Vevey–Montreux–Chillon–Villeneuve Tramway
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The Vevey–Montreux–Chillon–Villeneuve tramway (VMCV) was a metre gauge electric
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way in the Swiss
canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...
. It linked the towns of
Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...
,
Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...
and Villeneuve close to the shoreline of
Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...
, and also served the famous
Château de Chillon Chillon Castle (french: Château de Chillon) is an island castle located on Lake Geneva, south of Veytaux in the canton of Vaud. It is situated at the eastern end of the lake, on the narrow shore between Montreux and Villeneuve, which gives acce ...
. The line was formed by a merger of the Vevey–Montreux–Chillon tramway (VMC) and the Chillon–Byron–Villeneuve tramway (CBV).


Vevey–Montreux–Chillon

The Vevey–Montreux–Chillon tramway was opened in 1888, and was the first electric tramway in Switzerland. It used an early electrification method, with twin overhead copper tubes carrying both polarities. The current was collected by a trolley running on these tubes, and pulled by the tramcar. The cars were double-deck, with an open upper deck.


Chillon–Byron–Villeneuve

The Chillon–Byron–Villeneuve tramway, effectively an extension of the earlier line but under separate ownership, opened in 1903. It used what had, by then, become the standard tram electrification method of a single overhead cable, with current return via the running rails. The two lines were merged to form the Vevey–Montreux–Chillon–Villeneuve tramway in 1913. The earlier line was rebuilt to use the later electrification method.


Technical details

The merged line was single-track and street-running throughout, and was electrified at 600 V DC. It had a length of , with 62 stops, a maximum gradient of 5% and a minimum radius of . It shared a common section, of just in length, with the Clarens–Chailly–Blonay tramway (CCB) in the Montreux suburb of Clarens.


Closing and legacy

The tramway closed in 1958, and was replaced by the Vevey–Villeneuve trolleybus line. The owning company survived, and is now, under the name VMCV SA, the principal bus and trolleybus operator in the Vevey and Montreux area.


See also

* Trolleybuses in Montreux/Vevey


References


{{DEFAULTSORT:Vevey-Montreux-Chillon-Villeneuve tramway Montreux Tram transport in Switzerland Transport in the canton of Vaud Tramway Railway lines opened in 1888 Railway lines closed in 1958 Vevey–Montreux–Chillon–Villeneuve Metre gauge railways in Switzerland