Oberaargau-Jura railways

Melchnau – Langenthal – Niederbipp
The front of the Aarwangen station from 1907 has been lovingly restored
Timetable field :	413, 414
Route length:	22.03 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	1200 V  =
Maximum slope :	66  ‰
Legend 12.14 Melchnau 524  m above sea level M. Gjuch 9.28 Undercutting wood 492  m above sea level M. Sängi (PV 1982 discontinued) 6.98 St. Urban brick factory 450  m above sea level M. 6.47 St. Urban 447  m above sea level M. 5.90 Roggwil Buchägerten 452  m above sea level M. 5.04 Roggwil village 452  m above sea level M. 4.44 Roggwil Schmitten 456  m above sea level M. 3.18 Kaltenherberg 454  m above sea level M. SBB route Olten - Bern 2.70 Mumenthal 461  m above sea level M. Langenthal Industry North 0.00 Langenthal 472  m above sea level M. Rollbuck system Depot and workshop 1.10 Langenthal gasworks 465  m above sea level M. NBS Mattstetten-Rothrist 1.50 Siding KEBAG 464  m above sea level M. 2.44 Hard-Mumenthal 461  m above sea level M. 2.83 Aarwangen suburb 449  m above sea level M. 3.20 Aarwangen 436  m above sea level M. 3.99 Aarwangen Castle 415  m above sea level M. 4.19 Aare Aarwangen (96 m) 412  m above sea level M. 4.84 glue 435  m above sea level M. 5.92 Bannwil 452  m above sea level M. 7.36 Culminating point 485  m above sea level M. 8.79 Wooden houses 462  m above sea level M. 9.75 Shackles 462  m above sea level M. 10.34 Niederbipp village 465  m above sea level M. SBB route Olten - Solothurn SNB from Solothurn (1000/1435 mm) Three-rail track, formerly a roller bolster system 10.99 Niederbipp 468  m above sea level M. LJB to Oensingen (1907–1943) Niederbipp industry Oensingen

The Oberaargau-Jura-Bahnen (OJB) was a railway company in Switzerland . It was created in 1958 from the merger of the Langenthal-Jura-Bahn (LJB) with the Langenthal-Melchnau-Bahn (LMB).

The OJB changed its name to Regionalverkehr Oberaargau (RVO) on July 2, 1990 . In 1999, the RVO merged with the Solothurn-Niederbipp-Bahn (SNB), the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn (BTI) and the Oberaargauische Automobilkursen (OAK) to form the Aare Seeland mobil (ASm), which is the 22 km long, meter gauge OJB - operates the line from Langenthal to Niederbipp or Melchnau .

history

The "Oberaargau-Jura-Bahnen (OJB) (Melchnau-Langenthal-Niederbipp)" based in Langenthal was created in 1958 from the merger of the "Langenthal-Jura-Bahn" (LJB) and the "Langenthal-Melchnau-Bahn" (LMB) . The OJB is the direct legal successor to the LJB, which opened in 1907 and which has also been responsible for its operational management since the LMB opened in 1917.

The forerunners brought their meter-gauge main lines into the company, the LJB their almost 11 km long Langenthal – Aarwangen –Niederbipp, the LMB their 11 km long Gaswerk – St. Urban – Melchnau railway. The two railway lines, most of which are located in the canton of Bern , have been electrified with 1200 volts direct current since opening .

As a result of the merger, cooperation with the SNB was renewed in 1959 with a new operating agreement. The workshop brought in by the LJB in Langenthal also became a workshop for the SNB vehicles with the contract. The two companies also bought new vehicles together.

Due to the sparse settlement along the LMB route, which primarily opened up companies along the route, and the long journey time to Melchnau, due to the arc that the route describes far east, passenger traffic on the section ceased on May 22, 1982 St. Urban – Melchnau discontinued. The section remained in operation for freight traffic. The development of Melchnau was taken over by buses, with which the travel time could be significantly reduced due to the direct route to Langenthal.

A first sign of the later merger is a formal agreement that was signed on April 5, 1984 between BTI, OJB, SNB, OAK, Ligerz-Tessenberg-Bahn (LTB) and Bielersee-Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft (BSG) under the name Oberaargau- Solothurn-Seeland-Transport (OSST) has been completed.

The construction activity in St. Urban led to a small increase in passengers, which allowed the section between St. Urban and St. Urban Ziegelei of the LMB line to be reactivated for passenger traffic on May 28, 1989.

The OSST partners BTI, RVO, SNB and OAK merged in 1999 to form Aare Seeland mobil (ASm). The LTB was also merged into the ASm in 2003, while the BSG has remained legally independent to this day.

Roller bolster traffic

On December 29, 1909, the LJB opened Switzerland's first roller bolster system in Langenthal for the transport of standard-gauge freight wagons on meter gauge . The network of delivery points, which initially extended to Aarwangen, was expanded to Bannwil on March 7, 1913. From the opening in 1917, roller stools were delivered to Melchnau on the LMB. With the opening of the SNB on January 9, 1918, another roller bolster system was put into operation in Niederbipp, which is also used by the LJB and opens up delivery points to Bannwil from Niederbipp, which means that deliveries have been possible on the entire LJB route since 1943.

A three-rail track was laid in the shared facility in Niederbipp , which was put into operation on March 7, 1970 and runs along the SNB to the Oberbipp siding (tank farm).

Railway line after the 1999 merger

Today's ASm route was extended from Niederbipp to Oensingen (train station). The route runs largely parallel to the existing SBB route with an additional "Niederbipp Industrie" stop. The opening took place on the timetable change in December 2012. Basically - though it was routed as a tram - this line already existed under the LJB from 1907 to 1943, and was already used occasionally by the SNB.

Vehicle fleet

Railcar

• Be 4/4 101–102 (1966–1978), ex 81–82, 102 2010 Sale to BLM, 03.2011 Commissioning
• Be 4/4 107 (approx. 1950, conversion 1973) demolished 08.2008
• Be 4/4 108 (1913) aborted 03.2007
• Be 4/4 109 (1963) ex 80, ex BA, 1990 on loan, 1997 for sale from BTI, 2002 from Ferrovia Mesolcinese
• Be 4/8 110–112 (2008) and 113–115 (2011)
• Bre 4/4 116 (ex 1) (1907) nostalgic railcar, also used as a special car with restoration

Service railcars and locomotives

• Xe 2/2 90, ex 93, formerly Sernftalbahn (SeTB) Xe 2/2 22, ex Fe 2/2 22, in the meantime canceled
• Ge 4/4 126, ex 56, (1917)
• Xe 4/4 131 was a freight railcar of the electric trams in the canton of Zug, which was converted there into a passenger railcar with the designation CFe 4/4 . When the tram operation in Zug ended, it was sold to the Oberaargau-Jura-Bahnen. In 1993 it came back to the canton of Zug and was restored in the colors of the ESZ, it is now in the Zuger depot technology history .

Control car

• Bt 151, ex 101

Between 1966 and 1978, the SNB and the OJB jointly procured a total of six four-axle railcars (81–86) and five matching four-axle control cars (101–105). Under the OSST, a uniform numbering scheme was introduced for all participating railway companies, the OJB vehicles were given 100 numbers, while the (identical) SNB vehicles received 300 numbers.

The orange-painted vehicles, sometimes referred to as “shaker cups”, are still in use today.

renovation

Multiple unit Be 4/8 "Star"

With the decision to modernize the railway line of the former SNB, the rolling stock will also be renewed. In April 2005, the ASm initially put out tenders for three new low-floor multiple units for the entire Solothurn – Niederbipp – Langenthal route. The tender was decided in favor of Stadler Rail with the “ Meter gauge FLIRT ” concept . The vehicle has a similar modular structure as the new meter-gauge traction vehicles for the Forchbahn and Trogenerbahn . The new development was established in April 2008 with the name " Star " (for: S chmalspur- T riebzug for a ttraktiven R egionalverkehr ) presented. The three trains that have been ordered have been in use for the ASm since summer 2008 - painted dark red. With three more trains that were delivered in 2011, the old Bipperlisi fleet was completely replaced.

literature

See main article: Aare Seeland mobile

Web links

Commons : Oberaargau-Jura-Bahnen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Aare Seeland mobile

Individual evidence

1. ^ Sandro Sigrist: Electric trams in the canton of Zug. Buffer stop, Leissigen 1997, ISBN 3-907579-04-6