Transports publics Vevey – Montreux – Chillon – Villeneuve

Transports publics Vevey – Montreux – Chillon – Villeneuve
legal form	Corporation
founding	2008
Seat	Clarens (VD)
Website	www.vmcv.ch

Bus 107 in front of Fontanivent train station

The Transports publics Vevey-Montreux-Chillon-Villeneuve , officially VMCV SA , is a Swiss transport company based in Montreux in the canton of Vaud . The company was created in 2008 by splitting off the transport segment from the Société électrique Vevey-Montreux (SEVM) founded on August 14, 1886 . The electricity company that remained after the split was integrated into Romande Energie Holding . The SEVM was the first of a whole series of companies that emerged in Switzerland between 1886 and 1914 as a result of the initiative to build an electric railroad and subsequently, since they first had to set up an electricity supply for rail operations, also took over the local electricity supply. With public transport slipping into the red, these companies were divided into transport companies and electricity companies around a hundred years later.

The traffic area of ​​the VMCV extends along the Vaud Riviera , the localities of Vevey , Montreux , Chillon and Villeneuve gave the company its name. It operates a network of 78.95 kilometers with trolley buses and buses on which nine lines operate.

history

Vevey Funiculaire-Villeneuve SBB
Route length:	12.949 km
Legend 0.0 Vevey Funiculaire 0.8 Vevey SBB 2.2 Vevey Entre-deux-Villes 3.0 La Tour-de-Peilz Center 4.1 Burier 5.6 Clarens Depot VMCV 6.1 Clarens Gambetta 7.0 Montreux train station stairs 7.6 Montreux boat station 8.3 Montreux Casino 9.0 Territet SBB 9.7 Veytaux SBB 10.5 Chillon 11.6 Villeneuve-Byron-Clos-du-Moulin 12.5 Villeneuve La Plage 13.0 Villeneuve SBB

Vevey about 1890

Parallel to the Simplon line , the Lausanne – Villeneuve section of which was opened in 1861, a tram was also built in the 1880s to better develop the villages along the Vaudois Riviera .

The first section of this tramway Vevey – Montreux – Chillon ( VMC ) was opened by the SEVM on May 1, 1888. It was 8,951 meters long and led from Vevey Plan via La Tour-de-Peilz , Clarens and Montreux to the level crossing in Territet . Regular operations started on June 4th. This tram was the first electrically operated railway in Switzerland, a two-pole slotted pipe contact line with contact trolleys was used. On September 16 of the same year the 1,423 meter long extension to Chillon Castle followed .

In 1897 the SEVM applied for a license to extend it to Villeneuve. Since the cantonal road Grandchamp – Villeneuve was to be corrected first and the level crossing should be lifted, the project dragged on. Finally a new company is founded, the Compagnie du Tramway Chillon-Byron-Villeneuve ( CBV ), which took over the concession from the SEVM. The first test drives took place on November 26, 1903, and on December 14, the 2575 meter long connecting route from Chillon Castle via Hôtel Byron to Villeneuve was opened. The management of the extension was transferred to SEVM. Unlike the main line, the Chillon – Villeneuve line was operated with pantographs .

Since the CBV got into economic difficulties, the SEVM took over the assets of the CBV at a price of 57,150.55 Swiss francs , which caused the shareholders of the CBV a large loss. The official name of the SEVM transport company has been VMCV since then. In 1913 new vehicles were put into operation and both sections of the route were converted to hoop pantograph operation. From the mid-1920s, when the Simplon line was electrified, a special feature was the level crossing overhead line in Territet.

The tram was discontinued in the 1950s and replaced by the Vevey – Villeneuve trolleybus :

• Villeneuve SBB – Territet SBB (4157 meters): April 23, 1952
• Territet SBB – Montreux Marché (1196 meters): 1956
• Montreux Marché-Clarens Dépôt VMCV (2070 meters): July 8, 1957
• Clarens Dépôt VMCV-Vevey Entre-deux-Villes: January 5th, 1958
• Vevey Entre-deux-Villes-Vevey Funiculaire: January 19, 1958

Trait – Planches rack railway

→ Main article : Trait – Planches railway line

In order to develop the eponymous town in the municipality of Planches , the SEVM acquired a railway concession and built a 392-meter-long cogwheel railway that was operated with just one railcar and opened on June 1, 1897. The slope was 128 at the bottom and 140 per mille at the top. The rack was arranged laterally, which resulted in an eccentric transmission of tensile force. On November 11, 1912, the only car with the number 24 derailed on an empty run and slipped into the valley station, where it was destroyed by the buffer stop. Reconstruction plans failed due to financial resources.

Web links

Commons : Vevey – Montreux – Chillon – Villeneuve  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Transport publics Vevey – Montreux – Chillon – Villeneuve
• Vevey - Montreux - Chillon - Villeneuve (VMCV) In: discontinued-bahnen.ch by Jürg Ehrbar
• The former tram from Vevey to Villeneuve on www.tram-museum-archiv.ch ( Memento from June 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Contact details of the VMCV ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Michel Grandguillaume, Jean Paillard, Jean-Louis Rochaix: Les Tramways vaudois. BVA, Lausanne 1979, ISBN 2-88125-001-7 , page 100
3. ↑ Commercial Register of the Canton of Vaud ( Memento of the original dated August 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Company number CH-550-1054175-8 
4. ↑ Other such companies were, for example: FMA Forces motrices de l'Avançon (chemin de fer Bex – Villars – Bretaye, today part of the Transports Publics du Chablais ), Rheintalische Trassenbahnen , Trogenerbahn (today part of the Appenzeller Bahnen ), UO Usines de l ' Orbe ( Orbe – Chavornay railway , now part of the Travys )
5. ↑ Business figures according to the VMCV website ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Line plan ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ^ Canton de Vaud . In: Gazette de Lausanne , November 10, 1896, page 2.
8. ^ Canton de Vaud . In: Gazette de Lausanne , November 21, 1896, page 2.
9. ^ Canton de Vaud . In: Gazette de Lausanne , September 18, 1902, page 3.
10. ^ Canton de Vaud . In: Gazette de Lausanne , September 20, 1902, page 3.
11. ^ Canton de Vaud . In: Gazette de Lausanne , November 27, 2013, page 3.
12. ^ Michel Grandguillaume, Jean Paillard, Jean-Louis Rochaix: Les Tramways vaudois. BVA, Lausanne 1979, ISBN 2-88125-001-7 , page 116
13. ^ The tram from Vevey to Villeneuve at www.tram-museum-archiv.ch ( Memento from June 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
14. ^ Michel Grandguillaume, Jean Paillard, Jean-Louis Rochaix: Les Tramways vaudois. BVA, Lausanne 1979, ISBN 2-88125-001-7 , pages 108-112