Simplon route

Vallorbe – Domodossola
Timetable field :	100, 200
Route length:	232.5 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	since 1923–1930: 15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Power system :	Brig – Iselle 1906–1930, Sion – Brig 1919–1927: 3000–3300 V 16 Hz  ∆
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Dual track :	Vallorbe – Domodossola I
Legend Dijon SNCF Tunnel du Mont d'Or France – Switzerland border ↓ SNCF- SBB property border 46.3 Vallorbe end point S 2 806.9 m above sea level M. SBB / SNCF to Pontarlier , state and property border Le Day Viaduct (152 m) 43.2 Le Day wedge station 787.2 m above sea level M. SBB / Travys to Le Pont –Le Brassus 41.2 Les Grands-Bois Nanchau tunnel (132 m) Combes tunnel (100 m) 35.8 Bretonnières 673.3 m above sea level M. 33.7 Croy - Romainmôtier 641.8 m above sea level M. 27.6 Arnex 552.4 m above sea level M. Moulin-Bornu tunnel (72 m) La Sarraz Tunnel (148 m) 22.8 La Sarraz 484.9 m above sea level M. 19.3 Daillens SBB from Yverdon-les-Bains S 1 S 11  -Olten 19.1 Daillens 445.1 m above sea level M. Daillens-Poste parcel distribution center MBC from Cossonay (funicular) 14.5 Cossonay - Penthalaz 428.0 m above sea level M. 11.0 Vufflens-la-Ville 406.8 m above sea level M. 9.9 Siding 9.4 Vufflens-la-Ville 399.6 m above sea level M. 6.9 14.9 Bussigny-près-Lausanne 407.0 m above sea level M. 13.8 Lausanne-Triage North 400.0 m above sea level M. Poimbœuf Bridge (63/70 m) Bridge Poudrière III (213 m) 13.2 Les Lécheires 398.8 m above sea level M. 12.9 7.7 Lausanne Triage D   397.0 m above sea level M. SBB from Allaman S 3 S 4  –Genève 8.03 8.15 Denges Error profile -0.01 to / from Lausanne-Triage (marshalling yard) Larges-Pièces Bridge (106 m) 6.1 Archy 404.4 m above sea level M. TL from Lausanne-Flon 4.51 Renens   415.9 m above sea level M. 3.76 3.79 Renens VD-Est bifurcation   416.3 m above sea level M. Bridge Galicia (147 m) 2.35 Prilly - Malley since 2011 430.4 m above sea level M. 1.52 -0.05 Lausanne- Sébeillon freight depot 449.8 m above sea level M. Olivier Français tunnel (3796 m) TL Lausanne light rail 3.97 Lausanne-Tridel waste incineration 594.5 m above sea level M. 1.13 Lausanne bifurcation   442.2 m above sea level M. 0.00 0.00 Lausanne end point S 11 S 21 447.1 m above sea level M. TL to Ouchy and TL: Lausanne-Flon SBB to Palézieux S 2 S 4 S 21  –Bern 2.51 Pully 424.8 m above sea level M. Paudèze bridge (162 m) Paudex tunnel (72 m) 5.05 Lutry 402.1 m above sea level M. Tour-de-Bertholod tunnel (126 m) 6.68 Villette 387.4 m above sea level M. 8.52 Cully 391.7 m above sea level M. 9.98 Epesses 383.1 m above sea level M. 13.55 Rivaz 377.0 m above sea level M. 14.55 Saint-Saphorin 376.9 m above sea level M. Error profile +0.02 SBB from Puidoux-Chexbres S 31 La Veveyse MVR of Blonay-Les Pléiades MVR from Mont Pèlerin (funicular) VMCV: Vevey Funiculaire 18.40 Vevey end point S 31 386.1 m above sea level M. 19.90 La Tour-de-Peilz   390.4 m above sea level M. 21.53 Burier   395.9 m above sea level M. Crêtes tunnel (302 m) CCB from Blonay 23.10 Clarens   399.6 m above sea level M. CCB: Clarens Lac 24.54 Montreux   395.4 m above sea level M. TP: Trait Planches MVR to Rochers de Naye MOB to Zweisimmen Cross with VMCV MVR to Glion (funicular) 26.02 Territet   386.2 m above sea level M. TMF to Mont Fleuri (funicular) 27.09 Veytaux - Chillon 379.8 m above sea level M. VMCV 29.34 Villeneuve end point S 1 S 3 374.8 m above sea level M. 33.84 Roche 379.6 m above sea level M. 37.71 Yvorne 395.0 m above sea level M. TPC to Leysin-Grand-Hôtel 39.31 Aigle 403.9 m above sea level M. TPC to Les Diablerets 43.60 St-Triphon former train station 390.7 m above sea level M. TPC according to Champery TPC from Col de Bretaye 47.56 Bex 411.0 m above sea level M. 49.42 Bridge Massongex (87/87 m) over Rhone , border VD - VS SBB from Saint-Gingolph 50.07 Les Paluds 408.0 m above sea level M. St-Maurice tunnel (490 m) 51.56 Saint-Maurice 421.5 m above sea level M. 57.86 Evionnaz 449.0 m above sea level M. 61.51 Vernayaz 452.2 m above sea level M. TMR from Le Châtelard 66.50 Martigny   467.0 m above sea level M. TrMB to Martigny – Bourg TMR to Orsières and Le Châble 70.86 Charrat - Fully 460.5 m above sea level M. 75.27 Saxon 465.2 m above sea level M. 79.57 Riddes 470.6 m above sea level M. Rhône Riddes (66/66 m) Zavannens tunnel (276 m) 82.12 Chamoson 488.2 m above sea level M. 85.31 Ardon 487.9 m above sea level M. 88.07 Châteauneuf- Conthey 488.7 m above sea level M. 92.43 Sion 490.6 m above sea level M. 98.15 Saint-Léonard 504.9 m above sea level M. 101.56 Granges - Lens former train station 507.9 m above sea level M. SMC to Montana-Crans (funicular) 108.13 Sierre / Siders 523.1 m above sea level M. Gobet Tunnel (251 m) Error profile -0.04 Raspille tunnel (80 m) 112.25 Salgesch 575.9 m above sea level M. New Salgesch – Leuk line since 2004 Tunnel Varonne ( 137 / m 2,816) Dala Bridge (79 m) Leuk tunnel ( 125 / m 1,388) Bridge Rhône Leuk (180 m) LLB to Leukerbad 117.58 Leuk 623.3 m above sea level M. Error profile -0.04 122.11 Turtmann 624.2 m above sea level M. Error profile -0.01 125.87 Gampel - footbridge 631.9 m above sea level M. 130.09 Raron 638.8 m above sea level M. BLS ( Lötschberg Base Tunnel ) from Spiez 130.09 St. German 646.5 m above sea level M. Error profile -0.01 Vispa bridge ( 45/45/45 m) MGB from Zermatt 136.66 Visp   646.5 m above sea level M. 141.1 Chamois SBB  660.9 m above sea level M. BLS ( Lötschberg mountain route ) from Spiez MGB through Naters until 2007 145.55 Brig car transport 677.7 m above sea level M. MGB to Andermatt 147.15 Brig tunnel 682.4 m above sea level M. Simplon Tunnel (19,823 / 19,803 m) 156.24 State border between Switzerland and Italy 156.34 Stazione della Galleria   700.2 m above sea level M. 156.77 Culminating point 701.9 m above sea level M. Iselle tunnel (169 m) 167.22 19.06 Iselle di Trasquera car transport 629.5 m above sea level M. Ownership limit SBB- RFI Trasquera tunnel (1792 m) Varzo elicoidale tunnel (approx. 3 km) ( screw tunnel ) 12.55 Varzo   529.0 m Varzo tunnel (81 m) Galleria Mognatta (422 m) Galleria Gabbio Mollo (568 m) S. Giovanni tunnel (425 m) Bridge Diveria (40 m) Galleria Rio Confinale (51 m) Preglia / Rio Rido tunnel (2327 m) Preglia Bridge (82 m) 3.83 Preglia   331.0 m Bogna Bridge (96 m) 0.00 5.06 Domodossola I  270.1 m SSIF / FART to Locarno Via Torino bridge (335 m) RFI to Novara Toce Bridge (298 m) 0.00 Domodossola II marshalling yard 239.0 m RFI to Milan

The Simplon Line , also known as the Simplon Line , is a main railway line in Switzerland and Italy and serves as a feeder between the Lake Geneva region and Paris to the Simplon Tunnel . It is owned and operated by SBB (up to Iselle ) . The route runs from Vallorbe on the French border to Domodossola in Italy.

history

Vallorbe – Lausanne

In 1855, the Cossonay - Bussigny-près-Lausanne section was opened by the OS as part of the construction of the Jura foot line. The Bussigny – Lausanne curve followed in 1856 . In 1870 operations began on the Cossonay – Vallorbe line . In 1875 the cross-border connection with the tunnel of the Col de Jougne was opened and thus the connection to the French rail network was established. The trains from France to Switzerland had to make a hairpin until 1915, before a direct route was possible with the Tunnel du Mont d'Or and the new line to Frasne . The SNCF initially kept the line to Pontarlier, but it suffered severe damage in the Second World War , including the blowing up of the Jougne tunnel, and was not rebuilt.

Lausanne-Brig

Poster from 1928

The first section of the line went into operation on June 10, 1857, when the Compagnie de l'Ouest Suisse opened the Villeneuve - Bex section . The route was completed by the OS, the Ligne d'Italie and the Simplonbahn in further stages up to the gap between Leuk and Brig in 1878. The continuous expansion to double track between Lausanne and Brig was completed in 2004.

In 1913 the construction of the Lötschberg mountain line was completed and Brig was expanded into the new hub station. After the Sion – Brig section was electrified with 3000 volts 16 Hertz three-phase current in 1919 , the line was electrified between 1923 and 1927 with the single-phase alternating current 15 kV 16 2/3 Hz that is common today for the SBB . The three-phase line was the last to be converted to alternating current.

With the opening of the Lötschberg base tunnel in 2007, Visp train station became the new transfer hub from the Bern region to Zermatt and towards Sion. Since then, all LBT trains have been using the Simplon line between Visp and Domodossola.

Brig – Domodossola

During the construction of the Simplon Tunnel

In 1906, after eight years of construction, the first tube of the Simplon Tunnel and the continuation of the route to Domodossola were opened. With what is probably the longest spiral tunnel in the world, Varzo elicoidale , the southern connection to Domodossola was established. The Simplon Tunnel was electrified with 3000 volts 16 Hertz three-phase current from the opening until 1930.
→ Main article: Three-phase operation Brig – Iselle

The second tube of the Simplon Tunnel was built from 1912 to 1921 and opened to traffic in 1922.

In 1930, the route from Brig to Domodossola was electrified continuously with the Swiss 15,000 volt 16 ⅔ Hertz power system , which, with its high voltage, is more suitable for the steep south ramp than the Italian 3000 volt direct voltage system . The service on the Iselle- Domodossola south ramp in Italy has been carried out by SBB in accordance with Swiss regulations since it opened . Until electrification in 1930, the 25 per thousand-steep section of the route was operated with steam, for which a large number of C 5/6 steam locomotives were stationed in the Brig depot , which found a suitable field of application on the Simplonsüdrampe after the electrification of the Gotthard Railway .

A single-lane electrified connection line from Domodossola I station to Domodossola II marshalling yard has existed since 1992 to enable access to Swiss locomotives. The marshalling yard is mainly used to change the traction of transit freight trains.

Accidents

• On August 11, 1939, a freight train with passenger transport could only brake insufficiently and crashed into parked wagons when entering the Domodossola station. Six people died, one was seriously injured and eleven were slightly injured.
• On September 25, 1941, a load of mines exploded at the Veytaux - Chillon stop shortly before a freight train passed through . Seven people died.
• On May 1, 1952, a red arrow crashed into an empty passenger train near Villeneuve at 70 km / h . Three passengers killed, 48 injured.
  → Accidents section in Article SBB CLe 2/4
• On June 24, 1968, a special train collided with an oncoming freight train at Saint-Léonard . 13 people died and 103 were injured in the vehicles, some of which were almost completely destroyed.
  → Main article : Sion railway accident
• On June 26, 1969, a broken axle near Saint-Maurice led to the derailment of a freight train. The accident claimed one person.
• On August 28, 1971, the derailment of a train in the tunnel station in the Simplon Tunnel due to excessive speed resulted in five deaths and 29 injured.
• On October 31, 1972, an express train collided with parked tank cars in Saint-Triphon . In the process, fuel flowed out, which ignited and developed into a major fire. The driver and three travelers perished in the flames.
• On July 23, 1976, an express train derailed at the northern exit of the Simplon Tunnel due to excessive speed. The accident cost six lives.
• On September 14, 1985, a regional train with two locomotives collided in Bussigny, killing five people and injuring 56.
• On February 16, 1990, a Eurocity drove into a forgotten construction service vehicle in Saxon train station . Three people were killed and 12 injured in the accident.
• On August 3, 1993, an express train drove in the Rio-Rido tunnel near Preglia on the standing Italia-Express. There were one dead and around 60 injured.
• On June 9, 2011, a freight train on the Rolling Landstrasse caught fire in the Italian part of the Simplon Tunnel .
  → Section fire from June 9, 2011 in the article Simplon Tunnel

business

Since the end of the Trans-Europ-Express connections from Paris to Milan , only night-time passenger trains have been running the full route. These trains are operated by Trenitalia under the name Thello and operate on the Paris- Dijon- Milan- Venice route .

Long-distance transport

Long-distance TGV trains from Paris run between Vallorbe and Lausanne , which are seasonal to Brig . The route between Cossonay and Bussigny VD or Lausanne is still used by ICN trains that run on the Jura foot line. InterRegio trains run to and from Geneva Airport between Lausanne and Brig . EuroCity trains run between Lausanne and Domodossola and run from Geneva to Milan or Venice. With the opening of the Lötschberg base tunnel in 2007, InterCity trains Romanshorn –Brig and EuroCity Basel SBB –Milano Centrale use the section between the south portal in Visp and the Simplon tunnel north portal in Brig.

Regional traffic

In the Rhone Valley , regional trains run from Brig to Monthey or Saint-Gingolph . In addition, most of the RéseauExpressVaudois lines run in sections on the Simplon line, the section between the Lausanne and Renens stations is used by five of the seven REV lines, as trains from / to Geneva also use the Simplon line. The S2 runs between Vallorbe and Lausanne, the S1 between Cossonay and Villeneuve, the S3 between Renens and Villeneuve, the S4 between Renens and Lausanne and the S11 between Cossonay and Lausanne.

Route

Vallorbe – Lausanne

Le Day Viaduct

The route includes the area of the border station of Vallorbe to its northern extension, the RFF -distance from Dijon to. After crossing the Le Day viaduct , the station of the village of Le Day is reached. Immediately thereafter, the PBr branch line branches off to the right to Le Brassus . The Jura foot line from Olten joins the route between the La Sarraz and Cossonay stations . Together with this, Bussigny-près-Lausanne is reached, where a triangle of tracks enables the connection to the Lausanne-Geneva railway line . Thanks to this triangle, trains on the Jura foot line to Geneva are spared the turnaround at Lausanne station . The Vaudois capital Lausanne is reached via Renens .

Lausanne-Brig

At St. Saphorin on Lake Geneva

After the Lausanne train station, the line to Friborg – Bern branches off to the left in the middle of the SBB parking facilities , while the Simplon line remains on the shores of Lake Geneva. Some Lavaux municipalities have stops on both routes, such as Pully ( Pully and Pully Nord ) or Lutry ( Lutry and La Conversion ). About Pully, Lutry and Cully is the station of Vevey reached. Here, the Chemin de fer Vevey – Chexbres joins the Simplon line, a single-track connection to the railway line to Bern - which is also a bypass from Lausanne (but is rarely used as such). In addition, the narrow-gauge MVR route to Les Pléiades runs from here . Via La Tour-de-Peilz , Burier and Clarens , which is already part of Montreux , the Montreux train station - the only Swiss train station with three different gauges - is reached. Here the MVR line branches off to the Rochers de Naye and the Montreux-Berner-Oberland-Bahn to Lenk . After Montreux, the route leads past Chillon Castle and the former Hôtel Byron to Villeneuve . In Aigle, three narrow-gauge lines branch off to Leysin , Les Diablerets and Champéry . In Bex , the narrow-gauge railway line runs on the Col-de-Bretaye . In Saint-Maurice, the line from Saint-Gingolph joins the Simplon line. Then Martigny is reached, where two railway lines branch off again. Both are operated by TMR , a narrow-gauge to Chamonix and a standard-gauge to Orsières including a branch line to Le Châble . A few kilometers later Sion follows , shortly afterwards Sierre , before the language border between French and German is reached. The first stop in Upper Valais is Leuk . In Visp station there is a connection to the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (MGB) from Zermatt, and the Lötschberg base tunnel joins the line. The MGB runs from Brig , where the Lötschberg mountain route also joins the Simplon line, towards Upper Valais.

Brig – Domodossola

Although in Iselle the distance property of the SBB of the Italian State Railways switches (FS) until Domodossola with Swiss power system and after Swiss running regulations down. The inpatient staff, however, provide the FS. Locomotive Re 485 of the BLS passing through Iselle.

After Brig, the line disappears in the Simplon Tunnel , in the middle of which is the Swiss / Italian border . The tunnel is exited in Iselle di Trasquera , where, as in Brig, there are terminals for loading cars through the tunnel. This is followed by the 1.7 km long “Trasquera” tunnel and the 3.0 km long spiral tunnel “Varzo”. Domodossola is reached via the Varzo and Preglia stops . The 19 km long double-lane route between the southern portal of the Simplon Tunnel and Domodossola is operated with the Swiss electricity and security system in accordance with the Swiss driving and operating regulations. The section is supplied with 16.7 Hz traction current from Switzerland, but belongs to the Italian State Railways (FS), which also provide the stationary staff. Even in the 21st century with open network access , the majority of the Italian route section will be used by Swiss locomotives .

The transition to the Italian systems, combined with a possible change of locomotive and personnel, takes place in Domodossola Fascio Viaggatori for passenger and RoLa trains and Domodossola II for freight trains. From Domodossola, trains run via the continuation to Milan , which is owned by the Italian infrastructure company RFI .

literature

• Hans G. Wägli: Swiss rail network and Swiss rail profile CH + . AS Verlag, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9 .

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ via Lausanne Triage D
2. ↑ from Lausanne – Archy
3. ↑ via Prilly-Malley
4. ↑ via Lausanne-Sébeillon
5. ↑ Territet – Mont Fleuri funicular railway at www.bahndaten.ch (accessed on December 22, 2010)
6. ^ Olivier Tanner: Biel / Bienne - Lausanne railway line. Retrieved January 26, 2014 . 
7. ^ Olivier Tanner: Railway line Lausanne - Vallorbe. Retrieved January 26, 2014 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Olivier Tanner: Lausanne - Brig line. Accessed January 26, 2014 . 
9. ↑ Bruno Lämmli: SBB CFF FFS C 5/6 No. 2951-2978. Operational use 1933–1945. In: Lokifahrer.ch. 2017, Retrieved May 12, 2017 . 
10. ^ Bernhard Ledermann: Information trip Sempione of the Lötschberg Committee: Visit of the Domo II freight yard in Domodossola. In: Bahnonline.ch. March 6, 2013, accessed October 18, 2018 . 
11. ^ Results of the accident statistics for the fifth five-year observation period 1938–1942. (PDF, 2.0 MB) Swiss Accident Insurance Fund, accessed on October 18, 2013 . 
12. ^ Serious railway accident at Domodossola station. In: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt. August 15, 1939, p. 3 , accessed October 20, 2013 . 
13. ↑ Une mine explose au passage d'un train. (Le Temps - archives historiques) Journal de Genève, September 27, 1941, p. 2 , accessed on November 18, 2013 (French). 
14. ^ Results of the accident statistics for the seventh five-year observation period 1948–1952. (PDF, 2.5 MB) Swiss Accident Insurance Fund, accessed on October 18, 2013 . 
15. ^ Un train déraille à St-Maurice. (Le Temps - archives historiques) Gazette de Lausanne, June 27, 1959, p. 3 , accessed November 16, 2013 (French). 
16. ^ Results of the accident statistics for the eleventh five-year observation period 1968–1972. (PDF, 3.2 MB) Swiss Accident Insurance Fund, accessed on October 18, 2013 . 
17. ↑ Bruno Lämmli: SBB CFF FFS RBe 4/4 No. 1401–1482. Operational use. Retrieved October 18, 2013 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b} Bruno Lämmli: SBB CFF FFS Re 6/6. Operational use. Retrieved October 18, 2013 . 
19. ↑ Bruno Lämmli: SBB CFF FFS Ae 4/7 No. 10'901 - 11'027. Operational use. Retrieved October 18, 2013 . 
20. ^ Accident in the Rio Rido tunnel . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 9/1993 . Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 364 .
21. ↑ Simplon Tunnel: From fire to proper renovation . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 1/2012 . Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 8 .
22. ↑ Thello - Timetable Paris – Venice (English). Accessed July 24, 2017.
23. ↑ Report of the Federal Council in fulfillment of Postulate 13.4013 KVF-N of November 11, 2013: Capacity optimization Simplon-Süd . June 2016