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"Golden Pass" Route Train Questions

Posted by (Edmonton, AB, Canada) on

My wife and i will be travelling from Basel to Vevey via Bern, Spiez, Zweisimmen and Montreux on Sunday August 2, 2009. We have chosen this scenic, long and non-direct route to take advantage of our short 2 night stay in the Lake Geneva region. We cannot stay in the Berner Oberland area this time around so i thought a ride through a very scenic part of the country would be a great compromise. I have a few questions though.

  1. There are "Goldenpass Panoramic" trains and "Regional" trains between Zweisimmen and Montreux. Are they both narrow gauge hence the necessary change of trains at Zweisimmen? We will be travelling with 3 large suitcases. I have seen pictures and video of the panoramic trains and they look very small, is there a place for luggage? Is there a luggage car? Do you have to pay extra for luggage? Are the regional trains better suited for us in terms of luggage storage / comfort?

  2. I have read that the panormaic trains obviously have panoramic windows which is OK with me. I do prefer, though, windows that open so i could videotape while the train is moving. Would the regional train between Zweisimmen and Montreux have windows that physically open? The specific regional train i'm looking at is R 2225 departing Zweisimmen at 15:05 and arriving in Montreux at 17:10.

  3. For my travel date of Sunday August 2, 2009, do you recommend seat reservations on any portion (or all of it) of the route between Basel and Vevey? Do the seat reservation charges vary becasue we could be travelling on different train companies (ie. Swiss Rail and Golden Pass)? Would we have to have new train reservations for each portion or pay one seat reservation charge between Basel and Vevey?

A lot of questions i know but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you for your help.

Posted by
9110 posts

  1. The regional and official Goldenpass trains use the same tracks and follow the same route. You won't have any problems with your bags on either train, there are special racks for larger bags at the font and rear of the cars. You don't have to pay for luggage. In terms of overall comfort the Goldenpass trains have slightly more comfortable seats, AC, bar car and larger windows.

  2. From what I remember I don't believe, the windows on the Golden Pass train open..I suspect they do on the regional trains.

  3. You can't make reservations on regular domestic inter-city trains in Switzerland; seats are first come first serve. Reservations are optional for the Goldenpass train. Make reservations if you want to upgrade to the first class dome car, or if you want to sit in the special seats in the front of the train.

Posted by
6898 posts

As with the four major scenic trains in Switzerland, both regional and the scenic trains travel on the same tracks. This includes the Golden Pass between Zweisimmen and Montreux. On the windows, ours on the Glacier Express could open from the top for pictures but I'm not sure on the Golden Pass.

For your questions, you can easily email the Golden Pass people at [email protected]. I've emailed them before and they are very responsive. You can also see their website at http://www.goldenpass.ch.

Posted by
92 posts

The windows on the panoramic Golden Pass train do not open. If you want to videotape the scenery, you may be better off taking one of the regular trains that runs on the same route because you might be able to open the windows in them.

I can also confirm that no seat reservations are required on the panoramic Golden Pass trains if you just want a regular seat. Reservations are only required if you want one of the seats up front (which is in the first class section).

Penn

Posted by
14 posts

Thanks for the responses so far. I have been looking at the most current pictures (i can find http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ch/narrow_gauge/MOB/car/misc/pix.html) of the regular type cars on the regional trains between Zweisimmen and Montreux and it looks like most if not all have been refurbished with closed windows. There's the odd window that has a small opening on top in the older cars but i can't find any proof of that in the new cars. If someone can prove me wrong with the open/closed windows issue, i'd love to hear from you.

So i will probably end up forking out the 15 CHF fee for the seats up front for the experience. I videotape more than take pictures while on the train so the glare from the windows won't bother me as much. Anyone have an opinion of the 1+3 seats up front? There will be 2 of us and i'd like to get the 2 middle seats (2 of the 3). Are there tons of people that end up walking the corridor to the front in between the 1+3 seats? If so maybe the 2 seats on the right would be best.

Oh an important question. Is there a "better" side to sit on the train for scenery in the direction of Zweisimmen to Montreux? Or are both sides scenic enough.

Thanks again.

Posted by
9110 posts

The better side is the right hand side. For most of the journey it doesn't matter. But when you get to the "grand finale" above Montreax, you get awesome views of Lake Geneva from the right side of the train.

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