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Interesting Information about European Trains

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Switzerland

Switzerland has more than one railroad company. The main lines are held by the SBB - CFF - FFS (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen - Chemins de Fer Fédéraux - Ferrovie Federali Svizzere) which means Swiss Federal Railroad. SBB - CFF - FFS gauges are the standards 1435 and 1000 (metric) mm which extend respectively on 2897 and 74 km. The whole network is electrified in 15 KV at 16 2/3 KHz. Besides SBB - CFF - FFS network, many smaller railroad exist in Switzerland. Most of them are very famous especially due to the incredible landscapes they cross. This is quite astonishing if one considers most of them such as BLS only span on a few hundred of kilom eters. Another reason for their reputation is the centralized location of Switzerland in the middle of Europe, thus in the middle of strong freight and people exchanges, especially in the North- South axis.

The Berne-Lötschberg-Simplon or BLS is one of the more famous although it extends only for 115 Km (at gauge 1435 mm) and also 130 km of additional tracks. BLS has about 55 electric locomotives among them, the famous Ae 6/8 first introduced in 1926 and capable to haul 550 tons trains in 2.7 o/oo ramps. Some of these engines (as famous as the SBB - CFF - FFS "Crocodiles") are still in service nowadays.

The Bernese Oberland railroad or BOB is a 24 km line of metric tracks.

The Bodensee-Toggenburg railroad or BT is a 66 km line of standard 1435 mm gauge.

The Brig-Visp Zermatt railroad or BVZ is a 24 km line of metric tracks electrified in 11 kV, 16 2/3 Hz.

The Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun railroad or EBT is a 71km line of standard 1435 mm gauge.

The Furka-Oberlap railroad or FO is a 100 Km line of metric track located in the middle of the country.

The Montreux-Oberland Bernois or MOB is a 75 km line of metric track electrified in 860 V DC.

The Rhaetian railroad or RhB is a 375 km line of metric track. More than 110 tunnels and close to 500 bridges and viaducts characterize the RhB.

The Südostbahn - (South Eastern railroad) is a 47 km line of standard 1435 mm gauge operating closely with the SBB - CFF - FFS and the BT to service the cross-country inter- city passenger traffic.

Additional information about SBB - CFF - FFS can be found in the SBB - CFF - FFS site:

SBB-CFF-FFS Home Page

Reference (among others): Modern Locomotives, Derek Avery, Wordsworth Editions 1994 ISBN 1-85326-812-7

And now ... some pictures of nice European trains (Swiss, Italian, German)!

Lenk im Simmental - MOB (70 K)

Milano Centrale - FS (70 K)

Re 4/4" - SBB-CFF-FFS (70 K)

Genoa - Milano line - FS (80 K)

DB143 - Electric loco (80 K)

ICE- the German high speed train (80 K)

Maerklin Museum - three interesting views (3 x 80 K)

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