Biel / Bienne train station

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Biel / Bienne train station
Main portal of Biel Central Station
Main portal of Biel Central Station
Data
Location in the network Crossing station
Platform tracks 11
abbreviation BI
IBNR 8504300
opening 1923
location
City / municipality Biel / Bienne
Canton Bern
Country Switzerland
Coordinates 585 209  /  220143 coordinates: 47 ° 7 '56 "  N , 7 ° 14' 37"  O ; CH1903:  585 209  /  220143
Height ( SO ) 437  m
Railway lines
List of train stations in Switzerland
i16

The Biel / Bienne train station is the station of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and the Aare Seeland mobil (ASM) of the city of Biel / Bienne in Switzerland .

With a daily passenger volume of 45,000, it is one of the ten largest SBB train stations in Switzerland.

location

The Biel / Bienne train station is - unlike in other cities - far from the old town near the shores of Lake Biel . This is due to the fact that over time it has been moved twice to the respective outskirts, where there was still enough open space. The elevated position on the dam was given when the route was relocated, which began in 1919 and was completed in 1923.

history

First Biel station

The SCB , which started operations on June 1, 1857, built a temporary station on the Schüss Canal for this purpose (in the area of ​​the SBB workshops). The Ost-West-Bahn, which was bought by the Bernische Staatsbahn in 1861, also built a provisional station in the Nidaumatte in 1860 when the line to La Neuveville (then Neuenstadt ) was opened. In view of the opening of the line to Bern, the station in Nidaumatte was upgraded to a real station in 1864, in which a real station building was built. This was in the area of ​​today's General-Guisan-Platz. At that time the railway line ran roughly in the location of today's Güterstrasse, to the main workshop in Biel and the goods station. The access tracks to the wire works followed the former route. The marshalling yard next to the main workshop was opened in 1890. When the route was relocated in 1923, a new train station was inaugurated at the current location. When the line was relocated, the entire railway line was laid on a dam in order to avoid level crossings.

In 1975 the underground access of the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn (BTI) to the station was completed.

The initially rather small south-east exit, which was built together with the BTI train station and led out next to the BTI tracks, was upgraded to a proper exit in a south-westerly direction on the occasion of Expo.02 .

building

It is known about the provisional train station from 1857 on the Schüss Canal that it was created according to the designs of Karl Etzel and Ludwig Maring .

Station building 1864

The station building was designed by J. Jenzer, the then architect of the Bern State Railways. It is a half-timbered building. This is divided into a central main entrance section with a triple arch position and additions on both sides. The previously built train stations in Thun and Lucerne were designed in a similar way. The building was erected when the line to Bern opened on June 1, 1864, but the interior was not yet completed. In addition to the station building, two locomotive sheds, goods and warehouses and an official residence were built. In 1888 the station was expanded and a lighting system was installed, which was supplied by the Sulzer brothers in Winterthur. It consisted of an engine house into which a semi-mobile steam engine was installed. This drove the two alternators, which worked according to the Thury system. Arc lamps, which were designed as a division lamp according to the Schukert system, were used as illuminants.

Station building 1923

Aerial photo from 100 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1927)

The SBB and the Federal Department of the Interior announced a national competition in June 1916. For this competition "to obtain drafts for the uniform architectural design of the facades of the new station building and the post office", the following persons could be won as judges: the then general director of SBB Wilhelm Otto Sand, the then city president of Biel Louis Leuenbergen, the then chief post director Anton Stäger, the architects E. Baumgartner from Bern, Charles Chamorel from Lausanne, Alphonse Laverière from Lausanne, Martin Risch from Chur, Robert Rittmeyer from Winterthur, as well as Oskar Weber, the then adjunct of the Federal Building Department in Bern.

The classification was as follows: A project by Moser and Schürch landed in 1st and 2nd place, the work by Schell and Thévaz from Lausanne on 3rd place, and places 4 to 7 were also awarded. The execution was awarded to Moser and Schürch.

In the waiting room: The dance of the hour, fresco by Philippe Robert (1923)

The neo-classical building is aligned with the axis of Bahnhofstrasse. The main entrance is designed as a mighty temple front. It looks like a new city gate, which is certainly not entirely wrong, as a train station is a gateway to the world. Two side wings are attached to both sides of the main entrance.

The painter Philippe Robert was commissioned to design a wall in the first class waiting room . In addition to the first work, “The dance of the hours” (1923), the artist executed three additional frescoes: “The stages of life”, “The seasons” and “Eternity time”. According to the Swiss inventory of objects worth protecting from 1981, the waiting room must be preserved in its entirety.

Transport links to the national rail network

The train station is an important junction on the southern foot line of the Jura and is considered to be the junction station. The trains are scheduled in such a way that connections are guaranteed in as many directions as possible. Biel train station is a full-cycle hub with regular departures every hour at 3pm and 45pm. In Switzerland, full-time hubs usually run every 30 and 60 hours.

Long-distance connections (2020):

Regional traffic

  • Train3 Belp –Bern – Lyss– Biel / Bienne ( every half hour)
  • Train31Belp-Bern-Lyss- Biel / Bienne ( rush hour , fewer stops)
  • RegioExpress Biel / Bienne - Courtelary - St. Imier - La Chaux-de-Fonds
  • RegioExpress Biel / Bienne –Grenchen Nord – Moutier-Delémont– Porrentruy - Delle
  • Regio Biel / Bienne - Tavannes - Moutier
  • Regio Biel / Bienne –St. Imier-La Chaux-de-Fonds
  • Regio Biel / Bienne – Solothurn – Olten
  • Regio Biel / Bienne –Neuchâtel
  • Regio Biel / Bienne - Täuffelen - Ins (narrow gauge)

Connection to local transport

As early as 1877, the Compagnie générale des tramways suisses opened a standard-gauge horse - drawn tram in Biel . This had a single line that led through the station. This horse litram never developed because it was not really profitable. That is why it was bought by the city in 1901. This converted the line to meter gauge and electrified the line, which was henceforth called the Biel City Tram. In 1913 a second line was opened, on which the Biel-Meinisberg Railway also reached Biel station. In 1916 the connection to the Seeländische Lokalbahnen was established in Nidau . Between 1940 and 1948 the tram lines were abolished and replaced by the Biel trolleybus network . This company was subsequently renamed the Biel Transport Authority . The Seeländische Lokalbahnen took over the tram tracks between Nidau ​​and the train station in 1945 and renamed itself Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn . She used the tram tracks until she was able to open her new station entrance on the south side under the tracks in 1975. The underground BTI station was put into operation on May 22, 1975.

Signal box of HB Biel

Present and Future

View from the train station into Bahnhofstrasse

The station was renovated between May 2008 and autumn 2010. The renovated east wing opened on September 30, 2009. The official inauguration of the newly designed west wing took place in the course of the "Arc jurassien: 150 years of the railway" celebrations on 25/26. September 2010.

literature

See also

Web links

Commons : Bahnhof Biel / Bienne  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Biel / Bienne - Ins railway line. Retrieved February 13, 2010 .
  2. ↑ Biel-Täuffelen-Ins (Photo: Arthur Meyer Archive)
  3. ^ Railway line Biel / Bienne - Ins
  4. ^ NN: station building and post office in Biel . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . tape 68 , no. 25 , 1916, pp. 293 ( e-periodica.ch ).
  5. ^ Philippe Robert: Les Âges de l'Homme , 1923
  6. ^ Philippe Robert: Les Saisons , 1923
  7. ↑ The dance of the hour, fresco by Philippe Robert. memreg, May 1, 2005, accessed July 9, 2017 .
  8. ↑ memreg - regional memory - mémoire régionale. May 1, 2005, accessed July 9, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Eisenbahn Amateur 7/1975, page 324