Virtual Railfan Tour of Switzerland - Lausanne


Avian train cleaning crew. Sparrow cleaning off squashed bugs from a Re 460 while on a short station stop at Lausanne trainshed.
These notes and pictures prepared by Paul Churcher
Lausanne is a major city in French Switzerland on the shores of Lac Leman. Trains from Geneva pass through on their way to Brig. Lausanne is also the destination for cross country trains originating in Basel (ICNs running via Delemont) and St Gallen's (IC2000s running via Zurich, Bern, and Fribourg as well as ICNs runnig via Yverdon Les Bains). International trains are well represented with TGVs running in from Paris. Lausanne is a stop for Pendolino services linking Geneva with Milan.
SBB Lausanne is one of four control centres that coordinate rail traffic in Switzerland. The other centres are at Olten, Zurich, and Pollegio.

Lausanne trainshed

Station approaches from the west
Trackwork requires maintenance. There always seem to be large numbers of SBB workers in high visibility vests inspecting track at Lausanne. 
Lausanne station and its approaches are being rebuilt in a massive infrastructure project called Leman 2030.

Paris bound TGV is ready to go.

Class 610 Pendolinos connect Lausanne with Milan

Re 460s
Many Re 460s carry special livery. This is the Chiquita banana Re 460 entering Lausanne with a train to Brig

A train to Brig from Geneva arrives powered by a Re 460 in its regular passenger livery

IC2000 train from Bern in an unusual configurations with an double deck driving cab in the middle of the train

Regional RER services between Lausanne to Geneva are handled by Class 511 EMUs.

ICN arrives from eastern Switerland

Re 4/4 are often seen in Lausanne running rush hour commuter trains.

Bombardier TWINDEXX trains are often seen on test or ferry runs in Lausanne. They do not yet run in commercial service in French Switzerland but are built at the nearby Bombardier facility at Villeneuve.

The train service at Lausanne is based on 30 minute intervals. Most trains arrive and leave in a short period of time every half hour. There is just enough time for passengers to make transfers. The station can be very quiet in between the busy periods.


At weekends there are special private or semi-private excursions such as this Red Arrow car built in 1938

Work trains are often also seen quite frequently

Re 6/6 pulls wagons of logs through Lausanne station

The Denges freight yards are quite close to Lausanne. This Re 6/6 is running light on its way back to Denges

Lausanne is an interesting place to watch trains but for something completely different one can go down to the lake and watch the paddle steamers. This is La Suisse.

Trains at  dusk

Short video 30 minutes at Lausanne

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