MONTREUX, Switzerland — The Montreux Overland Bernois Railway (MOB) has ordered six new locomotives from Stadler for the meter-gauge rail line, four of which will be used on the gauge-changing GoldenPass Express passenger train.
The other two locomotives are intended for rail services and infrastructure maintenance. The dual-cab, B-B locomotives will be hybrid electrics, able to operate without overhead lines. They will have a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph).
“The arrival of these modern, innovative locomotives will secure the long-term future of the GoldenPass Express, one of the most beautiful trains in the world, MOB CEO Georges Oberson said in a press release. “This opens up new horizons for us to satisfy an increasingly numerous and demanding clientele.” The innovative GoldenPass Express allows passengers to travel between Montreux and Interlaken without a change of trains, thanks to the trainset’s ability to change from meter to standard gauge [see “Swiss gauge-changing Panoramic Express debuts …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 17, 2022].
“We are proud to have been awarded this contract by MOB,” said Christian König, Stadler deputy head of sales and marketing. “Our meter-gauge locomotives specially developed for MOB will continue to successfully pull the GoldenPass Express premium train built by Stadler, while allowing old rail service locomotives to be replaced. We are convinced that the new innovative, tailor-made vehicles will meet MOB’s requirements.” Technical specifications of the locomotive are available here.
For more on MOB and the GoldenPass Express, see “MOB Mentality” in the May 2024 issue of Trains Magazine.
