Vallorbe railway station

Vallorbe railway station (French: Gare de Vallorbe) is a station at the border of Switzerland and France on the TGV Lyria line between Paris and Lausanne. It is located at the south-eastern entrance of the tunnel which tunnels one of Jura's mountain ranges, Le Mont d’Or. The station serves the municipality of Vallorbe, in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

Vallorbe
The entrance to the station building.
LocationRue de la Gare 1
Vallorbe
Switzerland
Coordinates46°42′44.64″N 6°22′14.03″E
Elevation806 m (2,644 ft)
Owned bySwiss Federal Railways
Line(s)
Distance
Platforms3
Train operators
ConnectionsCarPostal Suisse and Travys buses[3][4]
Other information
Fare zone110 (mobilis)[5]
History
Opened1915 (1915)
Electrified1925 (1925)
Passengers
2018980 per weekday[6] (SBB)
Services
Preceding station RER Vaud Following station
Terminus S2 Le Day
towards Aigle, Bex or St-Maurice
S22 Le Day
towards Lausanne
Preceding station Travys Following station
Terminus Regio
 Le Day
towards Le Brassus
Preceding station TGV Lyria Following station
Frasne
towards Paris-Lyon
 Paris to Lausanne Lausanne
Terminus
Preceding station TER Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Following station
Labergement-Sainte-Marie
towards Pontarlier
 TER
 Terminus
Location

Opened in 1915,[7] the station is the south-eastern terminus of the historic French Dijon–Vallorbe line, and the north-western terminus of the historic Swiss Simplon line (Vallorbe–Domodossola).[1][2] It is also the terminal station of the hourly running, suburban train S2 to Lausanne and further to Palézieux. Finally, it is also a junction for the short line to the south-western end of the Vallée de Joux, also running on an hourly frequency and connects to the historic Chemin de fer Pont-Brassus between Le Pont and Le Brassus, which nowadays is owned by travys (Transports Vallée de Joux - Yverdon-les-Bains - Ste-Croix). The line between Vallorbe and Le Brassus is operated by CFF. The railway station (as well as the line between Vallorbe and Le Pont) is owned and operated by CFF. They are all part of the integrated mobilis (canton of Vaud) fare network.

It is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance (class A).[8]

History

When the Simplon Tunnel project in southern Switzerland took shape, a controversy broke out regarding accessing rail lines from other parts of Switzerland. The proposed Faucille project via Geneva gave way to the Mont d'Or tunnel project via Vallorbe.

In 1870, the Swiss railway line from Daillens, the junction station on the Morges-Bussigny-Yverdon railway (opened in 1855), reached the frontier at Vallorbe. In France, the intended connecting line was completed as far as Pontarlier near Vallorbe in 1875. On 31 October 1886, the Jura–Simplon Railway (JS) opened the line between Vallorbe and Le Pont. Its continuation into the Vallée de Joux, the Chemin de fer Pont-Brassus, was built between 1886 (Le Pont) and 1899 (Le Brassus).

In 1915, nine years after the opening of the Simplon Tunnel, the direct Frasne–Lausanne line, including the Vallorbe railway station, was opened in conjunction with the piercing of the Mont d'Or. The doubling of the tracks were completed in 1908, and it was electrified in 1925.[9] Since 1984, the station has also been served by TGV trains.

In its heyday, the station counted up to 250 employees, but that is no longer the case today. Plans affecting the station have been under discussion between the municipality, the canton of Vaud and CFF.[7]

Location

The station is situated on the northwestern edge of the town. Paradoxically, southbound trains from France approach the station from a southwesterly direction, and northbound trains from Lausanne approach from the northeast.

Facilities

Vallorbe railway station has three platforms. As it is a French-Swiss border station with electrified lines, it forms a break of electrification systems. The overhead wires at the station can be switched from one system to the other. The station was equipped with extensive facilities for freight traffic and a locomotive depot.

Services

As of the December 2020 timetable change, the following services stop at Vallorbe:[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Atlas ferroviaire de la France Tome I Nord. Cologne: Schweers + Wall. 2015. p. 80. ISBN 978-3-89494-143-7.
  2. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Cologne: Schweers + Wall. 2012. p. 28. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
  3. "Reseau CarPostal Ouest" (PDF) (in French). PostBus Switzerland. 15 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  4. "Plan des Lignes" (PDF) (in French). Travys. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  5. "Plan Mobilis". Mobilis Vaud. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  6. "Passagierfrequenz". Swiss Federal Railways. September 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  7. "La gare de Vallorbe et ses fantômes" [Vallorbe railway station and its ghosts]. Le Temps (in French). 21 May 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  8. "Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance". A-Objects. Federal Office for Cultural Protection (BABS). 1 January 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  9. Zeller, Willy; Trüb, Walter (1977). En train à travers la Suisse [By train through Switzerland] (in French). Zürich, Munich: Ringier. ISBN 3-85859-041-X.
  10. "Vallorbe - Lausanne - (RER Vaud, ligne S2)" (PDF) (in French). Bundesamt für Verkehr. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  11. "Vallorbe - Le Brassus" (PDF) (in French). Bundesamt für Verkehr. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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