Today I'm going to be taking a stunning train journey up a mountain,
and down snow covered valleys, on-board Switzerland's NEWEST luxury train!
We'll travel in five star PRESTIGE Class, with its large panoramic windows,
while enjoying the comfort and sampling the on-board service.
This is one of the world's greatest train journeys,
so join me on the ride from Montreux, on the shores of Lake Geneva...via Gstaad
and Zweisimmen, transferring to the extra train, and riding to Interlaken.
Hello and welcome back to another video. Today I'm here on the shores of Lake Geneva in the Swiss
city of Montreux, and I'm going to be travelling on-board Switzerland's newest luxury train. I'm
going to be taking the GoldenPass Express in Prestige Class over to Interlaken - let's go!
Welcome to Montreux, a small yet beautiful city in western Switzerland.
The city serves as the home of the train company we'll be riding today.
Its station opened in 1861, with the narrow gauge line opening forty years later.
The building's façade is truly magnificent,
and has even been officially registered as a building of Swiss cultural significance.
Inside, the station is quite special too, so let's head up to the platforms!
At ground level, you can access the station building,
where you'll find a small shop selling food and drink.
There's also a royal looking staircase, leading up to the ticket office...
...but more accessible options are also available.
Due to the city being built on a slope, the platforms are pretty high up.
Two tracks here are served by mainline trains, operated by the Swiss national railways (or SBB),
the state owned operator of Switzerland. They run both regional and long-distance trains,
with a few international services too!
But my luxury train ride today is operated by one of Switzerland's many private operators.
This is MOB, which stands for Montreux Oberland Bernois, the name of the area they serve.
They have a seperate ticket office and waiting area,
located underground at the back of the station.
The area also features a café, in which various ornaments are displayed...
...including a friendly partnership with the Nankai Electric Railway, in Japan.
I've got a video on the exciting Nankai trains coming soon,
make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out!
My train today will be PE 4068, the 09:35 service to Interlaken Ost.
Though as you'll see, we don't quite make it that far.
Anyway, let's head up to the dedicated MOB platforms, ready for departure.
MOB services run on a narrow gauge, with the tracks being just one metre apart.
Most MOB trains are formed of modern units, often built by Swiss company, Stadler.
However, I'll be riding the GoldenPass Express carriages,
which are hauled by a smart electric locomotive.
The GoldenPass Express was built in 2020, entering service in late-2022,
making it just a few months old at the time of recording.
I'm really looking forward to trying this new train,
so let's waste no more time in getting on-board.
I'll be travelling in coach 20, located at the front of the train.
Three classes of travel are available, which we'll fully explore later on. But
I've reserved myself into the highest quality of travel, choosing a seat in Prestige Class.
This consists of just nine large recliner seats, in a special elevated area.
My seat is number 16, in the front row.
Today's route will first see us travelling the entire length of the mountainous MOB route, before
transferring to BLS standard gauge at Zweisimmen for the lakeside route to Interlaken. The journey
is scheduled to take three hours and 15 minutes, to cover 116 kilometres, or about 72 miles.
Departure is on-time, at 09:35, as I've come to expect from a Swiss train.
We pass by MOB's maintenance depot at Montreux, before taking on our first steep incline.
Right after departure, food orders are delivered. These are taken at the time of booking.
I ordered a breakfast box, featuring a croissant with jam and butter.
You also get orange juice...and a choice of tea or coffee.
Finally, a small wafer biscuit is included to finish with.
Now, this was a really tasty breakfast, enjoyed with some amazing mountain views.
I'm sure you're wondering how much extra it cost.
Well, I paid 12 CHF for what you saw...which seems expensive, even by Swiss standards!
The first part of the journey is spent slaloming between houses,
as the train doubles back on itself four times to gain altitude.
We get a fantastic view of Lake Geneva,
and some of the Alps straddling Switzerland and France just behind.
As the route is single track, we sometimes have to stop and wait for oncoming trains.
With scenery like this though, I don't mind the delay!
Once we've attained enough height to traverse the mountains,
we head away from the lake, towards the east.
As we continue to climb, the landscape around us begins to get a bit snowy.
I made this journey towards the end of the winter season,
enjoying both snowy and vivid green scenery in the same trip.
This is a seriously impressive bit of railway,
with the advantage of the narrow gauge tracks having a smaller profile being ever apparent.
The rails quite literally work their way around cliff edges and forests.
So let's take a look around the interior of this new luxury train!
Seating is in a 2+1 layout, and can all rotate to face the direction of travel.
The comfort is absolutely fantastic, with so much padding available,
while maintaining an ergonomic shape.
There's also a winged headrest, with a generous cushion.
Between seats you can find a folding armrest, which is also well padded.
Legroom is plentiful, with lots of space between the front-row seats and the partition.
And as there's no seatback table, you can find one folded away in the armrest.
This was reasonably sturdy, ideal for eating breakfast.
Once finished, you can fold it back into the armrest, like so.
Back outside the train, the scenery continues to roll by, with a mix of snowy and grassy views.
After around forty-five minutes, we make our first station stop. This is Montbovon, a
small interchange station, and a popular destination for hikers.
Sitting here at the front provides a view into the driver's cab. Unfortunately,
as the locomotive is in front, you don't get to enjoy the scenery from here.
Luckily, you can look up through the panoramic windows,
to enjoy the high-flung peaks of the Alps.
This seat also has an incredible control panel, situated on the armrest.
There's a button for recline, shifting the seat forward and lowering the back.
You can also find an automatic leg support.
Though perhaps most impressive of all, is the adjustable back support!
It's sort of hard to show on camera, but the backrest can either be soft like here...
...or adjusted to be firm.
This control panel is a great feature to the seat's comfort, and we're not even done!
There's also an inbuilt seat heater, with three different levels of hot.
In front of the seat, there's a coathook.
Individual reading lights can be found above.
Electricity is accessed between seats, with two USB sockets, a Swiss socket,
and a standard European socket to be found.
Overall, this is a fantastic seat for a luxury train ride. My only complaint would
have to be that when fully reclined, your feet are awkwardly pushed into the wall.
By the way, WiFi wasn't working on my trip.
Instead, there's an information system, that tells you about the surrounding area.
The map shows Vernex Lake is next to the train, and indeed it is!
Our next station stop is Château-d'Œx, a small town located near many ski slopes.
I really liked the stye of this station, with the wooden station building being a nice touch.
So that's the Prestige Class on the GoldenPass Express,
but let's take a look around the rest of the train!
Second Class is in a 2+2 layout, mostly around large folding tables.
It still features the huge panoramic windows, though!
Toilets are available throughout the train.
These were spotless, as you'd expect for a brand-new luxury train.
The soap and disinfectant were both well stocked, and the water was working fine too.
There's also a hand dryer.
Two carriages feature Second Class,
while the other two feature First Class, in a 2+1 seating layout.
Our next stop is Gstaad, a luxury ski resort town, known for its high prices and high standards.
The train spends a few minutes here, waiting for the oncoming traffic.
The GoldenPass Express is actually meant to run four trips per day,
however at the time of filming, only a single trip takes place.
On departure from Gstaad, the track loops back on itself once again,
as it climbs towards our next stop.
This is Saanenmöser, now at an elevation of 1279 metres, the highest point on our journey.
From now, we descend towards Zweisimmen, our next stop, and the location we change between gauges.
Until very recently, Zweisimmen
was the interchange point from MOB's narrow gauge network, to the BLS owned standard gauge.
Sadly, that's actually still the case, as BLS is refusing to allow
this type of train on their network, due to fears it causes damage to the track.
BLS instead provide one of their regular trains,
as a replacement service for GoldenPass Express customers.
This is at least a cross-platform interchange,
so despite the inconvenience, it's still a well handled operation.
The replacement train doesn't have Prestige Class, so instead you can use the regular First Class.
There are also no seat reservations, so just choose any!
We're currently riding one of BLS' new MIKA units, which are effectively commuter trains,
so it's a slight downgrade from what we were on before.
But there are still large windows for sightseeing, so let's try and make the most of it.
Our route takes us alongside the River Simme, which eventually makes its way into the beautiful
Lake Thun. Lake Thun itself we will be travelling next to on the last part of the journey.
First Class here on the BLS train is in a hybrid 2+1 and 1+1 layout.
The seats are well padded, and look pretty smart.
On-board magazines are provided, and can be found in the vestibule.
It's all in German (as you'd expect),
but I did find one interesting article about the railways of Morocco.
We join the mainline at Spiez, a city located on the shores of Lake Thun.
The station is well served, seeing a variety of local and regional services,
in addition to international routes towards Italy and Germany.
The remainder of our route runs along Lake Thun, the 9th largest lake in Switzerland.
Let's take this time to talk about how much this journey costs. I was using an
Interrail pass, so I simply paid the fairly large reservation fee and supplement costing 35 CHF.
A regular ticket for this trip would cost 128 CHF, which is by no means cheap. But
this is the cost of a luxury train journey in a country known for its high prices.
When the full service resumes, it will certainly be an experience well worth having.
[ANNOUNCEMENT]
The approach to Interlaken is stunning, with a view of the town centre across the river,
against a dramatic mountainous backdrop. A perfect ending to what has been a scenic trip to remember.
Overall, I think the GoldenPass Express is a welcome addition to Switzerland's growing
collection of luxury trains. The carriages themselves are very spacious and comfortable,
so it's a shame they were held up by technical issues.
Despite this, we end up arriving one minute early, at 12:49.
As always, let me know what you thought of Switzerland's newest luxury train in the
comments, and for a look at another one of BLS' incredible scenic routes, then click up here now.