In this video, we accompany a locomotive from Romont on the line between Bern and Lausanne to Renens, on a seldom driven bypass via Lausanne-Sébeillon. The weather's not great, but chances are we'll revisit this line in sunny weather.
A highlight of this line is the descent from Puidoux to Lausanne, through the sloped vineyards with an amazing view of the lake of Geneva "Lac Léman".
At the time of recording (10th February 2022), the locomotive was still called an Re 475 - the R means it is allowed to run at slightly higher speeds in curves, which is the case for passenger trains and modern locomotives. A bit more than a year later, this changed, as the locomotive was suddenly assigned the letter A by the Swiss department of transport, reducing it's top speed from 200 km/h down to 120 in Switzerland. It wouldn't have made much difference on this section of track, but driving the speeds we drove here today is no longer allowed.

It's hard to say how much is bureaucracy and how much is really necessary. One thing is sure though: The Vectron locomotives by Siemens were built to be cheaply produced, resulting in a lot more wear and tear on rails than Swiss locomotives that are 50 years older. Back then countries made their own locomotives with national interests in mind. Today it just has to be cheap and do it's job.
So maybe it's not so bad the speeds have been reduced. After all, it does reach the 22.5t axle weight which would in theory bring it into the D category, which are only allowed a top speed of 100 km/h (formerly 80!).

Linked videos:
6:15 To Bern:    • ★ 4K 🇨🇭Geneva - Bern - Lucerne cab ri...  
29:45 To Brig:    • ★ 4K 🇨🇭 Palézieux - Vevey - Brig cab ...  
42:12 To Renens:    • ★ 4K 🇨🇭 St-Triphon - Lausanne - Basel...  


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