Virtual Railfan Tour of Switzerland - Tuesday - Train Watching at Brig


Old rack rails as modern art outside Brig Station

Brig is the end of the standard gauge railway following the Rhone valley in Switzerland. The narrow gauge MGB continues within Switzerland but the standard gauge tracks cross into Italy into the Simplon tunnel just beyond Brig. Key routes through Brig are the passenger trains on the SBB route from Geneva while freight and passenger service take the BLS Lötschberg lines through the Alps from canton Bern.

Passenger services in Brig

The SBB connect Geneva Airport with Brig. Due to tunnel restrictions the SBB cannot run its high capacity double deck IC2000 coaches or EMUs on this route. Instead, the passenger cars are older class EW IV coaches. These trains need to be broken up and reordered by SBB Ee 922 switchers when they arrived at Brig so that the first class coaches and restaurant cars will be in the right order. The Geneva trains arrive and depart every 30 minutes so the switchers have to work quickly. 

Recently arrived train waiting to be processed

Ee 922 switchers of the SBB are the workhorses at Brig

Ee 922 shifting a rake of SBB EW IV passenger cars

Re-positioning cars to head back to Geneva. 
Strange to see a driving cab buried in the middle of the train (second car back)

The SBB is widening tunnels at St Maurice and Montreux to allow modern double deck EMUs to run from Geneva to Brig so the need to break trains at Brig will soon be gone. More efficient but less interesting for the railfan.

A BLS EMU is arriving from Spiez. Brig is at the end of the BLS Lötschberg route through the Alps. 
To the right is the BLS engine house with a brown Re 4/4

The BLS Lötschberg base tunnel is able to accommodate SBB IC2000 double deck trains which run an express service to Spiez and Bern.

Brig is the last stop in Switzerland for Swiss and Italian Pendolino tilting trains connecting Geneva to Milan. 
This a Trenitalia Class 610.

Three passenger trains in Brig. The IC2000 on the left is heading for Bern, the centre track has a refurbished Re 460 running a Regio service to Geneva while on the right track is an Italian express service to Geneva.

The BLS run their historic trains over the Lötschberg route to Brig. This is a BLS Ae 6/8 built in the 1930s and still running very well - as we found out on this Sunday excursion.

An SBB Re 4/4 in the old international passenger train livery. There are only a couple left in these colors. This one still sports a diamond pantograph.

Brig also has narrow gauge passenger traffic. This is a MGB Deh 4/4 locomotive hauled train preparing to head east to St Moritz.

Freight trains in Brig

Brig is a good place to see freight trains passing to and from Germany to northern Italy via the Lötschberg base tunnel.

Railcare Vectron leads a container train northbournd out of Brig

BLS TRAXX locomotive on a HUPAC train ferrying trucks and their drivers across the Alps to Italy

SBB Re 10/10 (i.e. a 6/6 leading with a 4/4 in multiple) on a freight from Italy

Crossrail BR 186 power a freight from Italy

BLS maintain a depot at Brig for their elderly brown Re 4/4s which were built in the 1960s

BLS Siemens Class 484 and an SBB Re 4/4 can be seen at the BLS Brig depot


Video Trains of Brig

Video shot looking down over the yard

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