Sensetalbahn

Logo Sensetalbahn AG

The Sensetalbahn AG ( STB ) is a railway company in Switzerland . It operated the 11.5 km long standard gauge railway line Flamatt - Laupen - Gümmenen, opened in 1904 . It was named after the Flamatt-Laupen section in the Sense Valley , which is still in operation today . The continuation to Gümmenen was shut down in 1993.

The company's shares were transferred to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and “ Die Post ” (34%) in 2001 . Since then, the infrastructure of the Sensetalbahn has been managed by SBB under an operating contract.

Sensetalbahn

Timetable field :

302

Route length:

11.45 km (until 1993)
6.84 km

Gauge :

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Power system :

15 kV 16.7 Hz ~

Maximum slope :

36 ‰

Minimum radius :

180 m

Flamatt – Laupen – Gümmenen

Legend

	SBB route from Bern S 1 S 2
-0.04	Flamatt	552 m above sea level M.
	SBB route to Friborg S 1
0.68	Flamatt village	532 m above sea level M.
1.72	Neuenegg	523 m above sea level M.
4.14	Freiburghaus	507 m above sea level M.
6.80	Laupen	488 m above sea level M.
	End point S 2
8.2	Saane bridge- Kriechenwil	486 m above sea level M.
	Rail traffic shut down in 1993
9.46	Gammen-Schönenbühl	479 m above sea level M.
	Connecting track to the BN
	BN route from Bern
11.41	Gümmenen wedge station	494 m above sea level M.
	BN route to Kerzers - Neuchâtel

Share over 200 francs in the Sensethal Railway from December 1, 1903

Rolling stock

Initially, train traffic was handled with Ed 3/4 steam locomotives. They were too heavy and were replaced by so-called glass boxes , Ed 2/2 steam locomotives. In 1921 a Kittel steam powered rail car from the Prussian Military Railway, built in Esslingen in 1908, was acquired. In response to electrification, the railway acquired a CFe 2/4 101 multiple unit from SWS and SAAS. Until this was delivered in December, the STB rented the Ce 4/4 13502, an MFO test locomotive for electrical operation on the Seebach – Wettingen route , and railcars from the SBB . In 1940 the 13502 locomotive was acquired; it was then used as Ce 4/4 1 and sold to SBB in 1964 so that it could be exhibited in the Swiss Museum of Transport. In 1958 and 1964, the railway company bought an ABe 4/4 occasion railcar each from the Swiss Southeastern Railway (SOB), which they used from then on as the Be 4/4 106 and 107 and, in 1974, supplemented them with a Bti 201 control car converted by BLS. The last STB railcars were the BDe 4/6 102 and 103, built in 1938 and taken over in 1985 by the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon-Bahn . Their old age soon became noticeable, and the last STB trains were with one from the Sihltal -Zürich-Uetliberg-Bahn (SZU) run a rented shuttle train. The remaining diesel tractors Tm 238 111 and 114 for freight traffic were sold to SBB in 2000.

" Glass box " Ed 2/2 22
Ce 4/4 1 "Marianne"
BDe 2/4 101, here as "Dame du Léman" of the Compagnie ferroviaire du Léman museum railway
Be 4/4 106 in Gümmenen
BDe 4/6 102
Ed 3/4 2 of the Solothurn-Münster-Bahn, identical in construction to Ed 3/4 31 and 32 of the Sensetalbahn

End of rail operations

View from the disused Sensetalbahn line to the Gümmenen Viaduct

Final destination! The route from Bern to Laupen is served by BLS.

On May 23, 1993, the railway between Laupen and Gümmenen was stopped and replaced by buses. The trains only ran between Laupen and Flamatt. From 2001 the trains were operated by the SBB and from December 2004 - with the introduction of the Bern S-Bahn - by the BLS Lötschbergbahn , now BLS AG . The freight of the large printing Amcor Rentsch Laupen, the closure of the oil-bearing duty in Laupen and the structural transformation of industrial decreased due to the massive production setting. SBB Cargo has had no more freight customers on the STB route since 2005 .

The disused route between Gümmenen and Laupen is now used for tourist purposes. Velodraisines can be rented in Laupen to travel to Gümmenen on rails. There is a picnic area in front of the viaduct with the possibility of turning. The rails were torn out on both sides, in Laupen and Gümmenen, to about 60 meters, so that the route is no longer accessible by trains.

The railway infrastructure between Flamatt and Laupen as well as the railway infrastructure concession are still owned by the Sensetalbahn-Gesellschaft, which is managed by SBB. The BLS trains run every half hour to Laupen with train crossings in Neuenegg. The former signal box from 1966 required local service. Since April 13, 2012, the new signal box has been in operation with remote control from 2012 to 2015 from Bern, then from Olten. There are plans to reset this in a simplified form (stump track) at Laupen station, so that the train would only run as far as the Sense Bridge, which would eliminate a level crossing. In autumn 2014, all unsecured level crossings were lifted and replaced by a newly equipped one with a barrier system at Freiburghaus.

On December 16, 2019, the construction work for the complete renovation of the STB and the relocation of the Laupen train station began. These will last until the end of 2020. Until then, rail traffic on the Laupen – Flamatt route will be suspended.

Bus operation

Sensetalbahn AG was the concessionaire for the Thörishaus – Neuenegg – Laupen – Gümmenen and Kerzers – Golaten – Wileroltigen – Gurbrü bus routes. It also operated a bus route on behalf of PostBus .

30.130 Thörishaus Dorf – Neuenegg– (Laupen)
30.541 Kerzers – Golaten – Wileroltigen – Gurbrü
30,550 Laupen – Gümmenen
30.560 Mühleberg – Allenlüften – Rosshäuser (on behalf of PostBus)

However, these concessions switched to PostBus on December 13, 2009, which means that the Sensetalbahn also lost this area of activity.

Furthermore, the Sensetalbahn was the concessionaire for the night bus connections “Nightbird” on the routes Zurich – Lucerne, Brugg – Basel and Brugg – Olten.

literature

75 years of the Sensetalbahn . Publisher: Sensetalbahn (STB), Laupen 1979. - Richly illustrated brochure with numerous photos, timetables and type sketches.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Swiss Post: Associated companies and joint ventures. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
^ Wolfgang Messerschmidt: Locomotives of the machine works Esslingen 1841-1966. Steiger Verlag, Moers 1984, ISBN 3-921564-67-0 , factory no. 3469 and page 276
↑ Expansion of the Flamatt – Laupen railway line. SBB.ch, accessed on December 23, 2019 .

[1] Swiss Post: Associated companies and joint ventures. Retrieved November 15, 2017.

[2] Wolfgang Messerschmidt: Locomotives of the machine works Esslingen 1841-1966. Steiger Verlag, Moers 1984, ISBN 3-921564-67-0 , factory no. 3469 and page 276

[3] Expansion of the Flamatt – Laupen railway line. SBB.ch, accessed on December 23, 2019 .