Le Locle – Les Brenets railway line
| Le Locle – Les Brenets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Les Brenets train station
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| Timetable field : | 224 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 4.24 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 1500 = | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 30 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Le Locle – Les Brenets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Le Locle – Les Brenets line is a meter-gauge Swiss narrow-gauge railway . It is operated by Transports Publics Neuchâtelois (short name TransN ) and has been connecting Le Locle in the Neuchâtel Jura with the village and popular excursion destination of Les Brenets since 1890 .
Route description
The Le Locle – Les Brenets railway line was built by the then Compagnie des Chemins de fer Régional des Brenets in meter gauge and measures a good four kilometers. It is single-track and today only has a multi-track system in Les Brenets, which is part of the depot system there. There is no track connection to other meter-gauge railways.
The route begins at the Le Locle SBB train station, which is 946 m above sea level and around 30 m above the city center. With a gradient of up to 3%, the route sinks by 73 m through wooded area and three tunnels to the terminus Les Brenets. This is located at 873 m above sea level, around 25 m above the village center and 173 m above the lake level of Lac des Brenets , a naturally dammed lake in the Doubs river valley .
After the Second World War, the railway line was modernized and electrified. The electrical operation under 1500 volts direct current could be started on July 1, 1950.
On September 10, 2013 an association was founded with the aim of developing these lines. There are signs that the route is in danger. From August 4, 2017 to April 16, 2018, operations had to be stopped because there were axles broken on July 26, 2016 and July 11 and 27, 2017, and derailments in two cases. A replacement bus had to keep traffic going until the railcars were equipped with newly designed axles.
history
The first studies from the 1850s to connect Switzerland and Besançon were based on a meter-gauge railway through Les Brenets . A concession was granted to the Chemin de Fer du Jura industriel in 1853 for the route Besançon - Les Brenets - Le Locle - La Chaux-de-Fonds - Les Convers - Saint-Imier - Zealand . This project was never realized.
Finally, the connection between Switzerland and France was realized in 1884 by the Col des Roches in standard gauge . So it doesn't go through Les Brenets.
In 2014 a study was carried out to investigate the possibility of changing gauges to standard gauge with adjustment of the clearance profile and electrification in order to enable a connection between Les Brenets and La Chaux-de-Fonds without changing.
literature
- Sébastien Jacobi: Centenaire des Chemins de fer des Montagnes neuchâteloises . Without publisher, La Chaux-de-Fonds 1990.
- Hans G. Wägli: Swiss Rail Network . AS Verlag, Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-905111-21-7 .
- Hans G. Wägli: Railway Profile Switzerland 2005 . Diplory Verlag, Grafenried 2004.
Individual evidence
- ^ Valmir Selmani: Siemens Switzerland: Panorama - The Bijou is threatened with the siding. Retrieved February 21, 2018 .
- ↑ Report final du Service suisse d'enquête de sécurité SESE sur deux ruptures d'essieux survenues sur les automotrices n ° 3 et n ° 5 du 11 et du 27 June 2017 entre Le Locle et les Brenets (NE). N ° reg. 2017072701, reference: [1]
- ↑ TransN SA - Transports publics neuchâtelois: Détails info trafic - TransN - Notre force, votre réseau. Transports publics neuchâtelois SA, Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle, Suisse. Retrieved February 21, 2018 .
- ↑ [<< vhttps: //www.arcinfo.ch/articles/regions/montagnes/le-regional-reprendra-du-service-entre-les-brenets-et-le-locle-le-16-avril-748185 | Arcinfo report to resume rail traffic]
- ^ FF du 28 janvier 1854, Convention entre le Gouvernement du haut État de Berne et les délégués de la commission centrale du chemin de fer par le Jura industriel . S. 340 ff . (French).
- ^ FF du 14 janvier 1854, Convention entre l'Etat de Neuchâtel et la Commission centrale du chemin de fer par le Jura industriel. P. 151 , accessed on February 24, 2018 (French).
- ↑ Marcus RIEDER, Bernd BOPP: Changement d'écartement - changement de destin La modernization de la ligne Le Locle - Les Brenets . 2014 (French, 143 p., Lesbrenets.ch [PDF]).