Thursday 19 July 2007

New and old: Saurer at the end of the line in Chur.



Chur literally is the end of the line for train journeys end here from right across Europe, as beyond this pleasant Swiss town there are just smaller private narrow-gauge railway lines winding their way through the mountain passes to Ski Resorts like St.Moritz. During the Nineties without spoiling the frontage too much the old chalet-style mountain village station was drastically modernised inside and a major project was the building of a new raised departure platform for Post Bus services at the far end of the rail platforms. So instead of intending passengers having to trek outside into the wet, literally in seconds they could be climbing the escalator to the waiting buses. Not that they always escaped the cold Alpine elements for even though there is a covering canopy the wind and rain still seems to swirl around in there as it is not fully enclosed. By the time it opened only a few Saurer RH's remained at Chur and much more typical were German Neoplans including double-deckers.

The other view shows buses waiting to leave from in front of the building in the old days. In this view taken in the mid-Nineties, beyond the Setra coach nearest the camera bound for Bellinzona we can see the concrete going up as the new bus station rises at the end of the station platforms.

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