Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway (MOB) / BLS AG — joint operation with automatic gauge-changing fleet
Switzerland
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The Journey
Navigate from Montreux Railway Station (CFF/SBB + MOB interchange, 392 m) to Interlaken Ost Railway Station (BLS, 567 m) across a span of 191km.
Scenery Highlights
Lavaux vineyard terraces (UNESCO 2007) — the entire south-facing slope between Montreux and Chexbres is a UNESCO-designated 800 ha wine-growing landscape of Chasselas grape cultivation, visible at the very start of the route and again on the Lavaux approach to Lausanne for travellers continuing to Geneva
Château de Chillon — 11th-century lakeside castle on Montreux departure (visible from the train windows on the eastern side of Montreux station)
Gstaad ski and summer resort (1,050 m) — premier alpine village with chalet hotels (Gstaad Palace, Park Gstaad, The Alpina), pedestrianised main street, and Zugerberg-style lake vistas; the railway station is the historic arrival point of MOB trains since 1905
Saanenmöser pass summit (1,272 m) — the topographic high point of the MOB section where the railway crests the watershed between the Simmental and the Saanenland
Zweisimmen gauge-change technical marvel — the only through-running metre-gauge ↔ standard-gauge panorama service in Europe (since 11 December 2022); passengers remain seated for the 90-second gauge and height transition
Simmental valley vineyards and castles — the Weissenburg castle ruin above the Simme river at Därstetten, with traditional Simmental brown-and-white cattle pastures lining the valley floor
Spiez bay on Lake Thun — extensive Lake Thun views arrive as the BLS section descends into the lake basin, with the bay's 12th-century Spiez Castle visible from the train
Interlaken twin-lake and triple-mountain panorama — the Bernese Oberland's iconic photograph of Thunersee + Brienzersee framed by the Eiger (3,970 m), Mönch (4,107 m) and Jungfrau (4,158 m) rising immediately above the Interlaken Ost terminus
Château-d'Œx hot-air balloon alpine meadow (986 m) — the MOB section's signature open-meadow swing through the Pays-d'Enhaut, with the famous International Hot Air Balloon Festival holding its annual January launch from Château-d'Œx (visible from the train in summer)
Lauenensee glacial lake (1,381 m) — hidden mountain tarn just north of the Saanenmöser pass in the MOB service area, visible from the train on clear days
Meals: At-seat dining service included (regional Swiss aperitif + 3-course lunch / brunch)
Ensuite: No
Meals: None (bistro trolley service available for purchase)
Ensuite: No
Meals: None (bistro trolley service available for purchase)
Ensuite: No
Engine / Locomotive
Stadler GPX 21–27 seven-car low-floor electric multiple unit (EMU) — Bombardier-Brown Boveri / ABB traction motors fed via overhead line
Locomotive Weight
N/A (electric multiple unit — 56 tonnes per car, 7-car trainset total ~390 tonnes unladen)
Track Gauge
1,000 mm (metre gauge) Montreux → Zweisimmen; 1,435 mm (standard gauge) Zweisimmen → Interlaken Ost — automatic gauge change en route
Braking Technology
Electric regenerative braking on both MOB and BLS sections; disc brakes on all axles; spring-loaded parking brakes; emergency pneumatic backup throughout the seven-car formation
Route Engineering Challenges
Design and certification of the SPAS / Eurailscout variable-gauge and height-adjusting bogie — the first such system authorised for regular passenger service in Europe (operational since 11 December 2022) — requiring simultaneous mechanical wheel-width adjustment, car-body height shift, and electrical transition under live overhead wire
Construction of the dual-gauge SPAS track section at Zweisimmen station — a 50 m gauge-changing track installation with parallel MOB and BLS pick-up shoes, platform-height-adjustment beams, and redundant electro-mechanical interlocks
Joint procurement and operation by two Swiss railway operators (MOB and BLS) with unified rolling stock, unified customer-facing brand (gpx.swiss), and unified timetable — first such joint service across two independently-operated networks in Switzerland
Construction of the seven trainsets to operate on TWO incompatible electrification systems (900 V DC overhead on MOB and 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC overhead on BLS) with continuous operation across the gauge change — requires on-board multi-voltage traction power electronics developed jointly by Stadler and ABB
Step-free boarding design for both MOB quay-high platforms (350 mm) and BLS full-height platforms (550 mm) — without separate floor heights within the same carriage
Route traverses two different railway-operator networks with unified rolling stock — requiring every component to be MOB-certified AND BLS-certified simultaneously
Maximum gradient 35‰ on the MOB metre-gauge section and 27‰ on the BLS standard-gauge section — requires sufficient adhesive weight on the dual-voltage EMU
Panoramic window design (2.30 m × 1.65 m, double-glazed and laminated) — engineered for both thermal performance in the cold alpine climate and structural rigidity in the 35‰ gradient sections
Acoustic engineering — panoramic windows require active noise-cancelling suspension for acceptable interior noise at 100 km/h on MOB / 140 km/h on BLS
Integration of the rotating Prestige Class seat mechanism into the train-mounted floor anchor without compromising crashworthy crumple-zone performance