Friday 11 September 2026 - Preparations for Returning to Ottawa

Not much to report today. From a cool Yverdon we took a long train ride to our final destination  Basel, We have a reservation for a TGV to Paris tomorrow.

These are the only two pictures I have taken today:

A freight train hauled by an SBB Vectron at Yverdon this morning
French locomotive on a train to Strasbourg at Basel SNCF
I wondered what voltage was used here -SNCF uses 25,000 while SBB uses 15,000. This is the answer I received when I asked Google

Because Basel SBB acts as a major international border hub, the station utilizes a multi-system setup to handle both French and Swiss trains: [1]
  • French Tracks (Basel SNCF): The terminating bay platforms at the western end of the station are electrified at the French standard 25 kV AC (50 Hz). [1]
  • Switchable Tracks: Certain through-platforms (such as Track 4) feature switchable overhead lines. They can dynamically toggle between the Swiss standard and the French 25 kV AC depending on whether a Swiss or a French train is utilizing the platform. [1, 2]
  • Swiss Tracks: The main domestic platforms run on the standard Swiss/German network voltage of 15 kV AC at 16.7 Hz.






 

Comments

  1. Neil KearnsSeptember 14, 2026 at 6:24 AM

    A similar system exists on the RhB at Pontresina and St Moritz where some platforms are used by network trains at 11kv and the Bernina Line trains at 1000v dc.

    ReplyDelete

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