In order to entice more tourists during the winter holiday season, Switzerland’s non-stop train, the GoldenPass Express, will connect Gstaad, Montreux, and Interlaken via a cutting-edge rail journey.
According to the most recent news reports, the GoldenPass Express will begin connecting the aforementioned three popular tourist attractions in Switzerland on December 11; the 3 hour, 15 minute ride will carry passengers through the heart of the Swiss Alps.
The concept to directly connect the most popular tourist destinations in Switzerland, Lake Geneva in Montreux and the lakes Thun and Brienz in Interlaken, emerged at that time, said the Montreux-Oberland-Bernese Railway Co. (MOB), which is the company behind the new train.
Numerous popular tourist destinations in Switzerland have been made reachable from either end over time, such as day trips to Montbovon to go boating on Lake Thun or climbing in the rugged Stockhorn region.
However, the aforementioned nonstop route remained impractical for decades due to a lack of equipment that would have allowed trains to switch between the two types of Swiss-built rail lines—a regular European track and a metric-gauge track.
The decision was made in 2008 to modify the coaches rather than construct new tracks, and today the GoldenPass Express train can quickly go from the mountain track to the normal track and vice versa thanks to the variable gauge-changing bogies installed under the coaches and an adapting ramp.
A knowledgeable employee who was speaking about this train said that the initial passes have already sold out and that it is nicely booked for the upcoming weeks. Additionally, he stated that the bookings had been accepted and that Christmas break from school had not yet begun.
There will only be two trains each day, one in each way, according to additional reports. The two will depart at approximately the same time in the morning, one from Interlaken and the other from Montreux. According to rumors, starting on June 11, 2023, there will be four voyages every day.