Bern-Zollikofen Railway

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The Bern-Zollikofen-Bahn ( BZB ) is a former railway company in the canton of Bern in Switzerland . It merged on January 1, 1922 with the Electric Narrow Gauge Railway Solothurn – Bern (ESB) to form the Solothurn-Zollikofen-Bern Railway (SZB) and has been part of the Regionalverkehr Bern – Solothurn (RBS) since 1984 . Today, RBS operates the former BZB-Zollikofen – Bern line .

history

In April 1909 the initiative committee for the construction of a meter-gauge overland tram from Zollikofen – Tiefenaubrücke – Bern was formed, which was granted the concession by the Swiss Confederation in June 1909. In the concession, the authorities decreed that the possible introduction of the Solothurn-Zollikofen-Bern Railway, which is still being planned, and the Worblental Railway had to be taken into account during construction.

The railway was opened on July 13, 1912. The original routes were single-lane and included the main line Bern Tierspital – Tiefenaubrücke – Zollikofen and the branch line Tiefenaubrücke (today Worblaufen) –Worblaufen (Worblaufen village) –powder factory. The BZB depot workshop was also built in Worblaufen. In Bern, the tram tracks were used from 1917 between Bern Tierspital and Bahnhofplatz at Bern train station. The stop with its own track was located next to the Heiliggeistkirche . The tram tracks were used to bypass these.

The neighboring Worblentalbahn (WT) opened the powder factory – Ittigen branch on August 25, 1913, which was connected to the BZB branch. The ESB was opened on April 10, 1916 and received a direct siding to the BZB in Zollikofen.

route

The eight-kilometer route, completely on the state road, led from Zollikofen via Unterzollikofen, the Tiefenaubrücke (now Worblaufen ) and the wildlife park to Bern Tierspital. At the end of the line, Bern Tierspital, there was a siding to the Bern city trams, from where their tracks were shared up to Bern Bahnhofplatz.

At the start of operations the road was not paved, which caused dust to be raised in dry weather; to counter the problem, an explosive vehicle was purchased in 1915 . The tracks in the weakly paved roads were heavily used by the road wagons, so that they had to be constantly repaired.

Explanation of the route data

Various route points have been given new names over the years under the SZB and RBS. The Tiefenaubrücke station is now called Worblaufen, while the Worblaufen operating point is called Worblaufen Dorf. Bern Animal Hospital no longer exists in two respects, since on the one hand the University of Bern has moved the location of the animal hospital and on the other hand the old, above-ground route of the BZB / SZB was abolished in 1965; The Bernmobil stop at Bern Henkerbrünnli is located near the old animal hospital .

The route zero point was originally in Zollikofen, the remaining branch from Unterzollikofen to Worblaufen therefore still has the original kilometering, which, however, now begins in Unterzollikofen at kilometer 1.16. The measurement of the route kilometers between Worblaufen and Bern, on the other hand, begins in Solothurn and is measured using the Rüttilinie, which opened in 1924, which means that Worblaufen is kilometer 29.71 and the route ends today in the Bern RBS underground station at kilometer 33.62.

The Wildpark operating point marks the point where the line left its original route in 1965 and runs underground through the Schanzentunnel, under the Bern train station, where there is a four-track terminus station. In the same year, a separate double-lane bridge was put into operation next to the road bridge in Worblaufen.

With the opening of the double-track Worblaufen – Bern line on May 24, 1974, the lowering of the line made it possible to separate rail and road in this area as well. At the same time, the Worbentalbahn could now also be routed to the underground station in Bern . The Tiefenau train station was relocated under the crossroads, and then the double-lane line was led below and partially covered by the cantonal road to the Wildpark service station.

Rolling stock

When operations started, two passenger railcars, two freight railcars and two passenger cars were procured. Within a very short period of time, the inventory of rolling stock was insufficient to provide the necessary transport capacities, so that additional vehicles had to be purchased immediately - at short notice you had to use used vehicles, and in the medium term you also got brand-new rolling stock.

literature

  • Theo Stolz, Paul Bucher: Solothurn-Zollikofen-Bern-Bahn. History and rolling stock . Solothurn-Zollikofen-Bern-Bahn, Worblaufen 1979
  • Hans G. Wägli: Railway Profile Switzerland '05 . Diplory Verlag, Grafenried 2004, no ISBN.
  • Hans G. Wägli: Swiss rail network and Swiss rail profile CH + . AS-Verlag, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9 .