Six new specially-designed locomotives have been ordered by the Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway Company.

The new locomotives will be custom-built by the Swiss manufacturer for services on the scenic Alpine line.

Famous for its Goldenpass Express, the Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway Company (MOB) is built to the metre gauge (3 ft 3/8 in).

This means that their rolling stock has to be specially designed for them.

With top speeds of 100 kph, the new locomotives will allow faster running of the flagship Goldenpass Express.

They also have the traction power to cope with a demanding, mountain route which includes steep gradients.

The new locomotives will also provide greater versatility for the MOB’s services than the older vehicles that they are replacing, as they can both pull and push the trains and have an output of 3 MW.

Four of the 17 metre, four-axle locos are fully electric and will be used to haul passenger trains.

The other two are hybrids. They are more versatile and are planned to be used for a wider range of services where overhead contact lines are not available, including pulling maintenance trains.

The Goldenpass Express runs from Montreux, on the shores of Lake Geneva, up into the pretty Swiss mountains at the ski resort of Interlaken.

The current journey takes three and a quarter hours.

From Montreux to Zweisimmen, the route is metre-gauge, before the carriages convert to standard gauge and the locomotive is changed.

When the new locos enter service, they will operate the section as far as Zweisimmen.

MOB have purchased the new locomotives from Stadler in a partnership with Transports de la Région Morges-Bière-Cossonay (MBC).

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. This opens up new horizons for us to satisfy an increasingly numerous and demanding clientèle

Georges Oberson, CEO of the Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway Company