The Simplon Railway is a line that links Lausanne in Switzerland and Domodossola in Italy, via Brig. The -long Simplon Tunnel (opened in 1906) is a major part of it. The line between Lausanne and Vallorbe is sometimes considered to form part of the line, making it long.
Together with the Lötschberg Railway to its north, it forms the second most important trans-Alpine railway line in Switzerland after the Gotthard Railway, which lies to its east and is about long.
ETCS level 2 is expected to be installed on the line between Lausanne and Brig before 2022.
History
Vallorbe–Lausanne
The Cossonay–Bussigny-près-Lausanne section was opened in 1855 by the Compagnie de l'Ouest-Suisse (West Switzerland Company, OS) as part of the construction of the Jura Foot Railway. The Bussigny–Lausanne connecting curve was opened in 1856. The Jougne-Eclépens Railway started work on the Cossonay–Vallorbe section in 1870. A cross-border connection to the French rail network was opened in 1875 with the completion of the tunnel under the Col de Jougne. However, the trains from France to Switzerland had to make a zig zag turn until 1915, when the opening of the Mont d’Or Tunnel and the new line to Frasne created a direct route. The SNCF initially maintained the line to Pontarlier via the Tunnel de Jougne, but this suffered significant damage in the Second World War, including the blowing up of the Tunnel de Jougne by the French army, and it was not rebuilt.
Lausanne–Brig
The first section of the line went in operation on 10 June 1857 when the Compagnie de l'Ouest Suisse opened the Villeneuve–Bex section. The line was completed by the OS, the Compagnie de la Ligne d'Italie ("Company of the Italian line") and the Compagnie du chemin de fer du Simplon ("Simplon Railway Company") in subsequent stages, ending with the closing of the Leuk–Brig gap in 1878. The upgrade to two continuous tracks between Lausanne and Brig was completed in 2004.
The construction of the Lötschberg Railway was completed in 1913 and, in preparation, Brig was upgraded to be a junction station. After 1919, the Sion–Brig section was electrified at 3000 Volt 16 Hertz three phase, but between 1923 and 1927 the line was electrified throughout at the modern SBB standard single-phase 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC system.
With the opening of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel in 2007, Visp station became an interchange station between services from the Bern region to Zermatt and services towards Sion. Since then all trains to and from the Base Tunnel have run over the Simplon line between Visp and Domodossola.
Brig–Domodossola
The first tube of the Simplon Tunnel was completed after eight years of construction and, along with the continuation of the line to Domodossola, it was opened in 1906. The connection to Domodossola included the Varzo elicoidale, which was probably the longest spiral tunnel in the world. The Simplon tunnel was electrified with 3000 Volt 16 Hertz three-phase AC power from the beginning of operations until 1930.
The second tube of the Simplon tunnel was built between 1912 and 1921 and opened to traffic in 1922.
In 1930, the route from Brig to Domodossola was electrified throughout with the standard Swiss system of 15 kV/16 Hz AC, which with its high voltage better suited the steep south ramp than the Italian 3,000 Volt DC system. The dispatcher at the nearby Italian south ramp (Iselle–Domodossola) has worked under Swiss regulations since the establishment of the SBB. Until the electrification in 1930, the 2.5 percent grade on the section was worked by steam, using a large number of C 5/6 locomotives that had been reallocated to the Brig depot after the electrification of the Gotthard Railway. The section, which is equipped with the Swiss train protection system belongs to Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), which also provides the ground personnel. Even in the 21st century, with open access, the majority of traffic on the Italian section is hauled by Swiss locomotives.
Since 1992, there has been a single-track link, electrified on the Swiss system, from Domodossola I station to the Domodossola II marshalling yard to provide access for Swiss locomotives. The marshalling yard mainly provides changes of traction for through freight trains.
Operations
Since the closure of the Trans Europ Express service from Paris to Milan, only nightly passenger trains have run the full distance. These trains are operated by Trenitalia under the name of Thello and run on the Paris–Dijon–Milan–Venice route, which was also used by the former Venice-Simplon Orient Express. These services are operated with ETR 610 stock.