Chemins de fer fribourgeois Gruyère – Friborg – Morat

Motor car Be 4/4 111 of the former CEG in Chaulin

Chemins de fer fribourgeois Gruyère – Friborg – Morat ( GFM ), officially Compagnie des Chemins de fer fribourgeois , is the former name of Freiburgische Verkehrsbetriebe AG before the merger in 2000.

The GFM operated several railway lines and buses in the Swiss canton of Friborg and the surrounding area.

The company was created on January 1, 1942 from the merger of the meter-gauge Chemins de fer électriques de la Gruyère (CEG), the standard-gauge Freiburg-Murten-Ins-Bahn (FMA) and the likewise standard-gauge Bulle-Romont-Bahn (BR). On January 1, 2000, GFM merged with Transport en commun de Friborg (TF) to form Freiburg Transport Authority (TPF). The GFM absorbed the TF and gave itself the new name TPF.

Between 1929 and 1932, the CEG also operated the Gleislose Bahn Freiburg – Farvagny , an early trolleybus company that it took over from the Compagnie des omnibus électriques Friborg – Farvagny before the company was completely absorbed by the CEG in 1930.

Chemins de fer électriques de la Gruyère

Bull - Broc
Timetable field :	253
Route length:	5.4 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	900  =
Maximum slope :	50  ‰
Legend TPF to Châtel-Saint-Denis - Palézieux and Romont 0.0 Cop 771  m above sea level M. TPF to Montbovon 1.3 La Tour-de-Trême 2.1 La Tour-de-Trême Parqueterie 3.8 Les Marches 4.4 Broc Village 719  m above sea level M. 5.4 Broc Fabrique 689  m above sea level M. Nestlé siding
Palézieux – Bulle – Montbovon
Timetable field :	253, 256
Route length:	36.7 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	900  =
Maximum slope :	32  ‰
Legend SBB from Bern – Friborg 0.0 Palézieux 669  m above sea level M. SBB to Lausanne 1.7 Granges (Veveyse) 2.9 Bossonnens 730  m above sea level M. 3.8 Tatroz 4.9 Remaufens 756  m above sea level M. 5.4 Au Moulin (Veveyse) 6.8 0.0 Châtel-Saint-Denis 807  m above sea level M. CEV after Saint-Légier † 1969 2.8 Prayoud 835  m above sea level M. 6.2 Semsales 858  m above sea level M. 7.8 La Verrerie 836  m above sea level M. 9.8 Le Crêt 845  m above sea level M. 13.4 Les Ponts 831  m above sea level M. 14.3 Vaulruz Sud 813  m above sea level M. 15.1 Les Colombettes 804  m above sea level M. 16.6 Vuadens Sud 803  m above sea level M. 17.9 Planchy Planchy depot and workshop TPF to Romont 19.5 Cop 771  m above sea level M. TPF according to Broc 21.0 La Tour-de-Trême Ronclina 750  m above sea level M. 22.2 Le Pâquier-Montbarry 731  m above sea level M. 24.0 Gruyères 746  m above sea level M. Estavannens I (199 m) Estavannens II (77 m) 25.8 Estavannens 708  m above sea level M. 26.7 Enney 712  m above sea level M. 29.4 Grandvillard 739  m above sea level M. 31.4 Neirivue 754  m above sea level M. 32.6 Albeuve 767  m above sea level M. 33.9 Lessoc 778  m above sea level M. MOB from Montreux 36.7 Montbovon 797  m above sea level M. MOB to Zweisimmen

A GFM shuttle train in Montbovon (Be 4/4 151 and control car Bt 254)

The GFM's narrow-gauge network is around 48 km long and 1000 mm wide and has been electrified since the beginning. The first section from Châtel-Saint-Denis to Palézieux was opened in 1901 by the Chemin de fer Châtel-Palézieux (CP). Another railway company was initially called Chemin de fer Châtel-Bulle-Montbovon (CBM), but changed its company name in 1902 to Chemins de fer Electriques de la Gruyère ( CEG ). Between 1903 and 1904 it opened the route from Châtel-Saint-Denis via Bulle and Gruyère to Montbovon in several stages . In 1907 she took over the CP. In 1912 the branch line from Bulle to Broc was opened, which leads there to the Cailler chocolate factory (now Nestlé ). The originally planned continuation of this line to Freiburg was not created because of the First World War and later a bus line was set up instead, after the opening of the motorway until 2011 in the form of a Bulle – Freiburg express bus.

In Montbovon the GFM has a connection to the meter gauge network of the Montreux-Berner-Oberland-Bahn (MOB), ( French: Chemin de fer Montreux-Oberland bernois ), with which rolling stock is also exchanged.

Between November 1973 and October 1979, 2'025'000 tons of gravel were transported on this route on this route for the N 12 . The two BDe 4/4 141 and 142 without interior fittings but with ballast were used for this.

In August 2012, 17 narrow-gauge multiple units were put out to tender together with BAM , MOB and Travys . In March 2013 it was announced that Stadler had won the CHF 150 million contract. Six three-part multiple units with a continuous output of 1340 kW and a top speed of 100 km / h will be delivered to TPF. The first trains are due to be delivered in early 2015 and will replace older vehicles.

Vehicle fleet

Railcar

• BCe 4/4 111 (1903) on loan to the Blonay – Chamby museum railway from 2006–2011
• Be 4/4 115 (1905) nostalgic railcar, canceled on 10/2016
• Be 4/4 116 (1922), ex 121, 1999 new box body and renumbering, today a historic railcar
• Be 4/4 121–124 (1992/1996) can be used with control car 221–226, 2012–2016 luggage compartment expanded (old designation BDe 4/4)
• Be 4/4 131–133 (1943) 131: Delivery to Railway Museum Kerzers-Kallnach 2010, returned in 2013, 132: 1989 canceled, 133: 2003 canceled
• BDe 4/4 141–142 (1972) can be used with control cars 251–256 (the former gravel railcars), 141: 2017 to GFM Historique, 142: 04.2017 canceled
• Be 4/4 151–152 (1977) only one driver's cab, can only be used with control cars 251–256, 151–152: canceled 04.2017
• ABe 2/4 101-106 (2015/16) only one driver's cab, can only be used with Be 2/4
• Be 2/4 101-106 (2015/16) only one driver's cab, can only be used with ABe 2/4

• 

  BDe 4/4 142 in bull

• 

  BDe 4/4 124 in the old paint scheme in Bulle

• 

  Be 4/4 123 in the new livery without a luggage compartment in Bulle

• 

  ABe 4/12

Locomotives and service vehicles

• GDe 4/4 (1983), sold to MOB 04.2007
• Te 2/2 11 ( Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon 1913) Shunting service in Bulle
• Te 2/2 12 ( Alioth 1913) Shunting service in Montbovon
• Te 4/4 13 (Alioth 1901) Conversion from railcars 1927, shunting service in Broc-Fabrique
• Te 4/4 14 (Alioth 1901) Conversion from railcars 1933, work trains
• Tm 2/2 15 (1971) Diesel work trains and shunting service Bulle

Freiburg-Murten-Ins-Bahn

The Freiburg-Murten-Ins-Bahn (FMA), ( French Chemin de fer Friborg – Morat – Anet ) is a 32 km long, standard-gauge railway from Freiburg via Murten (French: Morat ) to Ins (French: Anet ). The former company Chemin de fer Friborg – Morat opened the line from Givisiez, branch of the Friborg – Yverdon line, to Murten on August 23, 1898. The operation was carried out with rolling stock and personnel from Jura-Simplon (JS) . In 1901 the company changed its name to Compagnie du Chemin de fer Friborg – Morat – Anet . In February, the construction of the additional Muntelier-Löwenberg-Ins line began, and operations began on May 1, 1903. On July 23, 1903, electrical operation with direct current 750 V (from 1930 900 V) from a third rail was started on the entire Freiburg – Ins route. In addition, the two SBB-Givisiez and Murten-Muntelier-Löwenberg sections were equipped with a third rail, and the station areas with a simple overhead line. The same applied to the Ins train station belonging to the Bern-Neuchâtel railway . In Freiburg there was also a direct current electrified siding to Pérolles from 1906. The former sawmill there was acquired in 1923 and used as a workshop together with the TF ( Société des Tramways de Friborg , later Transport en commun de Friborg ). The electrification of the SBB Lausanne – Bern line , which was decided in 1926, necessitated the conversion in the station area from overhead lines to third rails , which were covered with fiber cement panels. Two years later, the Bern-Neuchâtel railway was electrified and the Ins train station had to be adapted. On the other hand, in 1939 the catenary operation was extended from Murten to the junction towards Ins at the instigation of the SBB. Soon, however, the DC operation collided with the electrification plans for the SBB branch lines. The entire line was equipped with catenary, and from August 12, 1947, the trains, now under the GFM label, ran with alternating current between Freiburg and Ins.

For electrification, three BCFe 4/4 1–3 railcars were procured, number 4 with a slightly longer car body followed in 1907. Finally, in 1931 another railcar was added, the BCFe 4/4 5. This was converted in 1946 to the BCFe 2/4 AC railcar by receiving a transformer and a new motor bogie (this railcar was transferred to the Freiburg Tram Club (CTF) in 2003). With the merger, the railcars had the new numbers 151–155.

The direct current operation on the siding to Pérolles was retained. For this purpose, a new Te 2/2 52 was procured in 1947, which supplemented the Te 2/2 51 put into operation in 1906 by the power station of the canton of Friborg. The Te 52 was demolished in 1998 after the siding was removed.

Rolling stock from 1947 see today's TPF

Bulle-Romont Railway

Bulle – Romont railway line
Timetable field :	254
Route length:	18.2 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Legend TPF to Broc and Montbovon 0.0 Cop 771  m above sea level M. TPF to Châtel-Saint-Denis - Palézieux Planchy depot and workshop 3.1 Vuadens -North † 2011 789  m above sea level M. 5.3 Vaulruz -North 827  m above sea level M. 7.7 Sâles 836  m above sea level M. 9.6 Rueyres-Treyfayes † 2011 811  m above sea level M. 11.6 Vuisternens-devant-Romont 791  m above sea level M. 14.5 Mézières † 1992 from Lausanne 18.2 / 40.0 Romont 707  m above sea level M. to Friborg – Bern

The Bulle-Romont-Bahn ( BR ), (French: Chemin de fer Bulle-Romont) is the oldest part of the entire route network. On July 1, 1868, the 18 km long standard-gauge railway line from Romont , where the Lausanne-Friborg-Bern Railway (LFB) (now part of SBB ) opened on September 4, 1862, operates a station, was opened to Bulle . Initially, the railway did not have its own rolling stock, but handed over management to LFB and its successors. It was not until 1929 that the train stations started operating themselves and in 1934 also the traffic, for which two steam locomotives and three passenger coaches were acquired from other railways. After the merger, the main purpose of which was to obtain federal subsidies in accordance with the Private Railway Aid Act, electrification was tackled and electrical operations began on May 8, 1946.

BR steam locomotives:

• Ec 3/4 1, SLM 1904, 1933 ex SBB 6514, discarded in 1947, canceled in 1958
• Ed 3/4 3, SLM 1907, 1933 ex SMB 3, discarded in 1951, sold to Belgium in 1953

Rolling stock from 1946 see today's TPF

At the end of 2010 it was decided to run direct trains from Bulle via Friborg to Bern when the timetable was changed in December 2011. For this purpose, the stretch between Bulle and Romont had to be completely renovated. The line was out of service from 11 July to 10 December 2010 for the renovation work. During this time, the infrastructure of the line was adapted to the new management. Vuisternens-devant-Romont , Sâles and Vaulruz-Nord were converted into crossroads and the signal boxes replaced. The tracks are laid out in such a way that there is space for two Flirt units in double traction. All intermediate stations were closed, some of the public facilities were removed and the tracks were fenced in.

literature

• Hans G. Wägli: Swiss rail network / Réseau ferré suisse - Rail profile Switzerland CH + / Le rail suisse en profile CH +. AS Verlag, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9
• Patrick Belloncle, Jean Metz: Les chemins de fer fribourgeois, 50 to the GFM. Les Editions du Cabri, Breil-sur-Roya (France) 1992, ISBN 2-908816-02-4
• Peter Willen: Locomotives of Switzerland 2, narrow-gauge traction units . Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1972

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry by GFM / TPF ( memento of December 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at the Federal Office for the Commercial Register
2. ↑ SER 4/1979 pages 140-142
3. ^ Stadler: Joint Purchase of EMUs by four Swiss Operators . In: Railvolution . No. 2 , 2013, p. 8 .
4. ^ Des trains Stadler pour la clientèle de 4 companies romandes. (PDF; 148 kB) Communiqué de presse. (No longer available online.) In: stadlerrail.com. March 13, 2013, archived from the original ; Retrieved June 2, 2013 (French). 
5. ^ Peter Willen: Locomotives of Switzerland 2 , narrow-gauge traction vehicles. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1972, GFM Te 2/2 12, page
6. ^ Peter Willen: Locomotives of Switzerland, standard gauge traction vehicles. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1975, ISBN 3-280-00800-X , page 99
7. ↑ Tramclub Freiburg / Club du Tramway de Friborg (CTF) fritram.ch; Retrieved October 24, 2011
8. ^ Pd / Mathias Rellstab: Direct trains Bulle – Friborg – Bern from 2011 . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 2 . Minirex, 2010, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 101 .
9. ^ Mathias Rellstab: Direct connection Bulle – Friborg – Bern in operation . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 2 . Minirex, 2012, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 102-103 .