Interlaken Ost railway station

Interlaken Ost
Interlaken Ost
	The station building in 2007
General information
Location	Untere Bönigstrasse; Interlaken, Bern ; Switzerland
Coordinates	46°41′24″N7°52′8″E / 46.69000°N 7.86889°E
Elevation	567 m (1,860 ft)
Owned by	Bernese Oberland Railway; Bödelibahn (1874-?)
Line(s)	Bernese Oberland line ; Brünig line ; Thunersee line ; Bödelibahn line (originally);
Distance	28.0 km (17.4 mi) from Thun ; 74.0 km (46.0 mi) from Lucerne ;
Platforms	8 (3 island platforms)
Tracks	9
Train operators	Berner Oberland-Bahnen [ de ]; BLS AG ; Deutsche Bahn ; Swiss Federal Railways ; Zentralbahn ;
Connections	BLS AG ferries on Lake Brienz ; PostAuto Schweiz and Verkehrsbetriebe STI bus lines;
Construction
Parking	200
Other information
Station code	IO
IATA code	ZIN
Fare zone	750 (Libero)
History
Opened	1874
Previous names	Interlaken Zollhaus
Passengers
2022	10'300 per working day(BLS, SBB, Zentralbahn (without BOB))
Services
Location

Last updated April 19, 2024

Interlaken Ost or Interlaken East is a railway station in the resort town of Interlaken in the Swiss canton of Bern. The station was previously known as Interlaken Zollhaus. The town has one other station, Interlaken West.^[1]

Interlaken Ost is an important railway junction at the meeting point of three railway lines, the Thunersee line of the BLS AG, the Brünig line of the Zentralbahn, and the Bernese Oberland railway (BOB). In addition to trains operated directly by the owners of these lines, the station is also reached by passenger trains of the Swiss Federal Railways, Deutsche Bahn, all of which operate over the Thunersee line.^[1]

The station provides an interchange with the local bus network provided by PostBus Switzerland and the regional bus line to Thun provided by Verkehrsbetriebe STI. Ships of the BLS-owned fleet on Lake Brienz serve a quay at Interlaken Ost, which they access via a navigable reach of the Aar river.

History

In 1872, the standard gauge Bödelibahn railway opened from Därligen, on Lake Thun, to Interlaken, as Interlaken West station was then known. Two years later it was extended to Bönigen, on Lake Brienz, via a new station that was at first known as Interlaken Zollhaus. Initially this line was unconnected to the rest of the Swiss railway system, and merely served as a link between the steamships on both lakes. In 1893, the line reached Thun, with onward connections to Bern and beyond, eventually becoming part of the BLS.^[6]^[7]

In 1890, the metre gauge Berner Oberland railway opened, adopting Interlaken Zollhaus as the terminus of its route to the tourist destinations of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. As a consequence, Interlaken Zollhaus became more important, and was renamed Interlaken Ost. At the same time the original Interlaken station became Interlaken West.^[7]

Meanwhile, in 1888, the metre gauge Brünig railway had opened between Brienz, on Lake Brienz, and Alpnachstad, on Lake Lucerne, thus providing a through steamer and rail connection from Interlaken to Lucerne. By 1916 the Brünig railway had reached Interlaken Ost from Brienz, and, together an earlier extension at its eastern end, provided a through rail route to Lucerne.^[7]

Standard gauge passenger service between Interlaken Ost and Bönigen ceased in 1969, although much of the line still exists in order to provide access to the BLS workshops as described above.^[6]

Operation

Layout

The station is notable in that although lines converge on it from three directions, it is the terminus of every passenger service which enters it. There are no through services due to incompatibilities in gauge and electrical systems. The Thunersee line is standard gauge while the BOB and Brünig tracks are metre gauge. Additionally, there are two electrical systems; 1500 V DC for the BOB services and 15 kV AC for all the rest.^[1]

The platforms used by the Brünig line and BOB are terminal platforms and no metre gauge track exists west of the station. Whilst no standard gauge passenger trains now run to the east of the station, that section of the station is configured for through traffic, and the tracks continue for about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the east in order to provide access to the BLS workshops at Bönigen.^[1]

None of the eight platform tracks are dual-gauge or dual-system, from the south side of the station, where the station building is located, the first three platform tracks are used by the BOB, the next two by the Brünig line, and the final three by the Thunersee line.

Services

As of the December 2023 timetable change,^[update] the following services stop at Interlaken Ost:^[8]

EuroCity / InterCity / Intercity Express (ICE): hourly or better service to Basel SBB. Most northbound trains terminate in Basel; a single EuroCity and an ICE continue to Hamburg-Altona and one ICE continues to Berlin Ostbahnhof.
InterCity: service every two hours to Romanshorn.
GoldenPass Express : 4 daily round-trips to Montreux.
Panorama Express / Regio: half-hourly service to Meiringen and hourly service to Lucerne.
InterRegio : two daily round trips to Lucerne between May and October.
RegioExpress: service every two hours to Spiez.
Regio: half-hourly service to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald; trains operate combined between Interlaken Ost and Zweilütschinen.

Related Research Articles

The Swiss rail network is noteworthy for its density, its coordination between services, its integration with other modes of transport, timeliness and a thriving domestic and trans-Alp freight system. This is made necessary by strong regulations on truck transport, and is enabled by properly coordinated intermodal logistics.

Lake Thun is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore. At 48.3 km² (18.6 sq mi) in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton.

Lake Brienz is a lake just north of the Alps, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It has a length of about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi), a width of 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) and a maximum depth of 260 metres (850 ft). Its area is 29.8 square kilometres (11.5 sq mi); the surface is 564 metres (1,850 ft) above the sea-level. It is fed, among others, by the upper reaches of the Aare at its eastern end, the Giessbach at its southern shore from steep, forested and rocky hills of the high Faulhorn and Schwarzhoren more than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above the lake, as well as by both headwaters of the Lütschine, the Schwarze Lütschine flowing from Grindelwald, and the Weisse Lütschine from the Lauterbrunnen Valley, at its southwestern corner. Not far north from Lütschine's inflow, the lake drains into a further stretch of the Aare at its western end. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the Finsteraarhorn at 4,274 metres above sea level.

The Brünig railway line is a Swiss narrow gauge railway line that links Lucerne, in central Switzerland, with Interlaken, in the Bernese Oberland. The line runs via Alpnachstad, Giswil, Meiringen and Brienz, and passes over the Brünig Pass, using sections of rack railway to overcome the gradients, but with most of the line operated by normal adhesion methods.

The Bernese Oberland Railway is a narrow-gauge mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. It runs, via a "Y" junction at Zweilütschinen to serve Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald from Interlaken. The railway is rack assisted.

The Bernese Oberland, sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions. It constitutes the Alpine region of the canton and the northern side of the Bernese Alps, including many of its highest peaks, among which the Finsteraarhorn, the highest in both range and canton.

The Zentralbahn is a Swiss railway company that owns and operates two connecting railway lines in Central Switzerland and the Bernese Oberland. It was created on January 1, 2005, with the acquisition of the independently owned Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line, and the Brünig line of the Swiss Federal Railways. The company has its headquarters in Stansstad.

Zweilütschinen railway station is a railway station in the municipality of Gündlischwand in the Swiss canton of Bern. The station is on the Berner Oberland Bahn, whose trains operate services to Interlaken Ost, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. It takes its name from the hamlet of Zweilütschinen, which itself is named after the nearby confluence of the White and the Black branches of the Lütschine river.

Lütschental railway station is a railway station in the village and municipality of Lutschental in the Swiss canton of Bern. The station is on the Berner Oberland Bahn, whose trains operate services to Interlaken Ost and Grindelwald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BLS AG</span> Swiss railway company

BLS AG is a Swiss railway company created by the 2006 merger of BLS Lötschbergbahn and Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG. 55.8% of it is owned by the canton of Berne, and 21.7% by the Swiss Confederation. It has two main business fields: passenger traffic and infrastructure.

Interlaken West is a railway station in the resort town of Interlaken, in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is on the Thunersee line of the BLS AG, and is one of two stations in the town, the other being Interlaken Ost. In addition to trains operated directly by the BLS, the station is also reached by passenger trains of the Swiss Federal Railways and Deutsche Bahn.

Lucerne railway station is a major hub of the rail network of Switzerland, in the city of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne. It is a terminal station serving domestic and international traffic on several rail lines, and is situated in a city centre and waterfront location on the south side of Lake Lucerne.

Spiez is a railway station in the town of Spiez, in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is on the Thunersee line of the BLS AG, which connects Thun and Interlaken, and is the junction for the same company's busy Lötschberg line, as well as the Spiez-Erlenbach-Zweisimmen line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interlaken ship canal</span> Canal in the Swiss canton of Bern

The Interlaken ship canal is a 2.75-kilometre (1.71 mi) long canal in the Swiss canton of Bern. It connects Lake Thun with a quay in the town of Interlaken adjacent to Interlaken West railway station, thus allowing shipping services on the lake to serve the town and connect with railway services. It is still in regular use by the Lake Thun passenger ships of the BLS AG.

The Lake Thun railway line is a railway line in the Swiss canton of Bern. It links the towns of Thun, Spiez and Interlaken, running principally along the southern shore of Lake Thun. The line was opened in 1893 by the Lake Thun Railway company, but incorporates much of the earlier Bödeli Railway dating back to 1872.

Thun is a railway station in the town of Thun, in the Swiss canton of Bern. At the station, the Swiss Federal Railways owned Bern to Thun main line makes a junction with the other lines, all owned by the BLS AG. These lines are the Gürbetal line from Bern via Belp, the Burgdorf to Thun line from Burgdorf via Konolfingen, and the Lake Thun line to Spiez and Interlaken.

Meiringen railway station is a railway station, in the town of Meiringen in the Swiss canton of Bern, and at the junction of two railway lines. The Brünig line of the Zentralbahn is an inter-regional metre gauge railway that links Interlaken and Lucerne, whilst the Meiringen–Innertkirchen line of the Meiringen-Innertkirchen-Bahn (MIB) is a local railway that links to Innertkirchen and the Aare Gorge.

Brienz railway station is a railway station in the village of Brienz in the Swiss canton of Bern. Brienz is a stop on the Brünig line, owned by the Zentralbahn, that operates between Interlaken and Lucerne. It is located across the street from Brienz BRB railway station, the lower terminus of the Brienz–Rothorn rack railway (BRB) that climbs to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain.

Brienz West railway station is a Swiss railway station in the municipality of Brienz and the canton of Bern. Brienz West is a stop on the Brünig line, owned by the Zentralbahn, that operates between Interlaken and Lucerne.

Brienz BRB railway station is a railway station in the municipality of Brienz, in the Swiss canton of Bern. It is the lower terminus of the Brienz–Rothorn rack railway (BRB) that climbs to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Cologne: Schweers + Wall. 2012. p. 82. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
↑ "Übersichtskarte Thuner- & Brienzersee" (PDF) (in German). BLS AG . Retrieved 16 January 2021.
↑ "Liniennetz Interlaken und Umgebung" (PDF) (in German). Libero. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
↑ "Zonenplan" (PDF) (in German). Libero. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
↑ "Passagierfrequenz (2022)". Interlaken, Switzerland: SBB CFF FFS. 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2024– via data.sbb.ch – SBB DATA PORTAL.
1 2 "Interlaken Ost–Bönigen". www.eingestellte-bahnen.ch (in German). Retrieved 17 April 2024.
1 2 3 "The history of BLS Navigation". BLS AG. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
↑ "Abfahrt/Departure: Bahnhof/Station Interlaken Ost" (PDF). BLS AG (in German and English). 10 December 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

External links

Interlaken Ost railway station – SBB

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[saw-1] 1 2 3 4 5 Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Cologne: Schweers + Wall. 2012. p. 82. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.

[2] "Übersichtskarte Thuner- & Brienzersee" (PDF) (in German). BLS AG . Retrieved 16 January 2021.

[3] "Liniennetz Interlaken und Umgebung" (PDF) (in German). Libero. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

[4] "Zonenplan" (PDF) (in German). Libero. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.

[SBB-5] "Passagierfrequenz (2022)". Interlaken, Switzerland: SBB CFF FFS. 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2024– via data.sbb.ch – SBB DATA PORTAL.

[ebba-6] 1 2 "Interlaken Ost–Bönigen". www.eingestellte-bahnen.ch (in German). Retrieved 17 April 2024.

[histship-7] 1 2 3 "The history of BLS Navigation". BLS AG. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

[abfahrt-8] "Abfahrt/Departure: Bahnhof/Station Interlaken Ost" (PDF). BLS AG (in German and English). 10 December 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

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