Bretaye, Rail mountain pass in canton Vaud, Switzerland.

Bretaye is a mountain pass at 1,806 m above Villars-sur-Ollon in the Vaud Alps, on the Ollon municipality. It links Villars to the alpine pastures around Lac de Bretaye, Lac Noir and Lac des Chavonnes, and to La Forclaz in the Ormonts valley. The pass holds the Col-de-Bretaye terminus of the Bex–Villars–Bretaye rack railway, plus a restaurant, a hotel, ski installations and alpine chalets.

The Bex–Villars–Bretaye railway reached the pass in 1911, completing a line begun in 1897 with the Bex–Villars section. Its rack section made Bretaye the second highest railway in canton Vaud, after the Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye line. The pass at 1,806 m links Villars-sur-Ollon with the alpine pastures around Lac de Bretaye, Lac Noir and Lac des Chavonnes, and with La Forclaz in the Ormonts valley.

Bretaye is the upper terminus of the Bex–Villars–Bretaye rack railway, whose station, Col-de-Bretaye, sits beside a restaurant, a hotel and alpine chalets. The pass links Villars-sur-Ollon with the pastures around Lac de Bretaye, Lac Noir and Lac des Chavonnes and with La Forclaz in the Ormonts valley.

You change trains at Villars-sur-Ollon between the lower section and the steep cog railway section. Because the line runs year-round, you can ride in most weather, though conditions at the top can shift quickly and demand proper dress.

The railway relies on the Abt cog system across more than 7 kilometers to handle the extreme slope. This technical solution made the route historically possible where a standard rail line could never work.