BLS AGBLS AGBLS AG is a Swiss railway company created by the 2006 merger of BLS Lötschbergbahn and Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG. It is 55.8% owned by the Canton of Berne, and 21.7% by the Swiss Confederation. It has two main business fields:
BLS Cargo works in cooperation with the freight subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, Railion. However, the staff, apart from management and sale, is employed by BLS AG. Part of the BLS locomotive fleet is owned by BLS Cargo. BLS AG Infrastructure In 2007 the new, 34.6 km long, Lötschberg base tunnel opened, which is part of the 449 km of infrastructure owned and operated by BLS AG. For details of the network see the map at right. The Lötschberg base tunnel was built by a wholly owned subsidiary BLS AlpTransit AG. By mid-2007 this company handed over the base tunnel to BLS AG. In 2009 this company was renamed BLS Netz AG and the whole BLS infrastructure passed over to this company which is mainly owned by the Swiss Confederation, which has paid for most of the recent investments. BLS AG Owns or Operates on the Following Railway Lines:
Locomotives and Multiple Units 3 x BLS Re 420 33 x BLS Re 425 18 x BLS Re 465 28 x BLS RABe 515 36 x BLS RABe 525 13 x BLS RABe 526 25 x BLS RABe 535 21 x BLS RADe 565 13 x BLS RADe 566 BLS Cargo Has the Following Rolling Stock. 4 x BLS Re 425 2 x BLS Re 456 10 x BLS Re 465 15 x BLS Re 475 20 x BLS Re 485 10 x BLS Re 486 1 x BLS Am 845 In 2010, 28 Stadler KISS EMUs were ordered; the first was delivered in March 2012. As of 2012, BLS was planning BLS to spend around SFr1·2bn on new rolling stock by 2025, building a more standardised fleet with fewer different types of train. BLS AG Passenger Train Services Since the merger, BLS has been the exclusive operator of the standard gauge part of the S-Bahn Bern. This includes open access services over Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and STB Sensetalbahn tracks. Since December 2007 BLS offers a new RegioExpress service over the old Lötschberg route while most SBB and Cisalpino, InterCity, and EuroCity trains use the new Lötschberg tunnel. Here is a full list of regular BLS train services: S-Bahn Bern S1 Laupen/Fribourg-Bern-Münsingen-Thun S11 Bern-Flamatt-Fribourg[-Romont] S2 Schwarzenburg-Bern-Konolfingen-Langnau S22 Bern-Köniz-Schwarzenburg S3 Biel/Bienne-Lyss-Bern-Belp(-Thun) S33 Bern-Belp-Thun S4 (Rosshäusern-)Bern Brünnen Westside-Bern-Burgdorf-Ramsei-Affoltern-W. S44 Rosshäusern-Bern Brünnen Westside-Bern-Burgdorf-Wiler/Langnau S5 Bern-Kerzers-Neuenburg/Murten(-Payerne) S51 Bern-Stöckacker-Bümpliz Nord S-Bahn Luzern S6 Langenthal-Huttwil-Willisau-Wolhusen-Malters-Luzern S7 (Langenthal-Huttwil-)Willisau-Wolhusen-Trubschachen RegioExpress (RE) RE Bern-Langnau-Luzern RE Thun-Konolfingen-Burgdorf-Solothurn RE Bern-Neuenburg RE Bern-Münsingen-Spiez-Brig Regional Trains (R) R Interlaken Ost-Spiez-Wiessenbach-Zweisimmen R Spiez-Frutigen (sometimes as RE) R Thun-Konolfingen-Hasle Rüegsau(-Burgdorf) R Burgdorf-Solothurn R Solothurn-Moutier R Kerzers-Lyss-Büren a. Aare BLS Busland BLS Busland operates a fleet of 36 buses over a network that complements the passenger train services. The bus fleet comprises: Mercedes-Benz Citaro Volvo B7L BLS Navigation BLS owns and operates steamers on Lake Brienz and Lake Thun under the BLS Navigation brand. These steamers utilise the Interlaken and Thun ship canals. | |||||
| |||||
