Railway line Bern – Neuchâtel

Bern – Neuchâtel

Level crossing in Kerzers with train to Bern

Timetable field :

305

Route length:

41.96 km

Gauge :

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Power system :

15 kV 16.7 Hz ~

Maximum slope :

22 ‰

Minimum radius :

300 m

Legend

0.12	Bern	540 m above sea level M.
	Donnerbühl (401 m)
2.18	Bern Weyermannshaus Spw.	551 m above sea level M.
	to Lausanne
2.54	Holligen	551 m above sea level M.
2.54	BLS - GTB to Belp - Thun
	BLS - BSB to Schwarzenburg
3.31	Bern Stöckacker	551 m above sea level M.
4.20	Bern Bümpliz North	554 m above sea level M.
	Bern Brünnen Westside
5.64	Niederbottigen	560 m above sea level M.
8.49	Riedbach	568 m above sea level M.
11.45	Horse houses	580 m above sea level M.

	Rosshäuser ( 1103/1950 m)

15.00	Rüplisried-Mauss	520 m above sea level M.
	Gümmenen Viaduct over the Saane
	Sensetalbahn from Flamatt
17.00	Gümmenen	494 m above sea level M.
18.85	Ferenbalm - Gurbrü (canceled December 8/9, 2018)	494 m above sea level M.
	Bridge over A1
	from Palézieux
22.17	Kerzer's wedge station	443 m above sea level M.
	to Lyss
26.44	Müntschemier	436 m above sea level M.
	TPF - FMA from Friborg - Murten
29.79	Ins	438 m above sea level M.
	Connection to the ASm - BTI to Biel / Bienne
33.24	Gampelen	433 m above sea level M.
	Fanelwald
35.21	Zihlbrücke	436 m above sea level M.
36.72	Marin-Epagnier	450 m above sea level M.
38.74	St-Blaise- Lac	432 m above sea level M.
42.08	SBB Jura foot line from Olten - Biel / Bienne
42.08 76.14	Neuchâtel Est	480 m above sea level M.
75.29	Neuchâtel (Neuchâtel)	479 m above sea level M.
	Railway line to Le Locle
	Railway line to Yverdon (-Pontarlier)

The Bern – Neuchâtel line was opened on July 1, 1901 by the Bern-Neuchâtel railway . Today it is part of the route network of BLS AG and is also called the Direct Line because it crosses the Grosse Moos in an almost straight line. The connection is also part of the shortest railway line between Bern and Paris.

history

The history of the route is strongly influenced by its railway company, the Bern-Neuchâtel Railway .

route

Neuchâtel station (Neuchâtel) with a train coming from Bern

The line was initially laid out as a single-track mainline line. For the most part, it is still single-track today, but a gradual expansion to double track is underway.

It shares the section from Bern to Holligen (BLS Depot) with the Gürbetalbahn and the railway to Schwarzenburg .

In Gümmenen there was a connection to the Sensetalbahn between 1904 and 1993 .

Immediately in front of the Kerzers train station, the line crosses the Broyelinie at a 60 ° angle . This is the only real crossing of two standard-gauge railway lines in Switzerland. The station is also designed as a wedge station.

With the opening of this line, the Chemin de fer Friborg – Morat – Anet was extended from Murten to Ins. The Murten – Ins line was also opened on July 1, 1901. Since March 19, 1917, the meter-gauge Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn has ended on the station square .

In Neuchâtel, the line meets the existing Biel – Neuchâtel line along the southern foot of the Jura. From Neuchâtel train station there are still routes to Yverdon, Pontarlier and Le Locle.

Electric train operations began on the Bümpliz North-Neuchâtel route on May 14, 1928. The Bern (Holligen) –Bern Bümpliz Nord line was electrified on September 13, 1923 with 15 kV 16.7 Hz.

Expansion to double track

The BLS plans to expand the route completely to double lane at 160 km / h. This has already happened between Bern and Rosshäuser. From there, the two-lane Rosshäuser tunnel went into operation on September 3, 2018. Since then, the expansion of the Gümmenen viaduct to the Gümmenen station has been under construction.

On June 24, 2007, the double-lane section Ins – Fanelwald was put into operation, the extension to Zihlbrücke followed on September 16, 2012. The section is laid out for 160 km / h.

business

The two BN Ea 3/6 were specially purchased for the route in 1913 . It is the most powerful steam tender locomotive in Switzerland. Because of their high axle weights, no suitable replacement area could be found after the electrification of their home route, so they were scrapped early.

Today, the run along with the lines S5, S51 and S52 S-Bahn Bern and the Regio Express trains of the BLS over the distance.

Web links

Commons : Gümmenen Viadukt - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Bern-Neuchâtel BLS infrastructure line

Individual evidence

literature

Swiss Rail Network , published in 1980 by the SBB General Secretariat, Bern

[1] BLS press release of August 25, 2018

[2] Swiss rail transport