GoldenPass Line

The GoldenPass Line is less a single train than a golden thread drawn across the whole width of Switzerland — from the palm trees and belle-époque hotels of Montreux, on the shore of Lake Geneva, over the chalet country of Gstaad, through the lakes of the Bernese Oberland, and on to Lucerne. It links three of the country's most beautiful corners in one continuous, unhurried ride.

For most of its history the route came with a catch: because the railways it uses are built to two different track gauges, you had to change trains at Zweisimmen. Then, in December 2022, the GoldenPass Express solved a problem engineers had wrestled with since the 1930s — with coaches that quietly change their own gauge under the floor, widening the wheels from metre to standard gauge (and lifting the whole carriage to match the higher platforms) while you sit in your seat. It is believed to be the first system of its kind anywhere in the world.

The result is a journey that feels effortless but hides a small revolution beneath the boards — the classic Swiss panorama of vineyards, alps and lakes, delivered without ever leaving your carriage.

The full GoldenPass Line runs Montreux – Interlaken – Lucerne, stitched together from three separate railways, and it climbs out of one lake basin and down into the next in three distinct acts.

Montreux to Zweisimmen is the domain of the Montreux–Oberland Bernois (MOB), a metre-gauge line completed in 1905. It leaves Lake Geneva, climbs quickly above the vineyards, and runs through the Pays-d'Enhaut and the Saanenland — past Château-d'Œx and the glossy resort of Gstaad — over the route's high point near Saanenmöser, more than 1,260 metres up.

Zweisimmen is where the magic happens. Here the GoldenPass Express rolls onto a special ramp that:

• widens the variable-gauge bogies from metre to standard gauge, and
• raises the car body so its floor lines up with the taller main-line platforms ahead.

A BLS locomotive then takes over for the standard-gauge run down the Simmental to Spiez and along the southern shore of Lake Thun to Interlaken — all without passengers moving a muscle. The through service, launched on 11 December 2022, covers Montreux to Interlaken in about three and a quarter hours.

Interlaken to Lucerne is the final act, on the Zentralbahn's Brünig line — a metre-gauge railway that uses rack sections to haul itself over the Brünig Pass, then runs right along the turquoise edge of Lake Brienz and down through the green Obwalden hills into Lucerne. Do the whole thing in a day, or break it wherever the view — or the cheese — tempts you to stop.

The GoldenPass Line runs year-round. Its flagship, the GoldenPass Express — the train whose gauge-changing bogies let it run straight through from the lake to the Alps without a change — links Montreux and Interlaken Ost four times a day each way. From Interlaken, the Luzern–Interlaken Express carries you on over the Brünig Pass to Lucerne.

Real GoldenPass Express departures (2026 timetable):

The through journey Montreux ⇄ Interlaken Ost takes about 3 hours 15 minutes; the onward Interlaken–Lucerne leg adds about 2 hours, so the full Montreux–Lucerne run is roughly 5½–6 hours.

Good to know:

• A seat reservation is recommended on the GoldenPass Express, and required for Prestige Class; book ahead in summer.
• Outside these four express trains you can still do the route on ordinary regional trains with easy changes at Zweisimmen and Interlaken.

Times as of the 2026 timetable. Confirm current schedules with the operator — see the Tickets section below.

The GoldenPass Line runs on ordinary Swiss rail tickets rather than a single all-in fare, which makes it one of the best-value great journeys in the country. The Swiss Travel Pass and Eurail/Interrail passes are accepted along the whole route; on the panoramic trains you add a small seat reservation on top, which is well worth it in the busy months.

You can ride it two ways. The headline product is the GoldenPass Express, the through train from Montreux to Interlaken with no change of gauge or seat. To reach Lucerne you simply continue on the connecting Luzern–Interlaken Express over the Brünig. The MOB also runs its Belle Époque and GoldenPass Panoramic trains on the Montreux–Zweisimmen leg for travellers who want the vintage or fully-glazed experience. All are booked through the GoldenPass / MOB. Fares and services checked July 2026 against journey.mob.ch (opens in a new tab).

The GoldenPass is the pass holder's panoramic train. Where the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express each charge a supplement no travel card touches, the MOB asks for nothing beyond the ticket — and the ticket is what a pass already covers.

No surcharge, and no compulsory reservation

Asked directly whether a seat has to be booked, the MOB answers: no, reservation is not mandatory — only strongly recommended. Asked whether a Swiss Travel Pass or GA holder still needs a ticket, it answers that there are no surcharges on its trains. That is unusual for a train of this profile and it is the single best reason to put the GoldenPass on a pass-based itinerary.

If you do want a seat held, it is cheap:

• GoldenPass Express — CHF 20 per person per journey
• GoldenPass Panoramic and the Belle-Époque train — CHF 10 per person per journey

Both are flat: the price does not change with distance, class or fare category, and both drop for a group of ten or more, to CHF 17 and CHF 8 — for whom booking is then compulsory. Advance reservations exist only on the GoldenPass Line itself, Montreux–Gstaad–Zweisimmen and on to Interlaken Ost.

Which passes work

The Half-Fare Card and the GA travelcard are valid on every MOB line. The Swiss Travel Pass gives free travel on all of them too — with two exceptions the MOB names precisely: the section from Haut-de-Caux to Rochers-de-Naye, and the Les Avants–Sonloup funicular. On those two a Swiss Travel Pass is a 50% discount, so a half-fare ticket has to be bought.

Neither exception touches the Montreux–Interlaken route, so a Swiss Travel Pass covers the GoldenPass end to end. They matter only if you add the Rochers-de-Naye cogwheel excursion above Montreux to the same day, which is a common and tempting detour.

Eurail and Interrail passes are likewise accepted along the route. As with any One Country Pass, Interrail's conditions rule out using a Switzerland pass to travel into or out of Switzerland, so a Global Pass is the better fit for anyone arriving from France or Italy.

Is a pass worth it here?

For this journey alone, probably not — Montreux to Interlaken Ost on ordinary Swiss tickets is already reasonable, which is what makes the GoldenPass such good value in the first place. But the calculation changes the moment the line becomes part of a longer route. Because there is no supplement to pay, every kilometre of the GoldenPass is genuinely free on a Swiss Travel Pass, and the pass then also carries the lake steamers at Montreux and Interlaken, the buses, and public transport in the towns at either end.

The Swiss Travel Pass comes as 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 consecutive days, or the same count of freely chosen days within a month on the Flex version. It is sold only to people resident outside Switzerland and Liechtenstein, needs a passport or ID card at inspection, and can be bought up to 11 months ahead. Travellers under 25 pay around 30% less, and accompanied children from 6 to under 16 travel free with the complimentary Swiss Family Card.

Reservation prices re-read from the MOB's own fare table (opens in a new tab) in September 2026; pass validity from its ticketing and reservation guidance (opens in a new tab) and from sbb.ch (opens in a new tab).

Few railway routes pass through so many worthwhile stops in a single day, and the GoldenPass rewards breaking the trip into two or three. Interlaken is also the gateway to the Jungfrau Railway and the peaks above it. Any of the stops below makes a natural overnight, turning a long day's ride into a leisurely crossing of the country.

Because the GoldenPass links three lake regions, the nicest way to travel it is to sleep at one or two of the stops rather than rush end to end. Montreux offers grand belle-époque hotels along the Lake Geneva shore; Gstaad and the Saanenland range from luxury chalets to simple mountain inns; Interlaken has the widest choice and the best onward connections into the Jungfrau region; and Lucerne rounds the journey off with everything from lakefront grande dames to snug old-town guesthouses. Wherever you stop, book ahead for the summer peak and the winter sports season, when the resort towns fill quickly.

The MOB keeps a second train on the Montreux–Zweisimmen leg, and it is nothing like the panoramic sets. The GoldenPass Belle Époque is a rake of blue-and-cream Pullman coaches built in the manner of the great expresses of the 1930s: oval windows, gold lettering along the flank, dark polished wood, brass luggage racks and deep armchairs set at tables. The operator's own comparison is the Orient Express. The buffet car Brs 201 is the one that carries the name in gold — a 1964 body, rebuilt in 2005 with air conditioning and 47 seats.

It is not a separate excursion or a private charter. The Belle Époque coaches work two ordinary scheduled trains a day in each direction, taking a little over two hours between Lake Geneva and the Simmental.

Because these are scheduled trains, ordinary fares apply. Montreux–Zweisimmen costs CHF 34 in second class and CHF 58 in first, one way, and the Swiss Travel Pass, GA, Half-Fare and Junior cards are all valid. A seat reservation is optional but worth having in summer, at CHF 10 per person per journey — CHF 8 each for groups of ten or more, for whom it is compulsory.

Times and fares as of September 2026, from the MOB's own timetable and fare table (opens in a new tab). On occasional maintenance dates a panoramic set works the train instead.