Gotthard Railway Company
The Gotthard Railway Company (GB) was founded in Lucerne in 1871 as a stock corporation to build and operate the Gotthard Railway . The railway company was bought back by the federal government and liquidated in 1911. The lines of the railway company have been operated by the Swiss Federal Railways since May 1, 1909 .
history
prehistory
The initiative for a cross-border North-South connection went from the liberal economic and transport links developed Canton Zurich ( Northern Railway : Zurich- Baden , later Nordostbahn : Zurich Friedrichshafen and Zurich- Basel ) in order through the promotion of transit traffic to Italy the trade further to develop and to attract. A bypass of Switzerland via the Brenner Pass and the Brennerbahn , completed in 1867, should be counteracted. Around 1850, both a crossing and a piercing of the Alps as well as various routes ( Gotthard , Lukmanier , Splügen and Simplon ) were considered, with the Lukmanier route being preferred initially. Ultimately, the more direct connection of the northern European and Italian rail networks through central Switzerland, which was militarily easier to defend, while at the same time opening up the canton of Ticino, which had been largely isolated from the rest of Switzerland in terms of traffic, prevailed.
The political decisions and negotiations on the financing of the Gotthard Railway in the run-up to the founding of the Gotthard Railway Company as well as its management in the early stages of construction were largely made by the former President of the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich and later three-time President of the National Council Dr. Alfred Escher coined. The first Swiss law on the construction and operation of railways of July 28, 1852 created the basis for the establishment of private instead of state railway companies. The position he had represented in the “National Council Commission to Examine the Swiss Railways Question” prevailed, which he repeatedly defended successfully against the state railroad faction until his death. In 1853 he took over the management of the Zurich-Bodenseebahn , which he expanded by merging to form the Nordostbahn and connecting Zurich to Basel and Friedrichshafen. In order to organize the large financial resources required for the railway construction independently of foreign influence, Escher founded the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA, today Credit Suisse ) with like-minded people in 1856 .
From the 1860s onwards, he pushed the Gotthard railway project forward. Although the canton of Zurich was not directly on the railway line, it saw the interests of Zurich and the Nordostbahn protected by the connection via the Zug - Arth - Goldau feeder and granted the Gotthard Railway national importance. In 1863 he became president of the "Association of Swiss Cantons and Railway Companies for Striving for the Gotthard Railway" . The sources are not clear here. The Lucerne government council , member of the committee of the Zurich-Zug-Luzern-Bahn and later board member of the Swiss Central Railway Joseph Zingg , who was elected to the Gotthard Railway Association on September 28, 1863, is also referred to as its president.
In the Gotthard Association, a majority of 15 cantons and the two companies of the Swiss Central and Northeast Railways jointly represented their interest in a north-south axis through the Gotthard massif compared to alternative connections.
After the financing of the Gotthard project had been secured almost exclusively by state subsidies from Switzerland, its cantons and, from 1869, by Italy , the North German Confederation and, as its legal successor , the German Reich from 1871 , the Gotthard Railway Company was founded in 1871 as part of the Gotthard Association , which transferred its rights to the Gotthard Railway to the Gotthard Railway Company. Alfred Escher became its president and Joseph Zingg its vice-president.
construction
From 1872 to 1882 the company built the Gotthard Railway . After opening, it operated the railway and continued to expand it until the lines were taken over by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 1909. Colloquially, the GB-Aktiengesellschaft was also known as the Gotthard Railway .
Although Lucerne became the company's headquarters, part of the administration was in Zurich until 1878 . In 1889 the GB moved into the Gotthard building in Lucerne.
Business results
After it was founded, the Gotthard Railway began building its lines immediately. In order to meet the deadlines set in the concession, the construction of the Ticino valley railways was accelerated. In 1874 the GB was able to start traffic on the sections in Ticino. The acceleration in construction and the severe building inflation caused by the railway boom from 1872 onwards led to the cost estimate being exceeded by a massive amount . In addition, contractor Louis Favre did not include the lining of the Gotthard tunnel in his offer . A revolt by miners demanding higher wages and better working conditions was forcibly suppressed by a vigilante group . Because the budgeted construction costs of 187 million francs were offset by additional expenses of 102 million francs, GB in 1877 was effectively on the brink of bankruptcy .
For the financial restructuring of the Gotthard Railway Company, new capital was necessary, which was hardly available on the market. Germany and Italy provided a further 10 million francs in subsidies, while Switzerland had to contribute 8 million. The recovery plan led in Switzerland heated political debate about the " private railway system". The refusal of subsidies by the Zurich electorate prompted Alfred Escher to resign from the GB board of directors. The construction costs of the Gotthard Railway were reduced through various savings measures. The ramps were made steeper, with tighter curves and in some cases only single-lane . The construction of the sections of the Lucerne – Immensee and Zug – Arth-Goldau lines was postponed,
After the start of continuous operation in 1882, the GB was financially very successful. Since then, the income from freight transport has always been significantly higher than from passenger transport. Above all, the international freight traffic was of great importance. Luxury travelers played an important role in passenger transport. In 1897 the access routes Lucerne – Immensee and Zug – Arth-Goldau were opened. In addition, GB persistently pushed ahead with expanding the double-track system in the 1890s . The good business results made it possible for the GB to pay out a dividend every year , which leveled off at just under 7 percent of the share capital value. Thanks to the introduction of the automatic air brake , modern steam locomotives and four-axle and saloon cars , the GB developed into the most technically modern railway in Switzerland.
nationalization
On February 26, 1904, the Swiss Federal Council announced the repurchase of the concessions for the private lines prior to their expiry and took over the Gotthard Railway infrastructure on May 1, 1909 with all operating resources, rights and obligations. The shareholders of the Gotthard Railway Company were after comparison of 10 June 1911 200'840'000 Francs compensated , which 117'090'000 Swiss francs by taking over the bond debt and 83.75 million francs in the 4-percent bonds of the Swiss Federal Railways were compensated. This dissolved the Gotthard Railway Company.
Route network
| No. | Railway line | Route section | opening | Double track | comment | length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lucerne – Immensee – Chiasso | Lucerne - Immensee | June 1, 1897 | - | Construction postponed in 1877 | 225.10 km |
| Immensee - Arth-Goldau - Flüelen | June 1, 1882 | - | Valley lift north | |||
| Flüelen– Altdorf | Nov 15, 1896 | |||||
| Altdorf - Erstfeld | Dec 6, 1896 | |||||
| Erstfeld - Amsteg - Silenen | April 9, 1893 | North ramp | ||||
| Amsteg-Silenen– Gurtnellen | May 14, 1893 | |||||
| Gurtnellen - Wassen | June 26, 1892 | |||||
| Wassen– Göschenen | May 28, 1893 | |||||
| Göschenen– Airolo | Jan. 1, 1882 | June 1, 1883 | Gotthard tunnel | |||
| Airolo - Ambrì - Piotta | June 1, 1882 | Sept 2, 1890 | South ramp | |||
| Ambrì-Piotta - Rodi-Fiesso | July 31, 1890 | |||||
| Rodi-Fiesso - Faido | May 28, 1890 | |||||
| Faido - Lavorgo | Sept 13, 1891 | |||||
| Lavorgo - Giornico | March 27, 1892 | |||||
| Giornico - Bodio | May 1, 1892 | |||||
| Bodio- Biasca | May 15, 1892 | |||||
| Biasca - Osogna - Cresciano | Dec 6, 1874 | May 31, 1896 | Valley Railway South ( Sopraceneri ) | |||
| Osogna-Cresciano - Bellinzona | April 19, 1896 | |||||
| Bellinzona - Giubiasco | Dec. 20, 1874 | June 1, 1883 | Valley lift south ( Monte Ceneri ) | |||
| Giubiasco - Lugano | Dec 6, 1874 | - | ||||
| Lugano - Melide | Dec 6, 1874 | Dec 6, 1874 | Valley railway south ( Sottoceneri ) | |||
| Melide - Chiasso | - | |||||
| 2. | Zug – Arth-Goldau | Train –Arth-Goldau | June 1, 1897 | - | Opening postponed | 15.76 km |
| 3. | Railway line Giubiasco – Cadenazzo –Pino (–Luino) | Giubiasco - Cadenazzo | Dec. 20, 1874 | - | Valley Railway South (Sopraceneri) | 21.83 km |
| Cadenazzo - Pino | Dec. 4, 1882 | Border with Italy between Ranzo- Sant'Abbondio and Pino | ||||
| 4th | Cadenazzo – Locarno | Cadenazzo - Locarno | Dec. 20, 1874 | - | Valley Railway South (Sopraceneri) | 12.46 km |
| Total (1908) | 142.04 km (52%) | 275.15 km | ||||
Rolling stock
Locomotives
When the GB began operating on the Biasca - Locarno and Lugano - Chiasso lines of the Ticino valley railways in 1874 , they procured various locomotives suitable for freight or passenger trains. In 1881 the two machines Ed 2/2 No. 11 and 12 took over the train transport through the now completed Gotthard tunnel.
The GB used heavy D 4/4 locomotives with a trailer load of 180 tons to transport the freight trains on the ramps on Gotthard and Monte Ceneri , which were opened in 1882 . The heavy D 3/3 and the light Ec 3/4 tender machines were available for passenger trains . After a short time, the transported quantities exceeded all forecasts. Freight trains weighing 500 tons required three steam locomotives on the mountain route. The trains were transported with a D 4/4 and a D 3/3 as a leader , at the back a D 3/3 or D 4/4 was pushed.
The Mallet locomotive Ed 2 x 3/3 , procured in 1890, was supposed to achieve the same performance as a D 4/4. However, the most powerful machine in Europe when it was delivered did not prove itself. The boiler that was too small could not generate the necessary machine output.
From 1894 the A 3/5 became the preferred express train locomotives. They carried trains of 250 t in the valley sections at speeds of up to 90 km / h and managed the mountain sections with a towing load of 120 t. With the introduction of the A 3/5, the journey from Lucerne to Chiasso could be shortened by two hours in one fell swoop. Since 1906 the C 4/5 were used as pre-tensioning machines, which together with an A 3/5 transported 320 tons on the mountain.
The GB used Roman numerals for their locomotives since 1874. Later, capital letters were used, with the individual series being differentiated with Roman numerals. From 1887 onwards, the locomotives were named according to the system that was standardized throughout Switzerland .
The following locomotives were available to GB:
| Series until 1887 |
Series from 1887 |
Series from 1902 |
GB no. until 1909 | SBB no. from 1909 |
number | Construction year | Manufacturer | comment | discarded | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
until 1876: I then: A |
E2 | Ed 2/2 | 1-6 | 8061-8066 | 6th | 1874, 1883 | SLM | for mixed trains on the Ticino valley railways | 1910-1915 |
|
| A I | F2 | Ed 2/2 | 11-12 | - | 2 | 1881 | SLM | No. 11 since 1959 in the VHS Lucerne | 1889-1890 |
|
| A II | F3 | E 3/3 | 13 | 8561 | 1 | 1875 | SLM | first shunting locomotive at SLM, then building company Marsaglia in Faido , from 1882 GB with the name "Marsaglia" |
1913 | |
| A III | F2 | E 2/2 | 14th | 8184 | 1 | 1876 | Krauss | 1876–1882 Tösstalbahn No. 4, "Forest" | 1913 | |
| - | E3 | Ec 3/3 | 301-312 | 6401-6412 | 12 | 1897, 1901 | SLM | Shunting locomotive | 1934-1954 |
|
|
until 1876: II then: B |
A2T | C 2/3 | 21-24 | - | 4th | 1874 | Karlsruhe | for passenger trains of the Ticino valley railways | 1896-1905 |
|
| 18-20 | 2219-2220 | 3 | 1883 | 1906-1913 | ||||||
| B I | A2 | Eb 2/4 | 25-30 | 5425-5430 | 6th | 1882 | Krauss | for express and passenger trains on valley routes | 1915-1927 | |
| B II | A2 | E 2/3 | 1000 | 8200 | 1 | 1882 | Krauss | from 1882 at Werrabahn , bought from GB in 1883 | 1914 |
|
| - | A2 | Ea 2/4 | 31-33 | 5031-5033 | 3 | 1890 | Maffei | for express and passenger trains on valley routes | 1923 |
|
|
until 1876: III then: C |
C3T | D 3/3 | 41-44 | 3441-3442 | 4th | 1874 | Krauss | Locomotive 43 and 44 for freight trains of the Ticino valley railways decommissioned before takeover by SBB |
1906-1912 |
|
| 45-46 | 3445-3446 | 2 | 1876 | Karlsruhe | 1910-1911 | |||||
| 51-66 | 3451-3466 | 16 | 1881-1882 | Esslingen | 1912-1923 |
|
||||
| 67-83 | 3467-3483 | 17th | 1890-1895 | SLM | No. 83 from 1906 with Lentz valve control | 1920-1925 |
|
|||
| C I | B3 | Ec 3/4 | 81–92 from 1895: 181–192 |
6581-6588 | 8th | 1882 | Esslingen | Mixed train locomotive | 1914-1933 |
|
| 6589-6592 | 4th | 1883 | SLM | 1927-1931 | ||||||
| D. | D4T | D 4/4 | 101-131 | 4101-4131 | 31 | 1882-1890 | Maffei | Freight locomotive for mountain routes No. 128 from 1907 with a Brotan boiler |
1912-1923 |
|
| 132-136 | 4132-4136 | 5 | 1895 | SLM | 1920-1923 | |||||
| - | D4T | 141-145 | 4001-4005 | 5 | 1901 | SLM | Freight locomotive for mountain routes | 1926-1928 |
|
|
| - | D6 | Ed 2x3 / 3 | 151 | 7699 | 1 | 1890 | Maffei | Freight locomotive for mountain routes, type Mallet |
1917 |
|
| - | - | C 4/5 | 2801-2808 | 2801-2808 | 8th | 1906 | Maffei | Freight locomotive for mountain routes with SBB number upon delivery |
1925 |
|
| - | A3T | A 3/5 | 201 | 901 | 1 | 1894 | SLM | Express locomotive with wet steam three-cylinder compound engine |
1923 |
|
| 202-230 | 902-930 | 29 | 1894-1905 | SLM | Express locomotive with four-cylinder wet steam engine |
1924-1927 |
|
|||
| - | - | A 3/5 | 931-938 | 931-938 | 8th | 1908 | Maffei | Express locomotive with superheated steam four-cylinder compound machine |
1925 |
|
dare
When it came to the procurement of passenger coaches , the Gotthard Railway Company was geared towards international traffic from the start. From the beginning, two international express trains were offered that ran from Basel to Milan. In accordance with the large number of well-to-do passengers, the GB owned an excessive number of first and second class cars. In 1883, the first full year of operation, just 62% 3rd class passengers were carried, the remaining passengers were 2nd class (30%) and 1st class (8%). In addition, the railway was literally overrun in passenger traffic: instead of the expected 250,000 passengers, over 1 million passengers used the railway. More cars therefore urgently had to be ordered. In 1882 alone, two salong cars , 25 1st class cars and 25 2nd class cars were ordered, but only 15 3rd class cars.
The two-axle saloon cars As 51–52 were supplied by SIG . The extremely comfortable vehicles reported 18 seats on, 6 in the middle Salon compartment with skylight, 6 in the so-called Night compartment with extendable seats and 6 in the open-sided viewing pavilion . There was also a toilet and a washroom. They replace the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) sleeping cars on night trains.
The Gotthard Railway was the first railway company in Europe to use all-steel wagons. The first-class, second-class and mixed first- and second-class cars delivered by Van der Zypen & Charlier in 1897 were among the first all-steel cars on the continent. The cars, painted dark blue on the outside, had closed platforms, bellows transitions and cradle bogies and a luxurious interior with heavy plush armchairs, generous legroom and electric lighting.
As a mountain railway, the Gotthard Railway paid great attention to the brakes. Since only hand brakes were initially available, each car had to be manned by a brakeman who applied and released the brakes after the locomotive whistled.
From 1882 the Swiss Central Railway (SCB) and the Gotthard Railway ran express trains on the Basel – Chiasso line with the non-automatic vacuum brake . Two years later, 103 1st and 2nd class passenger cars and 12 baggage cars were equipped with it on a trial basis. The non-automatic brake does not respond automatically in the event of a train separation and there is no emergency brake available. With the automatic vacuum brake , which avoids these disadvantages, 9 locomotives, 10 passenger cars and 2 baggage cars were fitted between 1885 and 1887.
The Westinghouse air brake is more powerful than the vacuum brake , which at the time was state-of-the-art, together with the direct-acting regulating brake , which was also suitable for negotiating steep and long slopes. From 1888, the GB equipped most of the locomotives as well as all passenger and baggage cars with it. This system was also known as the Westinghouse double brake .
The cars from 1874 initially still had oil lamps. In 1882, GB began introducing gas lighting . The gas, which was sufficient for a lighting period of 30 hours, was carried in containers. The gas station was located in Bellinzona , with a gas truck with two pressure vessels available for refilling at other locations. The last passenger coaches procured in 1903 and 1904 received electrical lighting.
From 1887, the heating system was switched from ovens to steam heating . Originally, with the exception of the luxury car, the luggage trolley had to be used to use the toilet. A toilet has only been part of the general standard in passenger cars since the turn of the century.
The Gotthard Railway's freight wagons showed no significant deviations from those of other railways in Switzerland or abroad. From 1888, 451 freight wagons that ran in passenger trains were equipped with the Westinghouse brake. However, freight trains ran hand-braked until the 1930s. In 1908 - before the takeover by the SBB - GB owned 1776 freight wagons.
literature
- Hermann Dietler : Gotthard Railway. In: Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System . 1912, Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- Gotthardbahn In: bahndaten.ch. Data on the Swiss railways 1847–1920 . Thomas Frey and Hans-Ulrich Schiedt, ViaStoria, accessed on April 10, 2014.
- Placid Weissenbach : The railway system in Switzerland. (PDF 14.8 MB) First part. History of the Railway System. 1913, p. 66 , accessed February 1, 2014 .
- Hans-Peter Bärtschi : Gotthard Railway. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . January 9, 2007 , accessed February 1, 2014 .
- Carl Waldis: Welcome to the Gotthard Railway. The history of the Gotthard Railway. Retrieved April 10, 2014 .
Web links
- Annual reports of the Gotthard Railway Company from 1871 to 1912
References and comments
- ↑ Max Brugger: Chapter 5 The Canton of Zurich and the Gotthard Railway, pages 165-172 in Zurich Railway Policy [doctoral thesis law faculty of the University of Friborg (Switzerland)] Zurich, W. Coradi-Maag printing house, 1909
- ↑ Markus Bürgi: Alfred Escher. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 21, 2005 , accessed February 1, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Hermann Dietler: Escher In: Röll: Enzyklopädie des Eisenbahnwesens . 1912, Retrieved April 10, 2014
- ^ Hermann Dietler: Zingg. In: Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System . 1923, Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- ↑ Dietler: Gotthard Railway in Röll, pages 354–361
- ^ Dietler: Gotthard Railway in Röll, page 356
- ↑ after Dietler: Gotthardbahn in Röll, pages 354
- ↑ according to bahndaten.ch
- ^ The SBB numbered the locomotives they took over after the boiler overhauls were due.
- ↑ Gotthard Railway Annual Report . 1882, p. 36–37 ( e-periodica.ch ).
- ↑ Gotthard Railway Annual Report . 1883, p. 35 ( e-periodica.ch ).
- ^ Jean-Paul Moreau: Les 75 ans du tunnel du Saint-Gothard . In: Géocarrefour . tape 33 , no. 1 , 1958, p. 74 , doi : 10.3406 / geoca.1958.2227 ( persee.fr [accessed July 1, 2019]).
- ↑ Gotthard Railway Annual Report . 1883, p. 34 ( e-periodica.ch ).
- ^ [SN]: Iron passenger carriages . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . 1916, doi : 10.5169 / seals-33054 ( e-periodica.ch [accessed June 30, 2019]).
- ↑ With the prevalence of multi-release air brakes , the regulating brake became superfluous from the mid-1950s