Hello and welcome back to another video. Today I'm in St Gallen in Switzerland, and I'm going
to be travelling down to Luzern. For this journey I'll be travelling with Schweizerische Südostbahn
on-board one of their brand-new Traverso FLIRT trains, in a spectacular looking bronze livery.
I'll also be in First Class, so this is a journey to look forward to - let's go!
Welcome to Bahnhof St. Gallen, the main station of this major Swiss city.
As one would hope and expect, the station is well connected by city buses,
but also serves as a hub for the narrow gauge Appenzell Railway,
running with tram-like trains on local services through the picturesque local area.
St.
Gallen station features a simple modern entrance,
opened in 2018 when the station had its last overhaul.
The main platforms of the station are covered by this trainshed,
its construction finishing in 1915. It's an interesting combination of eras for sure.
Heading into the underpass, you can find a decent selection of shops and food outlets.
Buuut believe me, you will have a hard time finding something reasonably priced down here,
as is often the case in Switzerland.
My train today is the 11:05 InterRegio to Luzern.
This service is part of the hourly Voralpen Express train,
originally carrying this name from 1992. The name 'Vor-Alpen' literally means Pre-Alps.
Today's route takes us from the Swiss city of St Gallen,
not far from the Austrian border. We head west, running across Lake Zürich,
before navigating the impressive gradients through the mountains of the Schwyz canton.
Finally, we run along Lake Luzern, into its titular city's main station.
The Voralpen-Express is operated with eight car Stadler FLIRT units, consisting of two
four car sections coupled together in a fixed formation. Today's ride will be 526 121/221,
one of the newest trains in the SOB fleet, just entering service in 2021.
Now, first things first, these units look absolutely outstanding in this bronze livery!
The trains, nicknamed the 'Traverso' are used on SOB's three premier routes.
The Voralpen-Express, the Treno Gottardo, and the Aare Linth.
Anyway, it's time to get on board. Like with most Stadler trains,
level-boarding is provided in the form of a sliding step.
First off, the Second Class end of the train has a children's compartment, with storage
for pushchairs included, as well as lots of cartoony decals covering the walls and tables.
Second Class is laid out in a 2+2 formation, mostly at bays of four.
With its rich red fabric, and wooden seating frames,
the Second Class carriages still look like a really appealling offering for this journey.
Six of the carriages are dedicated to Second Class,
with First Class being found in the remaining two. This is in a hybrid 2+1 and 1+1 layout,
and I don't think calling this carriage just merely spacious gives it enough credit!
Seats can be reserved at an additional cost of 5 Swiss Francs, but I didn't make a reservation,
and as such, I chose seat 216, situated here in coach number 2.
This is at a bay of two, found in the elevated portion above the wheels.
Departure is on-time, as we begin the two and a quarter hour long trip.
Shortly after leaving, the train begins to ascend, climbing towards our first stop,
Herisau. The route of the Voralpen Express sees plenty of elevation changes,
ranging from about 400m to 920m above sea level.
At first, I was concerned that I would be let down by the weather today,
with a thick layer of fog covering the surroundings.
However, only a couple of minutes later, this fear was completely erased,
with the sun coming out and illuminating the surreal beauty of the Swiss landscape.
Twenty five minutes later, we arrive into Wattwil, serving as an interchange for various lines on
the St Gallen S-bahn commuter network, as well as the town itself being a Swiss Heritage site.
So let's take a quick look at the interior.
It really does go without saying that the interior aesthetic was an aspect
of this train that they really paid attention to.
I particularly like the dot-pattern mountain decals between the windows,
which really complete the contemporary design of the train.
Though, having said that, the spotlights above the wall mounted coathooks are also really classy.
Moving on to seat comfort, I'm pleased to report that these slick black seats
are well padded and shaped, making for a relaxing and comfortable journey.
A smart leather headrest also sits atop this seat.
The seat's recline function can be controlled with this lever beneath the cushion.
Every seat has a pair of armrests, meaning no elbow bashing with your neighbour passengers.
All seats also have a small table with a cupholder, but in the 1+1 seating area,
you get an additional table beside your seat, which also has room for luggage.
Further luggage space can be found in the massive overhead racks.
As well as in the luggage stacks and coat storage between seats.
Basic catering is available on the Traverso, taking the form of a hot
drinks machine and vending machine found in both Coach 3 and Coach 6.
I opted for a hot chocolate at a cost of 2.5 CHF, and it was very nice!
The vending machine has a selection of snacks and drinks, including the
branded 'Traverso' wine and beer selection,
though I wasn't tempted by these prices, and especially not at this time in the morning.
Anyway, back in my seat, let's continue looking around the carriage.
Power sockets can be found at every table, though unsurprisingly they are of the Swiss
design, so you may be unable to fit some European plugs.
Windows are fitted with some blinds, but like on most other Stadler products I've travelled on,
the mesh is not dense enough to be of much use.
All seats also have individual reading lights, found on the overhead luggage racks.
One thing I noticed was the lack of at-seat bins, which is really strange for trains like this...
...though turns out it's just really well hidden, under the cup holders.
The next station is Uznach.
Here we can see one of SOB's regular Stadler FLIRT units, which are used on some shorter routes,
as well as to strengthen some of the busiest Voralpen Express trains.
By the way, SOB has an on-board magazine, called Essenz.
This contains a bunch of local features and destination information, as well as a route map.
A brief look at the toilet confirms that it is in good condition, and good working order.
After passing through a few more stations,
namely Schmerikon and Rapperswill SG, we pass along the Seedamm across Lake Zürich.
This serves as the border between the Sankt Gallen canton, and the Schwyz canton.
Not long after the crossing, the train arrives into Pfäffikon SZ,
a junction station that also serves the town of the same name.
Being under 30km from Zürich, you can even see some of the city's S-bahn trains,
such as this Desiro DD running through to Winterthur.
And it's here that the really impressive stretch of line begins,
with the train effortlessly navigating the harsh 1:20 gradients.
You could really feel the train as it shifts up the mountain,
and I hope it's clear in the video as well.
At the top of this first ascent is Samstagern Service Centre, for maintenance of SOB trains.
I do wonder how much of a challenge it must be to drag a failed unit all the way up here!
At this point, we have already climbed over 200m since Pfäffikon, but we keep going higher.
Until 2019, the Voralpen Express route was operated by a motley selection of
locomotives and motor cars with hauled stock. As the train service increased in popularity,
so did the number of carriages, which eventually needed many trains to have
multiple locomotives in the formation, so that they could handle the steep climbs.
After a long climb, we finally arrive into our next station, Biberbrugg.
It sits at an elevation of 829m,
and also serves the village of Biberbrugg, which owes much of its significance to the railway.
Next, we continue to climb to a final elevation of 923m, at Rothenthurm.
This gives us a great opportunity to revel in the spectacular scenery of the Schwyz canton.
And as they say, what goes up, must come down,
with the train descending by over 400m into Arth-Goldau.
Below us is the mainline from Zürich to Lugano, and on to Italy.
One thing you notice when travelling on Swiss trains is how incredibly well
connected everything is. Just think about how many interchanges we've already stopped at.
Arth-Goldau is a major junction station,
also serving as the start point for the adjacent Gotthard Panorama Express
to Lugano, this being a scenic three hour train ride with large panoramic windows.
The station is also a stop on the Switzerland to Italy EuroCity trains,
such as this high-speed New Pendolino.
So, it's time to run through how much this journey costs.
I was travelling on an Interrail pass for this trip, meaning I just used that to travel.
I planned at short notice, so a flexible ticket in First Class would have cost 84 CHF,
and on this 78 mile journey that gives a very high price per mile of 85p!
It's worth mentioning that big savings are possible if you travel in Second Class,
on a fixed train ticket, and use the Half-Fare card,
where the price can be under a quarter of this, at just 19.4 CHF.
Of course in Switzerland, everything is pretty expensive,
so this is actually reasonable value for the country's railways.
We're now riding around the edge of Lake Luzern, as we approach our final destination.
By the way, here's one special feature I forgot. These trains have stop buttons
fitted at the tables. I don't know if these routes have request stops,
but it does let you open the doors from your seat, if that's something that you want to do.
The next station is Luzern Verkehrshaus, home to the Swiss Museum of Transport.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit this on my rushed itinerary,
so leave a comment if you think it's worth a visit.
In conclusion, I really liked the SOB Traverso train. Whilst it's a shame I never got to ride
the older loco-hauled stock, which now operates Railtours in Hungary by the way,
I think the experience was perfect for a modern traveller. The ambience is super smart,
the seating comfortable, and for a regional train the catering is pretty good too.
We're now arriving into Luzern, on-time at 13:21.
So, what do you make of the SOB Traverso? As I'm leaving the train,
why not take this opportunity to leave a comment with your thoughts?
Thanks for watching my video on this train. If you enjoyed,
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I hope you enjoyed the video, and I look forward to seeing you again on my next journey.