Bernese State Railways
The Bernische Staatsbahn (BSB) was a railway company in Switzerland . The BSB was owned by the Canton of Bern and was the first state railway in Switzerland.
history
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/AarbergBueren12A2JBLi.jpg/220px-AarbergBueren12A2JBLi.jpg)
The BSB was created in 1861 from the bankruptcy assets of the Swiss Ostwestbahn (OWB), which began building the line La Neuveville - Biel - Bern - Gümligen - Langnau - Lucerne - Zug - Zurich despite a lack of funding . In consideration of the already paid subsidies of 2 million francs, the state of Bern decided to take over the unfinished Bernese route section for 7 million francs.
The BSB's rail network initially only consisted of the La Neuveville – Biel line , which was still opened by OWB and which was leased to the Swiss Central Railway (SCB) until 1864 . Until then, the BSB did not have its own rolling stock. On June 1, 1864, the Biel – Zollikofen (–Bern) and (Bern–) Gümligen – Langnau lines went into operation. So that the BSB could start its own operation in 1864, it procured 12 locomotives, 39 passenger cars and 130 freight cars.
In 1875, the newly opened Bern-Lucerne Railway (BLB) acquired the Gümligen – Langnau branch line for 7.34 million francs. It was hoped that the continuous connection to Lucerne would improve the profitability of the route. Due to excessive construction costs but in 1876 the BLB was insolvent and was 1877 by the canton of Bern for 8.5 million francs bought . At the same time, the BSB was dissolved and the Zollikofen – Biel – La Neuveville section was sold to the Chemins de fer du Jura bernois (JB) for shares worth CHF 11.56 million .
Financially, the BSB was quite successful. From 1864 to 1877, over 6.2 million francs flowed into the state treasury as profit .
Rolling stock
List of locomotives that were used by the BSB:
designation | BOD no. | BOD name | BLB no. from 1875 | JB no. from 1877 | JS no. from 1890 | Manufacturer | Construction year | discarded |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
from 1873: A from 1874: I from 1887: A2 (from 1902: Ec 2/4) |
1 | Federation | 1 | 1 | 1 | Esslingen | 1863 | 1895 |
2 | Zealand | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1895 | |||
3 | Mittelland | 3 | 3 | - | 1888 | |||
4th | Oberaargau | 4th | 4th | - | 1889 | |||
5 | Emmenthal | 5 | 5 | - | 1888 | |||
6th | law | 6th | 6th | 6th | 1864 | 1890 | ||
7th | Oberland | 7th | 7th | - | 1888 | |||
8th | Bern | 8th | 8th | - | 1889 | |||
9 | Biel / Nidau | 9 | 9 | 9 | 1896 | |||
10 | Neuenstadt | 10 | 10 | - | 1895 | |||
11 | Langnau | 11 | 11 | - | 1888 | |||
12 | Aarberg / Bueren | 12 | 12 | - | 1896 |
swell
- Thomas Frey and Hans-Ulrich Schiedt (eds.): Bahndaten.ch, data on the Swiss railways 1847–1920 , Via Storia, Center for Transport History, University of Bern (accessed December 19, 2011)
- Bernese State Railways. In: Viktor von Röll (ed.): Encyclopedia of the Railway System . 2nd Edition. Volume 2: Building Design - Brazil . Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin / Wien 1912, p. 254 (accessed December 19, 2011).
- Enrico Ghidelli: The Bernische Staatsbahn - the missing link. In: Bulletins. Scripophila Helvetica, p. 2 Bern (accessed December 15, 2011) PDF, 2.3 MB
- Alfred Moser: The steam operation of the Swiss railways 1847-1966. Birkhäuser Verlag Basel and Stuttgart 1967