Biel / Bienne – Bern railway line

Biel / Bienne – Bern
Timetable field :	303
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	16 2/3 Hz, 15 kV  ~
Legend from Neuchâtel , from La Chaux-de-Fonds and Moutier via Sonceboz 33.6 Biel / Bienne end point S 3 to Olten and Delémont 30.5 Brügg Aare bridge Brügg 108 m 28.1 Hours from Büren on the Aare 26.2 Busswil from Kerzers 23.4 Lyss 19.9 Suberg - Grossaffoltern 15.7 Scoop 10.1 Münchenbuchsee Solothurn – Worblaufen Old route from Olten 7.5 98.8 Zollikofen connection to RBS NBS Mattstetten-Rothrist Bern – Worb from / to Thun and from / to Lucerne Bern Wankdorf 103.3 Bern Wylerfeld Lorraine Viaduct (1080 m) 106.1 Bern to Belp-Thun S 3 , to Schwarzenburg , to Lausanne and Kerzers – Neuchâtel

The Biel / Bienne – Bern line is a railway line in Switzerland and connects the city of Biel / Bienne with the federal city of Bern . The route is owned by SBB, long-distance operations are the responsibility of SBB , and regional traffic is the responsibility of BLS .

history

Bern State Railways

The first section between Bern Wylerfeld and Zollikofen was opened by the Swiss Central Railway on June 16, 1857 , when they started their railway line to Olten . Less than a year later, it was extended to what is now the Bern railway station . Almost seven years after the opening of the line to Zollikofen, the extension via Lyss to Biel / Bienne was opened to traffic; the line was built under the direction of the Bernese State Railways . The section was part of the Bern State Railway from La Neuveville via Biel / Bienne and Bern to Langnau . This opening led to modifications at the stations of both endpoints, but also to a double-track expansion of the SCB line from Zollikofen to Bern. The Bernische Staatsbahn merged into the Jura-Bern-Luzern-Bahn in 1884, which in turn merged with the SOS to form the Jura-Simplon-Bahn in 1890/91. When the JS merged with the SCB, the NOB and the VSB in 1902 in the Swiss Federal Railways , the line between Biel and Bern was owned by a single company for the first time.

Expansion and electrification

The line in turn was electrified in three stages, in 1919 the section between Bern and the Wylerfeld, when the SBB put the line to Thun under voltage, and in 1927 the line to Zollikofen was given a catenary before the remainder to Biel was completed in 1928.

The expansion of the double track lasted several stages from 1859 to 1996. Before the takeover of SBB, only the sections Bern – Zollikofen and Busswil – Lyss (as part of the Lausanne – Payerne – Lyss – Solothurn railway ) had two lanes. In 1933 the section to Münchenbuchsee was expanded, from 1962 the remaining gaps were closed. The last double track section was put into operation on August 19, 1996 between Schüpfen and Suberg - Grossaffoltern .

The Studen BE stop was opened at the end of May 1999 .

Third track Zollikofen-Rütti

In 2009 the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the third track between Zollikofen and the Rütti district was set. So far, the two double lanes from Biel and Olten have merged into the double lane to Rüti in Zollikofen, where the three lane then leads to Bern. By closing this bottleneck, on the one hand, the offer on the Biel route can be expanded; on the other hand, the access to trains from Thun will also be improved, so that all RegioExpress trains from Brig and Zweisimmen to Bern can now be carried. As part of this, all of Bern's exit tracks will be connected to the line to Thun.

With the timetable change in December 2011, BLS is expanding its S-Bahn service between Bern and Münchenbuchsee to every 15 minutes, thanks to the third track between Zollikofen and Rütti. In return, the SBB canceled the stop of the RegioExpress trains in Münchenbuchsee.

Accidents

On 17 August 1891, bounced Zollikofen the express Bern- Paris the Jura-Simplon Railway (JS) on a front of the closed Einfahrsignal serviceable special train of JS. 14 passengers on the special train were killed and 122 injured as a result of the impact. The accident was caused by errors at various operating points. The express train was given permission to travel in an occupied train sequence section . Because the air brake was switched off, the braking effect was also reduced.

→ Main article : Zollikofen railway accident

On February 12, 1980, a regional train coming from Biel drove between Bern Wylerfeld and Bern Löchligut in a single locomotive. Both drivers were killed and 18 passengers injured.

traffic

RegioExpress

On the Biel – Bern line, RegioExpress trains run every half hour , mainly with Stadler Dosto compositions or IC2000 double-decker coaches and a Re 460 , with a stop in Lyss . The journey time is 25 minutes. The RegioExpress is operated by SBB; one on the self-commercial basis of the SBB, the other is appointed by the canton. The trains used to run as InterRegio , but were classified as RegioExpress due to the short travel distance of less than an hour.

Regional traffic

The journey with the S3 of the Bern S-Bahn, which also runs every half hour, takes ten minutes longer (35 minutes) and runs from Biel to Bern and on through the Gürbetal to Belp . During rush hour, the S31 is extended from Belp to Münchenbuchsee to Biel with stops in Schüpfen and Lyss. The S-Bahn operations are carried out by the BLS .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Enrico Ghidelli: The Bernese State Railway. (PDF 2.3 MB) The missing link. (No longer available online.) In: Bulletins. Scripophila Helvetica, July 24, 2006, p. 2 , archived from the original on March 17, 2014 ; Retrieved August 28, 2011 . 
2. ^ History. In: Official website. Residential community Münchenbuchsee, 2011, p. 1 , accessed on August 28, 2011 : " 1864 The Biel-Bern-Langnau railway line is opened." 
3. ↑ Oliver Tanner: Railway line Bern-Biel / Bienne. In: Website schienenverkehr-schweiz.ch. Oliver Tanner, p. 1 , accessed August 28, 2011 . 
4. ^ Railway amateur. 3/99, p. 143.
5. ↑ Groundbreaking ceremony for the 3rd Rütti – Zollikofen track. In: press release. Swiss Federal Railways SBB, November 6, 2009, p. 1 , accessed on August 28, 2011 . 
6. ↑ http://www.fahrplanentwurf.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf/2011/various/Aenderungen_Fernverkehr_Fahrplan_2012.pdf (link not available)
7. ↑ Marcel Manhart: List of the most serious rail accidents in Switzerland up to May 2006 from SBB Historic. Retrieved October 26, 2013 . 
8. ↑ Route RE 2971. Online timetable. In: SBB timetable website. Swiss Federal Railways SBB, 2011, p. 1 , accessed on August 27, 2011 . 

literature

• Hans G. Wägli: Swiss rail network, Réseau Ferré suisse. Third updated and completely revised edition. AS Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9 .