European Railroad Discussion > Freight through Geneve Cornavin station

Good afternoon.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do anything beyond head up to the station for a bit on my recent Geneve, Switzerland trip.  However, the time I did spend at the station on two visits during the same day netted zero freight trains.  Well, I should clarify-- I did see a MaK 1700 shunter come and go (presumably for a crew change or fuel). 

I was at the station about 10 years ago, and saw several freight trains pass through the station during the day.  I could revisit my slides, but I recall seeing automobiles, Post wagons, and general freight pass through the station.

My question is this-- has freight dropped off significantly through Geneve over the past 10 years, or did I just hit a bad spot?  I was at the station from approximately 1400-1700 hours on a Friday.  And then from roughly 2030-2200.

I appreciate any insights offered!
 

ShortlinesUSA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do anything beyond
> head up to the station for a bit on my recent
> Geneve, Switzerland trip.  However, the time I
> did spend at the station on two visits during the
> same day netted zero freight trains.  Well, I
> should clarify-- I did see a MaK 1700 shunter come
> and go (presumably for a crew change or fuel). 
>
> I was at the station about 10 years ago, and saw
> several freight trains pass through the station
> during the day.  I could revisit my slides, but I
> recall seeing automobiles, Post wagons, and
> general freight pass through the station.
>
> My question is this-- has freight dropped off
> significantly through Geneve over the past 10
> years, or did I just hit a bad spot?  I was at
> the station from approximately 1400-1700 hours on
> a Friday.  And then from roughly 2030-2200.
>
> I appreciate any insights offered!
>  
Sorrry about that if I had known that you were going to be stuck much closer to Geneve proper I would have suggested that you go to one of the stations a little to the east of Cornavin, such as Secheron the first station to the east and at the eastern end of Geneve's main freight yard. SBB Cargo completely revamped freight operations last year. Also French bridge traffic to and from Italy disappeared.

The network graphic timetable for the Geneve area is here;
https://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf_graphic_tt/2019/G101.pdf

Blue lines represent Freight trains, Teal lines are Postal trains, and Red lines are Passenger trains. Time progresses downward so a line sloping down to the left is westbound, lines sloping the other way are eastbound. Freight trains have five digit numbers. Those that start with a 4xxxx are International freight trains, while those that start with a 5xxxx or 6xxxx are Domestic Swiss freight trains or Light Engine movements. There are provisions for companies to obtasin freight train paths at shorter notice and these won't show on this timetable.Pay particular attention to the two or three digit number that follows the train symbol as this indicates the days of operation. Note that on days that the listed train is not scheduled to operate it is possible for another train to use this path. On the timetable shown above, Geneve-Cornavin is shown as "GE" about in the middle. stations to the right are to the east of Geneve along the lake. Passenger stations are in black, while freight yards and interlockings are in gray. This diagram is so detailed that it tells you which track the train should be using baring track work. For the matrix to decode symbols on the timetable, especially the days of operation use this link;
.https://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf_graphic_tt/2019/G00d.pdf
Scroll down a couple of pages of the PDF to see the beginning of the matrix.

Any questions just ask.

No worries at all.  These trips are quite unpredictable on what time I'll have available, so I just do whatever I can with the time that winds up in my schedule.  The above info is extremely helpful, and much appreciated, as always.

 

My apologies, as the diagram I linked clearly showed most freight still passing through Cornavin station as Steinzeit noted in a PM to me. My eyesight is failing as my cataracts are getting  worse, and  will continue to worsen until I have surgery. After I enlarged the page and increased the contrast I could see he was right. The autorack traffic was lost as Pugeot shifted traffic back to the highways due to the rail strikes in France. Also the SBB Cargo has made changes to carload network. In the Antithesis to PSR that is sweeping across North America. SBB now completely processes all wagons in their humpyards three times per day reducing dwell times, and if the volume warrants it industries can receive three locals per day or every eight hours. However as volumes fall some services have to be cut.

Just got back to the US from GVA. The chart helped me nail a freight coming by Secheron dead on the money per the chart while baking in the heat. It was an Re 4/4 with 3 Postal wagons, but fulfilled my absolute hope to photograph a freight move.

And I really enjoy the Re 4/4s. Those motors have a lot of character and we were born around the same time. How many are left? They seem to see some freight duty and two (what I would call) commuter trains seem to use them in the afternoon rush. But they are much less prevalent than what I saw 10 years ago.

You made that photo happen, SOO 6617. Most appreciated! Although it was darn hot standing around on the overpass. I felt like jumping in the lake after taking photos (and should have)!

Posted from Android

ShortlinesUSA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> And I really enjoy the Re 4/4s. Those motors have
> a lot of character and we were born around the
> same time. How many are left? They seem to see
> some freight duty and two (what I would call)
> commuter trains seem to use them in the afternoon
> rush. But they are much less prevalent than what I
> saw 10 years ago.

Except for the 30 "LION" rebuilds (420 201 - 420 230) the Re420 (Re4/4 II) do not have much of a future in passenger services. Only the continued delays in the certification of the RABDe502 "Twindexx" EMUs causes as many Re420 locomotes to remain in passenger service. The Cargo locomotives have a better future, but the fleet is bigger than needed and of course as Personenverkehr sidelines their assigned locomotives Cargo chooses the best ones to add to their fleet. Just this past week two more locomotives were sold for scrap #11120  and 11360. Very few R3 heavy overhauls have been done in the past five years.

Geneva's freight yard, together with many of the freight terminals/destinations, is located in the La Praille section, southwest from Cornavin.  It is reached by a formerly freight-only stub ended branch from the line west to France and the airport -- see location SJ on SOO's very helpful timetable diagram.  Within the past year however a new double track extension has been finished, or nearly finished [ not sure ]  to permit an intensive passenger service through to Annemasse in France;  there are also intermediate stations on the west side of the La Praille yards which should provide views.  I would suggest on your next visit taking a trip from Cornavin to Annemasse to see what's where, and then stopping at an intermediate station on the way back;  you may not have to leave the platform.

Because of the increased passenger service on all lines, especially at peak hours, you simply won't see any freights run because of track occupancy, especially since I believe the "SJ" to La Praille section is double rather than triple track.

Hope that helps,
SZ

The new CEVA starts operating with this years December timetable change.

SOO6617 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The new CEVA starts operating with this years
> December timetable change.

Ah, OK, I wasn't sure when the full service starts.  But the line is partially open to [ at least ] the new Lancy-Pont Rouge station, at the north end of the freight yard, and this station is served by a number of SL-lines trains to/from Cornavin.  From photos on the internet it would appear good views are available from the platform -- at least when a passenger train at the platform isn't in the way.

SZ

Thank you both for the great info.  There will likely be more trips to come, so I am filing this all away to do my best on the next visit.