Bernese Oberland RailwayBernese Oberland RailwayThe 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 1/2 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. Bernese Oberland Railway History Bernese Oberland Railway 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. Bernese Oberland Railway Initial Operations By 1 July 1890 the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3/8 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. Bernese Oberland Railway Recent Improvements 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, two each on the steep sections of both arms of the line. Bernese Oberland Railway 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. 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. Bernese Oberland Railway Operations 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. Bernese Oberland Railway Stations
Bernese Oberland Railway Timetable 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. Bernese Oberland Railway Locomotives / Railcars Locomotive/Railcar Number: 1 Locomotive/Railcar Class: Tm Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: Stadler/Sr/BBC/MFO/SIG Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1946 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Rebuilt 1980; 6-cyl/110 kW Locomotive/Railcar Number: 21 Locomotive/Railcar Class: Xm1/2 Locomotive/Railcar Class: P&T Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1979 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: 6-cyl diesel/123 kW Locomotive/Railcar Number: 24 Locomotive/Railcar Class: HGe3/3 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM/MFO/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1914 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Rebuilt 1940 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 29 Locomotive/Railcar Class: HGe3/3 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM/MFO Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1926 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: 2013 transfer to the Blonay-Chamby museum railway (BC) Locomotive/Railcar Number: 31 Locomotive/Railcar Class: HGm2/2 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: Steck/Deutz/SLM Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1985 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: 6-cyl diesel/296 kW Locomotive/Railcar Number: 301 Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABDeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 10/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1949 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Leased to MIB, 1995 scrapped Locomotive/Railcar Number: 302 Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABDeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 10/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1949 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Engineers Dept Locomotive/Railcar Number: 303 Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABDeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 10/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1949 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Engineers Dept Locomotive/Railcar Number: 304 Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1965 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Brown/Cream livery at 9.2007 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 305 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Gündlischwand Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1965 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Rebuilt 1998 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 306 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Lütschental Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1965 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Rebuilt 1997 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 307 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Wilderswil Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1965 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Rebuilt 2002 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 308 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Gsteigwiler Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1979 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 309 Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/32 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1979 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: 1999 sold to BZB Locomotive/Railcar Number: 310 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Matten Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/32 SIG/SLM/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1979 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: Rebuilt 2007 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 311 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Grindelwald Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/24 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM 5296/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1986 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 312 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Interlaken Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/24 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM 5297/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1986 Locomotive/Railcar Number: 313 Locomotive/Railcar Name: Lauterbrunnen Locomotive/Railcar Class: ABeh4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 12/24 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SLM 5298/BBC Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1986 Locomotive/Railcar Number: (321) Locomotive/Railcar Class: BDe4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 0/34 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SAAS Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1953 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: 2003 ex-CJ No.601*), 2006 sold to LEB No.28**) Locomotive/Railcar Number: (322) Locomotive/Railcar Class: BDe4/4 Railcar Seats 1st/2nd: 0/34 Locomotive/Railcar Manufacturers: SIG/SAAS Locomotive/Railcar Date of Manufacturer: 1953 Locomotive/Railcar Notes: 2003 ex-CJ No.604*), 2005 sold to MIB No.10 Rebuild 1997-2008 of 304-310 included fitting of equipment for push-pull trains, available from delivery on 311-313 *) for use on the then-planned but finally not built branch line to Mystery Park **) arrived on LEB still numbered 601 on 22 February 2006 and was used together with Bt 702 arriving directly from CJ. LEB finally purchased the two vehicles. Bernese Oberland Railway Rolling Stock 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:
Bernese Oberland Railway Preservation Several items of rolling stock have been sold (transferred) to metre gauge preserved railways.
Bernese Oberland Railway Number of Tracks: Mostly single track with passing points and a double track section at the lower end. Bernese Oberland Railway Track Gauge: 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3/8 in) Bernese Oberland Railway Maximum Incline: 12 % Bernese Oberland Railway Rack System: Riggenbach Bernese Oberland Railway Route 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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