| General |
See Archive Index for further details
|
| |
| 2008 |
Details will be posted at the end of the
season
(in the interim see 2008 Advance Information
Lake Geneva Summary and/or
2008 Timetable Index (for links to individual timetables) |
| |
| 2007 |
MPV Vevey was in service
from the start of the year operating the twice-weekly
evening 'fondue' cruises from Lausanne and Morges on
Thursdays and Fridays as well as her 'traditional' non-advertised
Sunday sailings to Châ:teau-de-Chillon
and Evian-les-Bains |
| |
Despite the much heralded winter sailings
from Geneva in 2006 by PS
Savoie, the paddle steamer did not
return to service until Navigation Sunday 29th April -
requiring the Geneva based sailings from Easter to be covered by
MPV Vevey
In consequence the large PS
Simplon also started at Easter
and operated the early Spring "Upper Lake" Belle-Epoque sailings from Lausanne |
| MPV
Vevey spent her 100th year in service covering the Upper Lake "circle"
cruises for the second year running and an extra evening "circle" was operated on
Thursdays and Fridays evenings |
| PS
Simplon took over the Haut-Lac Express" fast sailings" to the Upper
Lake throughout the peak-summer vice her smaller sister
PS Rhône
which covered the Lausanne to Geneva and return sailing which was extended to Vevey and return in
the early evening |
Despite initially being advertised in the official timetables to again
operate in the Winter period PS
Savoie finished her public sailings early on
Sunday 28th October
Thereafter the official CGN website contined to show
all year that these sailings would be covered by
MPV Vevey but in the end they were all operated by
motor vessels |
| PS
Montreux again operated the two 'traditional' special
Montreux Christmas Market Lunch
Cruises from Lausanne |
| |
| 2006 |
The long established 'traditional' timetable was
completely recast with the longest sailing being the new "mini-Grand race" from Geneva
to Vevey and return operated by PS
La Suisse from the start of the summer timetable on
Ascension Thursday 25th May and extended to
Sunday 24th September
|
| |
PS
Rhône took over the new
Lausanne to the the Upper lake 'circle 'sailings which ran non-stop outward from
Lausanne to St-Gingolph returning via Montreux and Vevey |
PS
Simplon took over the new Lausanne to Geneva and return sailing
via the Swiss Coast in both directions during the peak-summer
This was basically a shortened vesion of the full length sailing previously operated from
Le Bouveret by MPV
Italie |
By far the most successful move was transferring
MPV Vevey
to the Upper lake 'Circle Cruises' replacing the unpopular
mv Chablais
Such was the increase in passenger numbers that at the AGM the CGN announced the
motor paddle steamer (originally planned to be withdrawn at the end of the season)
was to be reprieved and would continue sailing in 2007 |
| The renovated PS
Savoie took over the short Geneva based sailings in the Little lake
commencing Sunday 2nd July ...... |
...... and for the first time since 1938
sailings continued daily throughout the early-Winter period until
Saturday 23rd December
Another new feature of the winter roster was short afternoon cruises,
some of which loaded exceptionally well on fine days |
| PS
Montreux operated the two 'traditional' special
Montreux Christmas Market Lunch
Cruises from Lausanne |
| MPV
Vevey returned to service after a "mini-overhaul"
and took over the twice-weekly
evening 'fondue' cruises from Lausanne and Morges commencing Thursday 21st December
well as her 'traditional' non-advertised Sunday sailing
to Châ:teau-de-Chillon |
| |
| 2005 |
In addition to the traditional Spring period daily sailings by the
two operational motor paddle vessels the mid-day
weekend sailings from Lausanne to St-Gingolph
were also rostered to PS
Rhône giving the rare sight of public steam
timetabled sailings at Easter |
| |
Timetabled sailings remained basically similar to 2004 throughout
the whole of the 2005 summer season
However when PS
Simplon completed her major re-build, she took over the
2 Day roster from
mv
Henry-Dunant and alternated with
PS Rhône |
| The end of the Summer season marked the end of the traditional
"Grand Races" from both ends of the lake with
PS La Suisse and
MPV Italie
passing each other between Lausanne and Evian-les-Bains at approximately 1745 on
Sunday 25th September |
Winter timetabled sailings again reverted to just the one weekly
Sunday afternoon visit to Château de Chillon from
Lausanne using MPV
Italie for her final five weeks in service
The first weekend of December marked the end of the traditional timetable
and a well loaded MPV
Italie was in service for the last time on
Sunday 4th December before she joined her larger sister "long-term laid-up" at Ouchy
Owing to windy weather she was also called upon to operate the Evian-les-Bains ferry
sailings on no less than five occasions vice
mv
Lausanne ! |
Just two special
Christmas Market Lunch Cruises were operated by
PS Montreux but the usual short
non-landing
mini-cruises from Montreux were covered by
mv Lausanne
Despite no timetabled sailings being advertised for a motor paddle
vessel, following a quick Winter overhaul
MPV Vevey re-emerged and took over
the new Sunday roster which included a retimed 'lunch cruise' to Château de Chillon
followed by two round trips to Evian-les Bains from Sunday
11th December including unusually operating on Christmas
Day - the first time this centuary - with an eye-catching official poster of the
motor paddle vessel being
pulled by reindeer ! |
| |
| 2004 |
MPV Vevey unusually operated the Geneva
winter lunch cruise sailings 122/123 to Nyon
on Sunday 29th February - the first time a
paddle vessel had operated winter timetabled sailings
out of Geneva since 1938 |
| |
Timetabled sailings remained basically similar to 2003 throughout
the whole of the 2004 summer season
However with PS
Savoie undertaking a major re-build,
PS Rhône took over the
2 Day roster alternating with
mv
Henry-Dunant
|
| |
Owing to the non-availability of
PS Simplon
it became nesessary to transfer MPV
Vevey off her advertised local Geneva cruises to operate
the 2 Day roster sailings for the
peak four weeks of the season, alternating with
PS Rhône
Her place unusually was taken by the large
mv Lausanne |
| |
In addition to the traditional Autumn period daily sailings by the two
operational motor paddle vessels the mid-day
weekend sailings from Lausanne to St-Gingolph
were also rostered to PS
Rhône giving the rare sight of public steam timetabled
sailings in October |
| |
Winter timetabled sailings again reverted to just the one weekly
Sunday afternoon visit to St-Gingolph from
Lausanne using MPV
Vevey
mv Chablais
commenced a new improved winter Upper Lake winter weekend 'circle' sailing similar to the
summer resulting in the motor paddle steamer sailing being
curtailed to Château-de-Chillon from the Sunday 12th
December timetable change |
| |
The traditional special
Christmas Market Lunch Cruises were again
operated by PS
Montreux including the short non-landing
mini-cruises
from Montreux |
| |
| 2003 |
MPV Vevey operated the Geneva lunch cruise
sailing 92 daily from Sunday
30th March to Sunday 2nd November
Early season sailings to Yvoire were taken over by
mv Henry-Dunant |
| |
Early season sailings
43-172 from Lausanne to Geneva by
MPV Italie commenced on
Sunday 30th March and also operated on
weekdays
The morning sailing started from Le Bouveret on Saturdays and Sundays only |
| |
The weekly timetabled evening dance
cruise round the Upper Lake by
MPV Italie was withdrawn |
| |
PS Simplon again operated the
"2 Day" roster" from
Sunday 10th August
Unfortunately this was brought to a premature end on Monday
18th August when the paddle steamer suffered a
spectacular explosion which resulted in her immediate
withdrawal from service |
| |
PS La Suisse damaged her bows whilst returning to Ouchy dock
on Friday 29th August after operating a charter sailing vice
PS Simplon
In consequence the Rhône Express sailings 64-155
were operated by mv
Lausanne (or
mv Ville-de-Genève when the larger
motor vessel had a charter sailing) between
Monday 1st September and
Sunday 21st September
PS La
Suisse returned to service in time for the final full-length
sailings 64-155 on
Monday 22nd September |
| |
Autumn sailings increased to daily
(similar to Spring) with both MPV
Vevey sailing out of Geneva and
MPV Italie sailing from Lausanne
|
| |
Winter timetabled sailings again reverted to just the weekly
Sunday afternoon visit to St-Gingolph from
Lausanne using just MPV
Italie |
| |
The traditional special
Christmas Market Brunch Cruises were again
operated by PS
Montreux agumented by new short non-landing
mini-cruises
from Montreux |
| |
| 2002 |
MPV Helvétie was withdrawn for service as an economy
measure and laid-up at Ouchy pending finance for a major re-build and a new
engine, thus ending the tradition of a large Geneva based motor
paddle vessel for charter sailings |
| |
Early season
sailings 80-110-134-91 from Geneva to Yvoire (starting
Good Friday 29th March)
were operated by
MPV Vevey until her accident at Geneva on
Friday 12th April |
| |
PS Savoie was joined on the alternate day
sailings 80-191 and
sailings 36-91 by the recently overhauled
mv Henry-Dunant
|
| |
MPV Vevey replaced the Geneva based
mv
Ville-de-Genève on sailings
92-174-99 (1220 lunch cruise, then 1500 round trip to Yvoire) during the
Spring and Autumn
periods |
| |
The traditional timetabled Wednesday
evening dance cruise round the Upper Lake by
MPV Italie after sailing
172 was moved to Fridays during
July and August |
| |
PS Simplon operated a short season of
special sailings from Geneva including the
annual sailing from Yvoire to the
Fêtes de Genève Fireworks at Geneva instead of the traditional
MPV Helvétie
Integrated with this was the five-day
Week of the Simplon when the paddle steamer
ran 'full-length' timetabled sailings starting on Sunday
11th August |
| |
Autumn sailings were restricted to just
Saturdays and
Sundays with MPV
Vevey sailing out of Geneva including the final
direct sailings from Rolle to Nyon and
MPV Italie sailing from Lausanne
The Upper Lake Sunday sailings were combined with
the autumn 'brunch cruises' previously operated separately by
mv
Lausanne |
| |
Winter timetabled sailings reverted to just the weekly
Sunday afternoon visit to St-Gingolph from Lausanne using
just MPV
Italie |
| |
The traditional special
Christmas Market Brunch Cruises were operated by
PS
Montreux instead of
mv Lausanne
This provided the rare sight of two paddle
steamers together at Montreux during the middle of the Winter |
| |
| 2001 |
Early season
sailings 80-110-134-91 from Geneva to Yvoire (including Easter)
were operated by
MPV Vevey |
| |
PS Montreux returned to service (after a two-year
re-build) on Saturday 19th May and was accompanied by
the other paddle steamers
on a special
parade |
| |
PS Montreux took over the Lausanne based
sailings
65-76-95-173-177-218 (1230 Lunch Cruise to Evian-les-Bains,
1415 Cruise Round the Upper Lake and the 1820 Evening Cruise to Yvoire from Lausanne) during
July and August only instead of
PS Rhône |
| |
PS Rhône replaced the Geneva based
mv
Ville-de-Genève on
sailings 92-174-99-214-205 (1220 lunch cruise, then 1500 and 1820 round
trips to Yvoire) during July and August
This last happened in 1994
|
| |
The traditional timetabled Wednesday
evening dance cruise round the Upper Lake was re-instated by
MPV Italie after
sailing 172
These cruises last operated in
1998 |
| |
PS Simplon operated regular late evening cruises from Lausanne
on Thursdays (Salsa) and
Fridays (dance) |
| |
Early Winter Saturday and
Sunday sailings from Lausanne reverted to the pre-1990
position (ie before the launch of
mv Léman) and were operated by both
MPV Italie and
MPV Vevey |
| |
New Winter Sundays
sailings 82-43-96-71-118-87 were introduced from Geneva
to Yvoire and return, operated by
mv Général-Guisan
These included a 'shuttle' between Yvoire and Nyon, which provided a 'lunch cruise'
facility |
| |
| 2000 |
Early season
sailings 80-71-118-83-166-91 from Geneva to Yvoire (including Easter)
were operated by
MPV Italie |
| |
PS La Suisse operated
sailings 64-155 (0900 Geneva to St-Gingolph and 1500 return)
instead of
PS Rhône
throughout the Summer |
| |
PS Rhône was restricted to regular timetabled sailings
during July and August only, operating
sailings 65-76-95-173-177-218 (1230 Lunch Cruise to
Evian-les-Bains, 1415 Cruise Round the Upper Lake and the 1820 Evening Cruise to
Yvoire from Lausanne) instead of
PS La Suisse |
| |
July and August
sailings 214-205 (1800 Weekdays and 1830 Sundays Geneva to
Yvoire and 2015 return) were downgraded to being operated by the smaller
mv Ville-de-Genève instead of the paddle steamers on
the alternate day roster which now finish work earlier at Geneva at 1805 throughout the
Summer |
| |
| 1999 |
Early season
sailings 80-71-118-83-166-99 from Geneva to Yvoire (including Easter)
were operated by
MPV Helvétie |
| |
MPV Montreux was withdrawn from service for major re-build and
re-conversion to steam operation
The alternate day
sailings 80-191 and
sailings 36-91-214-202 with
MPV Vevey were operated by
PS Savoie |
| |
Evening sailings 177-218
(1820 from Lausanne to Yvoire and return were operated by
PS La Suisse after working
sailing 173 (1547 St-Gingolph to
Lausanne) |
| |
PS Simplon (normally on stand-by at Lausanne) operated
sailings
47-112-179-176-175-202 (1115
Lausanne to Yvoire and 1315 return; 1505 Lausanne to St-Gingolph and 1645
return instead of
PS Savoie during July and August, followed by the 1815 ferry
Lausanne to Evian-les-Bains and 1900 return |
| |
The Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday
evening dance cruises previously operated by
MPV Helvétie
PS La
Suisse and
MPV Italie from Geneva, Lausanne and the Upper Lake piers
respectively were withdrawn as an economy measure |
| |
| 1998 |
Early season
sailings 80-71-118-83-166-99 from Geneva to Yvoire (including Easter)
were operated by
MPV Vevey |
| |
Sailings
179-176 (1633 Le Bouveret to Lausanne via Evian-les-Bains) operated by
PS Savoie
were extended to Yvoire and back via the Swiss Coast piers as
sailings 177-218 (Lausanne depart 1820) and
inter-connected with new evening
sailings 214-205 from Geneva operated alternate days by
MPV
Montreux and
MPV Vevey |
| |
Sailings
214-205 (1740 Geneva to Rolle and 1950 return) operated alternate days
by MPV
Montreux and
MPV Vevey were retimed to start 1800 and cut short at
Yvoire to inter-connect with new sailings
177-218 from Lausanne operated by
PS Savoie |
| |
The regular Saturday
evening dance cruises (extension of
sailing 202 - 1900 from Evian-les-Bains) by
PS La
Suisse were withdrawn at the end of the season |
| |
PS Savoie operated
sailings 175-202 (1815 Lausanne to Evian-les-Bains and
1900 return) instead of sailings 199-226
(1915 Lausanne to Thonon-les-Bains and 2045 return) |
| |
MPV
Montreux was withdrawn from service after sailings on
Sunday 4th October for a two-year re-build and re-conversion
to steam power |
| |
| 1997 |
Sailing 91
(1144 St-Gingolph to Geneva) operated alternate days by
MPV Montreux and
MPV Vevey was speeded up to arrive
Geneva Mont-Blanc at 1725 and formed the
evening cruise
sailings 214-205 (1740 Geneva to Rolle and 1950 return)
instead of
mv Ville-de-Genève |
| |
MPV Helvétie operated Sunday
sailings 90-174-99 (1200 lunch cruise also 1450 Geneva to Yvoire and 1645
return) in addition to the Thursday and Saturday evening dance
cruises |
| |
| 1996 |
PS Rhône again operated
sailings 64-155 (0915 Geneva to St-Gingolph
and 1500 return) throughout the Summer (i.e. June to September) but without
the calls at Margencel and Sciez on the return journey |
| |
On Fridays only, the evening cruise
sailings 199-226
(1915 Lausanne to Thonon-les-Bains and 2035 return) by
PS Savoie were extended towards Margencel and returned
from Thonon-les-Bains at 2135 |
| |
The return long-distance Rhône
Express sailing
155 reverted to sailing direct from Thonan-les-Bains to Yvoire |
| |
| 1995 |
PS Rhône operated
sailings 64-155 (0915 Geneva to St-Gingolph
and 1500 return) throughout the Summer (i.e. June to September) which followed the
French coast on the return journey with additional calls at Margencel and Sciez
In consequence:-
a)
mv Lausanne was transferred to Lausanne and only
operated the timetabled Sunday lunch and other special
cruises
b)
mv Ville-de-Genève operated the
local cruises from Geneva all Summer (i.e. June to September) including the
July and August evening cruise to Rolle and return |
| |
During July and August
MPV Montreux and
MPV Vevey operated
sailings
33-91-93 (1015 Lausanne to St-Gingolph and 1144 to Geneva
(vice motor vessels) on alternate days instead of
sailings
23-174-111 (0915 Lausanne to Geneva and 1430 to Yvoire and return) which
was covered by mv
Général-Guisan
|
| |
MPV Helvétie only operated the
Thursday and
Saturday evening
dance cruise sailings 902-903 (2030
Geneva to Yvoire and 2145 return from 10th June to 26th August) |
| |
| 1994 |
PS Rhône operated
sailings 64-155 (0915 Geneva to St-Gingolph and 1500 return) during June
and September |
| |
PS Rhône operated
sailings 92-188-87-214-205 (1220 lunch cruise, 1450 to Coppet and 1542 return
also 1730 Geneva to Rolle and 1942 return) during July and August
During this period full lake
sailings 64-155 were operated by the lake's largest motor vessel
mv Lausanne |
|
| 1983 |
During August,
PS Rhône operated
sailings 26-53 on weekdays, but was "day-off" at Geneva on Sundays |
| |
In addition to the regular Thursday and Saturday Evening Dance Cruise
sailings 988-993, the larger
MPV Helvétie operated
sailings 26-53 on Sundays, allowing the
motor paddle vessel to
'escape' from the Little Lake |
| |
| See also the
short history of the lake sailings from 1822 by
Steve Crook |
| |
31st December 2007
e-mail
(c)1999-2007
John B Bird
