MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Locarno to Domodossola landslide – bus replacement
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Hi everyone,
I was going to travel from Locarno to Domodossola on 27 May. Just playing around with reservations and if I’m reading correctly, there has been a landslide and no trains will run until June 30. I’m not keen on the bus, so might look for another way around….
cheers…
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A bummer indeed. That is a lovely train route to be out of service until end of June. A bus trip in that area might be nice though….I noticed the road follows close to the train line (at least for some parts of the trip).
Thanks Lucas,
I’m having trouble finding an alternative that’s appealing, so maybe the bus might not be so bad…
Cheers..
Ah yes, it does not sound good. I’m out of touch with the Swiss news there days…trying to acclimatize to the Maldives but working hard as always for MSA ;).
Those tracks, and the highway, are right on the cliffs – spectacular but sketchy in some places. I did see a lot of rock nets bolted on the walls but they aren’t always enough.
The bus sounds fine. Or . . . .
You can go via Lugano to Gallarate and then up along the western shore of Lake Maggiore which might be quite scenic but adds 1½ to 2 hours to the Centovalli route.
You could hop a boat from Locarno to say Stresa then train up to Domodossola. There is a fast boat that only takes 1 hour 15mins. Stresa is only about 40 mins from Domodossola. See http://www.navigazionelaghi.i t/eng/m_orari.asp.
Neither route would be covered by Swiss Travel Pass though I’m thinking.
The Maldives hey. Nice. I thought either your time-zone must have moved or your sleep patterns were disturbed. Keep up the sunscreen. 😎
It is a balancing act between using enough sunscreen and not running out (they charge about 45USD for a small bottle at the resort). haha.
Better safe than sorry though.
It has been quite a few years since I’ve been in this combination of heat and humidity….I’m slowly getting used to it. It’s a hard life.
Thanks Rockoyster.
The boat trip sounds feasible too… Might be fun!
cheers..
This is too bad, I thought all was fine now since the landslide was 3 weeks ago. According to Google maps the road is still closed too, so if that’s accurate I guess the bus makes a detour via Cannobio on the Lago Maggiore. Should be a nice route too.
Such a shame! I was planning a round day trip from Domodossola to Locarno in late May, but will have to content myself with the excellent 2 hour video on Youtube – camera strapped to the front of the train. It looks so beautiful and an amazing engineering achievement.
Any idea of the duration of the bus journey, or if trains are still running Domodossola to Re?
Hi John,
>> I was planning a round day trip from Domodossola to Locarno in late May … Any idea of the duration of the bus journey, or if trains are still running Domodossola to Re?
The Swiss Timetable has been updated to reflect the current situation.
It shows the bus journey Domodossola to Locarno taking 1 hour 55, and also shows trains still running from Domodossola to Re.
http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
Alpenrose
Hi Alpenrose,
The timetable seems to have been updated off into the future. Still showing bus in September even though track supposed to be fixed 30 June. Interesting.
Thanks Alpenrose. The good people on the Centovalli website confirmed that partial journeys are currently possible, Domodossola to Re and Camedo to Locarno. I might take a short trip to explore those little Italian villages from Domodossola.
John
>> The timetable seems to have been updated off into the future. Still showing bus in September even though track supposed to be fixed 30 June. Interesting.
Yes, trains are not reintroduced into the timetable until 8 October, and then only twice daily. That situation is set to continue for the remainder of the 2017-18 timetable period according to the current timetable.
If things change, I imagine they will update the timetable again. From what I’ve read, it’s not only a question of clearing and repairing the track, but the fact that the land remains unstable, with further landslides a possibility. I imagine that will be the major factor in determining when trains can safely run again.
Hopefully they don’t have to re-route the line. They had to do that after the Randa rockslides of 1991 on the line between Visp and Zermatt, which buried around 800 m of the Glacier Express line.
Alpenrose
Thanks Alpenrose.
Does that bus route to Domodossola usually run anyway or is it only a replacement service while the train is not available? It looks like an interesting trip to try out as a change from Centovalli train but we are now having to look a year ahead to 2019 as I have unfortunately just had to cancel our planned Ticino trip for this June. My health issues have not improved sufficiently for us to undertake the trip. We are still hoping our September holiday will go ahead as planned though – fingers crossed.
My thanks to all who offered ideas for Ticino – will keep them filed away for next year!
Maggie
Congratulations to Alpenrose for reaching 2000 posts!
>> Does that bus route to Domodossola usually run anyway or is it only a replacement service while the train is not available?
As far as I know, it’s just a train replacement service.
The following company runs bus services out of Domodossola, but I don’t see any to Locarno:
http://www.comazzibus.com/eng /linee_orari.php
>> I have unfortunately just had to cancel our planned Ticino trip for this June. My health issues have not improved sufficiently for us to undertake the trip. We are still hoping our September holiday will go ahead as planned though – fingers crossed.
Sorry to hear that Maggie 🙁 Hope things do improve so that you can still do your September trip.
>> Congratulations to Alpenrose for reaching 2000 posts!
Thanks 🙂
Alpenrose
Hi everyone,
Attached are pictures of the announcements at the Locarno train station today. The current situation is that local trains on the Swiss leg (between Locarno and Camedo) do operate. There are replacement buses for travelers who want to go from Locarno to Domodossola, or vice versa. I only did part of the bus route but I can image it is nice scenery on that route too. It’s partly along the Lago Maggiore.
There is no estimated re-opening date unfortunately.
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