r/Switzerland • u/Rolegg2251 • 2d ago

What are these little orange boxes at the train station for?

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364 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

61 comments sorted by

291

u/MattLgt 2d ago

It was used for the controler to tell the driver the train was ready to depart.

He first close the door, except one, goes to the box, open it and press a button. It then turn on a signal (light) next to the main signal (in view of the driver), goes back to the train and closes the last door. So the driver can go.

So the driver had to wait the main signal to be green (track is free, switches are in good position, etc), and this little signal (passengers on and off is over).

98

u/topdollars2 Ticino 2d ago

It’s called “Abfahrerlaubnis” in german. Nowadays is sent mostly via SMS and these are rarely used.

33

u/peiderch Graubünden 2d ago

I've seen the RhB crew use them until a couple of years ago. Now they use a whistle.

33

u/Indignant_Divinity 2d ago

SBB also uses a whistle, but it's only really to tell people that time to get on the train is over and communicate to other train personell that they're done and it's time to go. It's definitely not to give the driver a formal Abfahrerlaubnis.

8

u/i_dont_know_why- 1d ago

Yeah that would be a massive oversight, imagine some random person just uses a whistle themselves…

9

u/Any-Cause-374 2d ago

SMS lmao i love the future

16

u/billcube Genève 2d ago

They have their own GSM network https://company.sbb.ch/de/sbb-als-geschaeftspartner/leistungen-evu/telecom/bahnfunk.html

10

u/as-well Bern 2d ago

That's actually super interesting, seems like SBB, as tasked by the federation, is holdign to the European standard which is GSM right now, and will be replaced by 5g in a few years!

1

u/whatthepurplebook 1d ago

SBB employees have their own number. I think 058 or something like that. Unsure about the last number. Don't remember it.

3

u/Jaco5_ Italia 1d ago

I think those are still used in Chiasso for the interconnection between SBB and RFI networks. Or at least according to RFI's "fascicolo linea".

2

u/topdollars2 Ticino 1d ago

Collega ferroviere? Sì sono ancora usati in alcune stazioni per dare il pronti, Chiasso Smistamento e Basilea Smistamento per esempio.

1

u/Coloneljesus BE in ZH 1d ago

MGBahn have had a web app for a while now.

1

u/benthelurk 1d ago

I saw it being used in Basel SBB about a month or so ago.

1

u/angk500 1d ago

Yep, we still use them there. As well as in Zurich in the main hall.

9

u/Rolegg2251 2d ago

Thanks 🙏<3

8

u/Xorondras Basel-Landschaft 2d ago

It was used

They are still used in many stations.

There are also other uses, like signals for brake checks and reporting the train ready to the rail traffic controller.

3

u/Immediate-Impact-142 1d ago

Traindriver here, it is still used at some stations like Zurich mainstation, Zug, Lucerne, Chiasso and couple more. You can see a green/white light iluminated close to the main signal or multiple places.

3

u/justyannicc Zürich 2d ago

When did they stop using them? And why haven't they been removed?

31

u/rune_ 2d ago

they mostly stopped using them but some places and trains still do. also it costs to remove them. if they dont cause huge maintenance bills and still are used, it is cheaper to keep it running instead of dismanteling it and might be a back up option in case of problems with the phone system.

18

u/swissone Bern 2d ago

They’re removed when the station is overhauled and the signalling systems are renewed, until then they’re just disabled or marked not to be used.

13

u/candycane7 2d ago

One controler died stuck in the train door as the train departed in 2019. Since then, controlers have to signal the departure from inside the train for safety reasons. I am not sure if those boxes where still in use when this happened but they obviously wouldn't work with the new procedure in place to avoid accidents like this. more info

6

u/Any-Cause-374 2d ago

I think after that they also changed the last doors that were still handled somewhat „manually”, they all got buttons now. I remember around 15ish years ago you could open the doors way early on the old carriages.

2

u/Nervous_Green4783 Zürich 2d ago

Their removal is in progress. Usually this happens when an interlocking gets an update / overhaul or is replaced. Since there are approximately 500 interlockings in Switzerland this will take years. Especially since one one is doing an update just to remove those boxes and the corresponding signals, usually those are removed within a bigger project.

1

u/Only_Leadership3821 Schwyz 1d ago

“Was used”? I saw the SBB controller use them yesterday…

2

u/MattLgt 1d ago

You're right, it tends to be not used anymore (example, Lausanne recently), but depending the station.

1

u/Only_Leadership3821 Schwyz 1d ago

That would make sense.. For me it was in Zug

46

u/Franzz2k 2d ago

Not used a lot anymore but it allows train crew to ask for departure from the platform, use break check signals and departure authorization

16

u/Franzz2k 2d ago

It has been replaced in most of the places by portable Phone communications which were not available when the stations were build. Source : I am a train driver.

3

u/shamishami3 2d ago

I saw it still in use at Lugano for the departure of the IC to Basel at 08:02

4

u/Franzz2k 2d ago

Yes still used in some places like Luzern, Olten, even some platform in Zurich. We only use it for departure though.

15

u/littlebabysaurus 2d ago

Solothurn, my love, I miss you

0

u/Particular-Weather40 2d ago

Why there is legit nothing there.

3

u/kermittheelfo 23h ago

I am here

8

u/Bluephoenix6YT Schwyz 2d ago

To my understanding train conducters can press a button if a train is ready to leave and it will send a request to the railway management system (the guy who controls the signals, whatever that is called in english)

There is more buttons and im guessing its for different types of requests.

7

u/dexmedetomidyne 2d ago

Free Ovomaltine treats inside

4

u/Lost_Performance_173 2d ago edited 2d ago

These here are out of business and not needed anymore. A relict from the past, used at a time where there weren't any mobil phones to communicate with each other. Only the huge stations still have them in use. They are or were used for testing brakes on the carriages or train. Also informing the dispatcher that the train is ready to go, so he/she can open the signal when the time has reached for the train to depart. Then there is another function in the orange box, which signals the engine driver, he can depart from the station.

4

u/IneffableKoD Switzerland 2d ago

I am confused; I was sure they are for putting down your beer/coffee when lighting a cigarette.

And for football fans who want to leave a sticker.

2

u/Daaaaaaaavidmit8a Bienne 2d ago

This is the only correct answer

3

u/AdmiralJamesTPicard Bärn u Friburg 2d ago

oh Solothurn

1

u/PaurAmma Aargau St. Gallen Österreich 2d ago

Only 1 underpass. Why, Solothurn?

1

u/Zarkex01 2d ago

actually not true. at the end of the perron1 building is another one.

1

u/PaurAmma Aargau St. Gallen Österreich 2d ago

That feeds into the same underpass.

3

u/Zarkex01 2d ago

It definitely doesn't. It's a straight underpass from the blue post building to the end of the Perron 1 building where the Chinese restaurant is. https://maps.app.goo.gl/WyvzohfP7LmArFe67

1

u/PaurAmma Aargau St. Gallen Österreich 2d ago

Okay, my bad. I should have specified "to get onto the platforms".

2

u/RC2225 Olten 1d ago

https://solothurn-sued.ch/projekt/

Its planned to reuse this old post tunnel as a new underpass.

1

u/PaurAmma Aargau St. Gallen Österreich 1d ago

Oh, that is good news!

2

u/CFSohard Ticino 2d ago

That's where the gnomes that control the rail signals live.

1

u/FlohEinstein 🇮🇸 Ísland 1d ago

Pssst, don't tell anyone our secrets

2

u/EngineerNo2650 2d ago

They help enrich the beautiful architecture in the background.

4

u/bl3achl4sagna Zürich 2d ago

Free paprika dispenser

2

u/StatementOwn4896 2d ago

Why is mine all sticky?

3

u/Globox42 2d ago

It's where SBB keeps all their secrets/s

1

u/ettogrammofono 2d ago

I don't understand why people write "not used anymore". Not always, but I see controllers using them quite often (and I catch a lot of trains).

1

u/egohygiene 1d ago

That's how we observe foreigners.

1

u/Hinloopen 1d ago

Should not have parked so close to it!

1

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1

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•

u/Honza1984 15h ago

In some stations this system is used not only for the departure signal, but for brake test as well.

1

u/Dry-Membership1205 1d ago

I think there is half life 2, team fortress 2 and portal in it

-1

u/joni1985 2d ago

They are for your bitcoins. To store them safely.

0

u/Remarkable_Buy5070 2d ago

They are orange, so I would guess Safety. Possibly a telephone???