Biel / Bienne – La Chaux-de-Fonds railway line

Biel – La Chaux-de-Fonds
A GTW is waiting for the passengers in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Timetable field :	225
Route length:	44 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	28  ‰
Legend SBB route from Bern SBB Jura foot line from Olten – Solothurn 33.83 Biel / Bienne 437  m above sea level M. Connection to ASm to Täuffelen-Ins SBB Jura foot line to Neuchâtel Pasquart (52 m) 37.27 Mahlenwald 509  m above sea level M. Taubenloch (41 m) Taubenloch I (239 m) Taubenloch II (320 m) 39.11 Frinvillier - Taubenloch 555  m above sea level M. Taubenloch III (220 m) Taubenloch IV (163 m) Taubenloch V (164 m) 42.04 Reuchenette-Péry 596  m above sea level M. 43.68 La today 607  m above sea level M. Tournedos VI (126 m) 48.28 Sonceboz-Sombeval 653  m above sea level M. SBB route to Moutier 50.22 Corgémont 660  m above sea level M. 53.12 Cortébert 677  m above sea level M. 56.47 Courtelary 701  m above sea level M. 57.64 Cormoret 710  m above sea level M. 60.63 Villeret 763  m above sea level M. 62.38 St-Imier 793  m above sea level M. Fourchaux (73 m) 65.17 Sonvilier 836  m above sea level M. 69.02 Renan BE 907  m above sea level M. 74.24 Le Creux 1013  m above sea level M. Le Creux – Convers until 1895 Creux (152 m) SBB route from Neuchâtel ≈76.2 25.85 Convers wedge station 1047  m above sea level M. Crosettes (1618 m) 75.86 Culminating point 1038  m above sea level M. Mont-Sagne (1354 m) Combe (230 m) / La Combe (254 m) TRN from Les Ponts-de-Martel La Chaux-de-Fonds-Grenier CJ from Saignelégier 77.83 29.49 La Chaux-de-Fonds 994  m above sea level M. SBB route to Le Locle

The Biel / Bienne – La Chaux-de-Fonds line is a single - track, standard - gauge railway line operated by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).

history

The train from La Chaux-de-Fonds in Convers is on its way to Neuchâtel. The last wagons are uncoupled and taken over by the locomotive waiting on the right, which then starts the journey to Biel. Photo around 1885

The 42-kilometer stretch from Biel via Sonceboz-Sombeval to Convers with the junction from Sonceboz-Sombeval to Tavannes was built by the Jura bernois (JB) and opened on April 30, 1874. In Convers, the cars for the short remainder to La Chaux-de-Fonds were taken over by the trains from Neuchâtel . This made it possible to avoid a second tunnel through the range of hills upstream of La Chaux-de-Fonds for the time being. The original request by the city of Biel to bypass the Pasquartier with a hairpin at Vingelz delayed construction.

In 1884 the Jura Bernois changed its name to Jura – Bern – Lucerne (JBL). On December 17, 1888, the direct connection to La Chaux-de-Fonds was put into operation with the 1618 meter long Crosettes Tunnel. In this way, the cumbersome reassignment of the car in Convers could be avoided and the JBL was independent of the now independent Jura neuchâtelois (JN) in terms of scheduling . For military reasons, the section from Le Creux to Convers was not closed until 1895.

On January 1, 1891, JBL was taken over by the Jura-Simplon-Bahn (JS), which in turn became part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) on May 1, 1903. On May 15, 1934, electrical operations began on the Biel / Bienne-Sonceboz-Sombeval section, and on July 15, 1934 on the remaining section to La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Route description

Passenger train with three-axle passenger coaches 3rd class in 1936 on the Taubenloch Bridge between Biel and Frinvilier-Taubenloch

After leaving Biel, the trains quickly gain height, which gives travelers a view of Biel and the three-lake region . After crossing the Taubenloch Gorge , the trains arrive at Reuchenette-Péry , where a large cement factory ensures a brisk freight traffic. Along the Schüss River and the Transjurane motorway , the route leads to Sonceboz-Sombeval, where the route to Tavannes - Moutier branches off. The trains to Saint-Imier , the capital of the Vallon de Saint-Imier , arrive via Courtelary . The line continues up the valley to the former Le Creux stop, where trains enter the Crosettes tunnel. The route then leads together with the one from Neuchâtel to La Chaux-de-Fonds station.

business

Originally, the Biel / Bienne – Sonceboz-Sombeval section was part of the international connection to Moutier – Delémont - Delle - Belfort . The opening of the Grenchenberg tunnel in 1915 degraded the line via Sonceboz-Sombeval to Moutier to a branch line .

Today a RegioExpress runs every hour in 40 minutes and a Regio in 56 minutes from Biel / Bienne to La Chaux-de-Fonds and in the opposite direction. The region is winged in Sonceboz-Sombeval , with one part going to La Chaux-de-Fonds and the other via Moutier to Solothurn . To this end, the SBB took over 13 GTW multiple units from the BLS .

literature

• Hans G. Wägli: Swiss rail network and Swiss rail profile CH +. AS Verlag, Zurich, 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9 .
• Jürg Ehrbar: discontinued railways in Switzerland. Le Creux – Convers. August 2007, accessed April 2, 2014 . 
• Pascal Siegfried: International railway lines in the Jura. (PDF 3.2 MB) September 25, 2007, accessed April 2, 2014 . 

References and comments

1. ↑ timetable year 2014.
2. ↑ SBB is modernizing the existing vehicle fleet. Press release by SBB, February 9, 2010, accessed on April 2, 2014 .