Voralpen Express
Voralpen-Express with Re 456 head and tail pulling out of Biberbrugg railway station towards Rothenthurm
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | InterRegio |
| First service | 1992 |
| Current operator(s) | SOB (since December 2013) |
| Former operator(s) | SBB, SOB (until December 2013) |
| Route | |
| Start | Luzern, LU |
| End | St. Gallen, SG |
| Average journey time | 2 hours 15 minutes |
| Service frequency | every hour |
| Train number(s) | 2402 - 2442 |
| On-board services | |
| Class(es) | First and Second Class |
| Seating arrangements | First Class carriage with panorama view. Second class coach seating |
| Catering facilities | Vending machines |
| Technical | |
| see article | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Electrification | 15kV 16,7 Hz AC Overhead |
| Timetable number(s) | 600; 670; 870; |
The Voralpen-Express (VAE, Pre-Alpine Express) is a named train connecting medium-sized cities in central and eastern Switzerland, carrying this name since 1992. It is operated by Südostbahn (SOB) and runs every hour between St. Gallen and Lucerne.
The first through trains from Romanshorn to Arth-Goldau started in 1940 after the electrification of the Südostbahn line between Rapperswil and Arth-Goldau. Romanshorn–Rapperswil had been under wires since 1926/31. The trains were jointly operated by Bodensee–Toggenburg-Bahn (BT), Südostbahn (SOB) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). 1944 BT added buffet cars to the trainsets. 1947 some trains continued from Arth-Goldau to Lucerne. In 1960 operation was changed to push-pull operation with very powerful motor coaches. The trainsets were now painted in green an cream. 1982 brought the clock-face timetable with a train Romanshorn–Lucerne every two hours but also the end for buffet cars. In 1991 BT and SOB bought EW IV inter-city coaches to replace the push-pull sets. 1995 unnamed trains every two hours were added between Romanshorn and Arth-Goldau, again with push-pull sets. After Revvivo-coaches had been used for these trains from 1997 on, it was decided to sell the EW IV to SBB and buy more Revvivos to allow an hourly push-pull trainset between Romanshorn and Lucerne. 2001 BT and SOB merged into the new SOB, which reduced the number of participating companies to two. VAE ran as an InterRegio (IR) express train until 2013.
On 15 December 2013 the concept changed and SOB became the sole operator. VAE became a distinct train category but the train was limited to St. Gallen–Lucerne. To cope with the increasing number of passengers, trains now generally have seven coaches, which means that two locomotives or motor coaches are needed. This is due to the 50‰ (1:20) grades between Pfäffikon SZ and Arth-Goldau. Motive power is at each end, allowing a push-pull service without driving trailers.
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Wikipedia