20 IR train from Lausanne to Montreux
13:44 MOB train from Montreux to Zweisimmen (Golden Pass Classic)
15:37 BLS train from Zweisimmen to Interlaken Ost
17:04 ZB train from Interlaken Ost to Luzern

19:54 ICN train from Luzern to Basel arriving at 20:55

1 comment:

  1. This is indeed an informative post! I really like the way you epitomise things. Your blog is certainly interesting one! I am excited to visit Switzerland and explore its endless beauty! Luckily, I have already applied for my Switzerland Schengen visa. I cannot wait to receive it and fly!

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