Bernese State Railways

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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

Government bond from the Bernese State Railways
Passenger locomotive no.12 Aarberg / Bueren , built in 1864 in the Esslingen machine factory

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