The Montreux–Oberland–Bernois (MOB) railway has begun a series of planned night-time engineering works on the scenic Gstaad–Zweisimmen stretch of its GoldenPass Express route. According to the operator’s real-time traffic portal, services are suspended each evening from 20:25 (Gstaad) / 20:04 (Zweisimmen) until 23:54 between Sunday 26 and Thursday 30 July. Daytime trains continue to run, but the interruption affects four departures in each direction, including the last connections to Interlaken and Bern. The works involve the replacement of track infrastructure and the installation of new digital signalling modules designed to improve punctuality on what is both a commuter line for local residents and a flagship tourist corridor linking Lake Geneva with the Bernese Alps. Replacement buses have been organised, yet journey times are 25–40 minutes longer and seats are limited—an unwelcome complication at the height of the summer season when many hotel staff commute from the Simmental and students travel to seasonal jobs. For mobility managers the disruption creates a ripple effect: group travel itineraries, late-evening airport transfers from Geneva and Zürich, and cargo-bike logistics that use rail for part of the ‘first kilometre’ are all being rescheduled. Tour operators bringing conference delegates to the Gstaad Palace report having to shift dinner reservations and extend check-in desks to accommodate delayed arrivals. Some companies are subsidising taxis for employees rostered on late shifts. The closure highlights the tension between Switzerland’s aggressive maintenance schedule—credited with keeping overall railway punctuality above 92 percent—and the country’s growing dependence on rail for both domestic and inbound tourism. While MOB chose night hours to minimise impact, critics argue the window is still too narrow during peak season and call for better coordination with federal timetable planners. Normal service is due to resume before 05:00 on Friday 31 July. In the meantime, passengers are advised to check live updates in the MOB/MVR app and allow extra transfer time at Zweisimmen, where through-ticketing with BLS and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) may be affected by missed connections. Travellers continuing to Montreux should note that separate works on the Vevey–Blonay line are also under way until mid-August.
Source: MOB/MVR real-time traffic portal
