Bernese Oberland railway

Bernese Oberland railway

A BOB train headed by class ABeh4/4 No.312 (named Interlaken) at Interlaken Ost, note the former brown / cream livery.
Technical
Number of tracks mostly single track with passing points and a double track section at the lower end.
Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 38 in)
Maximum incline 12 %
Rack system Riggenbach

BOB

Legend
Elevation

To Spiez, Thun and Bern (BLS AG)

567m Interlaken Ost, and BOB sidings
BLS AG sidings
To Brienz and Lucerne (Brünig)
Untere Bönigstrasse
Obere Bönigstrasse
A8 - Spiez to Brienz
Alte Staatstrasse

Schynige Platte depot

584m Wilderswil

Bahnhofstrasse
Route to the Schynige Platte

653m Zweilütschinen, and depot

Depot

Hauptstrasse
Lütschental - Request stop
727m Sandweid - Request stop
Berglaunen - Request stop

796m Lauterbrunnen
Schwendi - Request stop

2061m Kleine Scheidegg

1034m Grindelwald
3454m Jungfraujoch
Berner Oberland Bahn
Legend
Interlaken Ost -0.18km
Wilderswil 3.24km
Zweilütschinen 8.18km
Sandweid 10.42km
Lutschental 12.29km
Lauterbrunnen 12.28km
Burglaunen 14.43km
Schwendi 16.82km
Grindelwald 19.41km

The Bernese Oberland railway (German: Berner Oberland Bahn, BOB) is a narrow-gauge mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. It runs, via a "Y" junction at Zweilütschinen to serve Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. The railway is rack assisted (that is although an adhesion railway, rack and pinion operation is used on steep sections of the line to assist traction).

The BOB is owned by the Berner Oberland Bahnen AG, a company that also owns the 800 mm (2 ft 7 12 in) Schynige Platte railway. Through that company it is part of the Allianz - Jungfrau Top of Europe marketing alliance, which also includes the separately owned Wengernalp, Jungfrau and Lauterbrunnen–Mürren railways.[1][2]

History

Planning

The first proposals for the Berner Oberland Bahn, made in 1873, showed a line from Interlaken (at that time Aarmühle) to Zweilütschinen with later options to Lauterbrunnen and Grindlewald with starting point at Bönigen. Four years later an 80 years concession was obtained for construction and operation of the line and the company, Berner Oberland-Bahn was founded on 2 November 1888 and construction started the following year

Failure of the plan to extend to Visp

In 1897 the company obtained a concession to construct a 54.7 km line from Lauterbrunnen to Visp, with stations at Stechelberg, Steinberg, Oberborn, and Blatten. It would have involved the construction of a 4,650 m tunnel at 2,200 m elevation under the Breithorn mountain. At Visp it would have had a connection with the Simplon line.

Estimated at 15 million Swiss francs, finance was not forthcoming and by 1906 the plans were abandoned.

Initial operations

By 1 July 1890 the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 38 in) gauge line, was opened, using steam traction.

On 18 August 1902 a disastrous fire destroyed the station buildings and goods shed at Grindelwald and these were later rebuilt, surviving to the present day. On 7 October 1908 a new station was added to the system, that at Schwendi on the Grindelwald section.

Steam traction on the line came to an end in 1914, the line becoming electrified at 1500 V d.c., overhead supply, on 17 March of that year, although steam locomotives have been used since that date on special services.

Several changes were made during the 1950s and 1960s, the two most important being in 1957, the construction of an airfield at Interlaken causing the realignment of the line between Wilderswil and Interlaken Ost, but to no detriment and, with a need for servicing and construction facilities on the line a new depot was opened at Zweilütschinen in 1968.

Recent improvements

A modern low-floor train of the BOB in Grindelwald with the track of the Wengernalpbahn on the adjacent platform. Note the modern blue / yellow BOB livery.

Since that time there has been a need for track capacity to be increased and in 1991 the Wilderswil to Gsteigwiler section was substantially improved. This was followed by the doubling of the Gsteigwiler to Zweilütschinen 4 years later. A bottleneck between Wilderswil and Zweilütschinen was eased when, in 1999, a 2.5 km. double track section was opened between those places meaning that trains could run through without the need to use the passing loop and, as necessary, awaiting the train in the opposite direction.

The BOB has a total length of 23.608 km and is a mixed rack and adhesion railway with four rack and pinion sections, using the Riggenbach rack system system, two each on the steep sections of both arms of the line.

Fatal accident in 2003

On 7 August 2003 two trains collided head-on on a single track section between Zweilütschinen and Wilderswil, 1 person was killed and 64 injured.[3] The regular train coming down from Zweilütschinen had passed a red signal at the end of the double track section and collided with an extra train near Gsteigwiler. Automatic train stop system ZSI-127 had already been in place but not yet in use, awaiting final completion and approval.

Operations

A train at the Wilderswil station with the track of the Schynige Platte Railway (red train) on the adjacent platform

Since 1949 railcars have predominated. Some of the older electric locomotives still survive and are used for special trains. The centre of operations is Zweilütschinen with the depot headquarters and the modern main workshops.

From the introduction of the 1999 timetable, the newly constructed 2.5 km section of dual track between Gsteigwiler and Zweilütschinen allows trains to pass without one having to wait in a loop, off the main line. This means that a half-hour timetable can be operated with only five train compositions. Since 2005, every composition has been equipped with an articulated (three-part) low-floor driving trailer as standard.

Two train compositions are usually coupled together to travel to Zweilütschinen where they are then split. The front portion travels to Lauterbrunnen, the other one to Grindelwald. The motor coach (power unit) is always positioned on the uphill side, a driving trailer (coach with a driver’s cab) being positioned on the downhill side, to avoid any running round manoeuvres at the terminus stations.

Stations

Station Distance (km) Height (m) Information
Interlaken Ost-0.18567connections to the Zentralbahn, BLS and Swiss Federal Railways
Wilderswil3.24584connections to the Schynige Platte Railway
Zweilütschinen8.18652trains divide with front portion for Lauterbrunnen and the rear portion for Grindelwald
Sandweid10.42725Request stop
Lauterbrunnen12.28795connections to the Wengernalpbahn for Kleine Scheidegg via Wengen and the Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren to Mürren
Lutschental12.29714Request stop
Burglauenen14.43896Request stop
Schwendi16.82920Request stop
Grindelwald19.411034connections to the Wengernalpbahn for Kleine Scheidegg

Timetable

The departure board at Sandweid station

Like all Swiss railways the BOB operates to a clock - face timetable offering connections from the main line at Interlaken and, at its upper terminals, to the Wengernalpbahn.

Throughout the year the BOB offers a service every hour in each direction on both its lines, the trains leaving Interlaken Ost coupled together and dividing at Zweilütschinen. From mid December to late October, additional trains give a 30 minute service frequency in the morning and afternoon. The last services are often timetabled to be operated by buses.

Locomotives / Railcars

No. Name Class Seats: 1st/2nd Builders Details Date Built Notes.
1 Tm Stadler/Sr/BBC/ MFO/SIG1946Rebuilt 1980; 6-cyl/110 kW
21 Xm1/2 P&T 19796-cyl diesel/123 kW
24 HGe3/3 SLM/MFO/BBC 1914Rebuilt 1940
29 HGe3/3 SLM/MFO 19262013[4] transfer to the Blonay–Chamby museum railway (BC)
31 HGm2/2 Steck/Deutz/SLM 1985 6-cyl diesel/296 kW
301 ABDeh4/410/32SLM/BBC 1949 Leased to MIB, 1995 scrapped
302 ABDeh4/410/32SLM/BBC 1949Engineers Dept.
303 ABDeh4/410/32SLM/BBC 1949Engineers Dept.
304 ABeh4/4 12/32SIG/SLM/BBC 1965Brown/Cream livery at 9.2007.
305 Gündlischwand ABeh4/4 12/32SIG/SLM/BBC 1965 Rebuilt 1998
306 Lütschental ABeh4/4 12/32SIG/SLM/BBC 1965 Rebuilt 1997
307 Wilderswil ABeh4/4 12/32SIG/SLM/BBC 1965 Rebuilt 2002
308 Gsteigwiler ABeh4/4 12/32SIG/SLM/BBC 1979
309 ABeh4/4 12/32SIG/SLM/BBC 1979 1999 sold to BZB
310 Matten ABeh4/4 12/32SIG/SLM/BBC 1979Rebuilt 2007
311 Grindelwald ABeh4/4 12/24SLM 5296/BBC 1986
312 Interlaken ABeh4/4 12/24SLM 5297/BBC 1986
313 LauterbrunnenABeh4/4 12/24SLM 5298/BBC 1986
(321) BDe4/4 0/34SIG/SAAS 1953 2003 ex-CJ No.601*), 2006 sold to LEB No.28**)
(322) BDe4/4 0/34SIG/SAAS 1953 2003 ex-CJ No.604*), 2005 sold to MIB No.10

Rolling stock

A train in Lauterbrunnen with Stadler ABt, low floor 3-car set nearest the camera.

The passenger rolling stock of the line can be divided into that in regular use and that which is historic in nature. Present day passenger stock is painted in striking a blue/yellow livery.

That in regular use can be divided as follows:

Historical stock includes the following items, which still carry the former brown/cream livery for coaches and all-over brown for guards/parcels vehicles.

Goods stock is a varied collection, much of which would not be out of place in a museum. The earliest wagon shown on the BOB stock list dates from 1888 and was rebuilt by the BOB in 1990. The collection of goods stock totals over 30 assorted wagons, most pre-First World War, many built by SIG and much rebuilt by the BOB over the years. More recently a few additions have been made, most of which are second-hand from CFF/SBB/FFS. The line is home to a snowplough (Series Xrot e) with was built in 1954 by SIG/BBC and rebuilt in 1990 at the BOB workshops.

Preservation

Several items of rolling stock have been sold (transferred) to metre gauge preserved railways.

References

  1. "Bernese Oberland Railways AG". Jungfraubahn. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
  2. "Jungfraubahn Holding AG + Berner Oberland-Bahnen AG". Jungfraubahn. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
  3. Swiss Info
  4. Neues in Kürze (Nik), Museums- und Touristikbahnen BC in Eisenbahn Amateur (Swiss railway and model railway magazine) 02/2014 page 69 (German)

Sources

Items shown in the above list are taken from official BOB listings, last issue September 2004, and have been updated by personal observations made during September 2007.

External links

Media related to Berner Oberland-Bahn at Wikimedia Commons

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