Interlaken West railway station

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.[1]

Interlaken West
LocationBahnhofstrasse 28
Interlaken
Switzerland
Coordinates46°40′56″N 07°51′05″E
Owned byBLS AG
Line(s)Lake Thun line
Platforms2
Train operators
Connections
Services
Preceding station BLS Following station
Spiez
towards Zweisimmen
 RegioExpress
 Interlaken Ost
Terminus
Preceding station Deutsche Bahn Following station
Spiez
towards Berlin Ostbahnhof
 Interlaken Ost
Terminus
Preceding station EuroCity Following station
Spiez
towards Hamburg-Altona
 Hamburg to Interlaken Interlaken Ost
Terminus
Preceding station Swiss Federal Railways Following station
Spiez
towards Basel SBB
 InterCity
IC 61
 Interlaken Ost
Terminus
Location
Interlaken West
Location within Switzerland
Interlaken West station (left), Aar river (centre foreground) and ship canal (centre mid-distance)
BLS locomotive at Interlaken West
German ICE train at Interlaken West

The lines through the station are standard gauge and are electrified at 15 kV AC. There are two tracks, narrowing to a single track at either end of the station, and each track is served by a side platform. The station building is situated on the eastern platform.[1]

The station also 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 Thun serve a quay at Interlaken West, which they access via the 2.75-kilometre (1.71 mi) long Interlaken ship canal.

History

Originally known simply as Interlaken, Interlaken West was the first station to be opened in the town, when the Bödelibahn railway reached it from Därligen, on Lake Thun in 1872. Two years later the railway was extended to Bönigen, on Lake Brienz, via Interlaken Zollhaus station.[2]

Over time, Zollhaus station became the more important station, being also served by the Brünig railway and the Bernese Oberland railway. As a result, Interlaken station was renamed Interlaken West, and Interlaken Zollhaus was renamed Interlaken Ost.[2]

Services

The following services call at Interlaken West; all eastbound/southbound trains terminate in Interlaken Ost.[3]

References
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Verlag Schweers + Wall GmbH. 2012. p. 82. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
  2. "History of navigation on Lakes Thun and Brienz". BLS AG. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  3. "Bern - Thun - Spiez - Interlaken" (PDF). Bundesamt für Verkehr. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2020.


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