Voralpen Express

The Voralpen-Express (VAE) is a named train connecting small to medium-sized cities and villages in Central and Eastern Switzerland, carrying this name since 1992. It is operated by Südostbahn (SOB) and runs every hour between St. Gallen and Lucerne, bypassing Zurich. Its name derives from the fact that it traverses the Prealps (German: Voralpen). The first through trains between Romanshorn (Lake Constance) and Arth-Goldau started in 1940 after the electrification of the Südostbahn line between Rapperswil and Arth-Goldau. Romanshorn–Rapperswil had been under wires since 1926/31. The trains, fir green MUs composed of CFZe 4/4 and BCFZe 4/4 (both later called ABe 4/4) motor coaches and coaches, were jointly operated by Bodensee–Toggenburg-Bahn (BT), Südostbahn (SOB), and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). In 1944, BT added buffet cars to the trainsets. In 1947, some trains continued from Arth-Goldau to Lucerne. In 1960, operation was changed to push-pull configuration with very powerful motor coaches (BDe 4/4). The trainsets were at this time painted in green and cream. 1982 brought the clock-face timetable with a train Romanshorn–Lucerne every two hours, but also the end for buffet cars on this route. In 1991, BT and SOB bought inter-city coaches, model EW IV (Einheitswagen IV, Swiss standard coaches IV), to replace the push-pull sets. The name Voralpen-Express appeared for the first time in railway guides in 1992. In 1995, additional, unnamed trains every two hours operated between Romanshorn and Arth-Goldau, again with push-pull sets. After Revvivo coaches had been used for these trains from 1997 on, it was decided to sell the EW IV to Swiss Federal Railways and buy more Revvivos to allow an hourly push-pull trainset between Romanshorn and Lucerne. In 2001, BT and SOB merged into the new SOB, which reduced the number of participating companies to two. VAE ran as an InterRegio (IR) express train until 2013. The concept changed on 15 December 2013. SOB became the sole operator of Voralpen-Express, and the train service was limited to St.