Bernese Jura Railway Explained

Jura–Bern–Lucerne in 1889
Open:1874
Close:1890
no
Inline:1
Map:~~km~~ ~~ ~~elevexCONTg\\\\extSTRa\\\\KBHFa~~123.00~~~~~~ ~~! !\xtZOLL\\KBHFa\\STR~~ ~~Delle, France~~Col des Roches 436 m~~ ~~! !\extSTRe\\GRENZE\\STR~~124.45~~ ~~Col des Roches~~! !\exBHF\\STR\\hKRZWaeLe Locle~~! !\exBHF\\hSTRae\\STRLa Chaux-de-Fonds~~77.63! !\KBHFxa\\STRl\BHFq\ABZr+r~~84.61~~\xABZgl\STR+r\\\BHF~~73.40~~MoutierLes Loges 3259 m~~ ~~! !\exTUNNEL1\TUNNEL1\\\STR~~ ~~ ~~\exABZg+l\xABZql\BHFq\STRq\ABZg+r~~74.24~~Le CreuxConvers~~! !\exBHF\\\\BHF~~48.28~~SoncebozChambrelien~~! !exKBHFaq\exABZr+r\\KBHFaq\STRq\ABZg+r~~ ~~La Neuveville~~! !\exKBHFe\\\\BHF~~33.59~~\\\KBHFaq\STRq\ABZg+r~~ ~~FräschelsBödelibahn (BB): Därligen~~! !\\LKBHFa\\\BHF~~23.37~~Lyss~~Bönigen~~! !\\LKBHFe\\\LBHFa+GRZq~~7.46~~Zollikofen~~\\\\LKBHFaq\LABZr+r~~(0.00)~~Brünigbahn

Brienz~~57.77! !\\KBHFa\\\LBHFe+GRZq~~7.69~~Gümligen~~Meiringen~~45.47! !\KBHFaq\ABZqr\STRq\STR+r\BHF~~37.47~~LangnauAlpnachstad~~13.18! !\\\\BHF\LDSTa+GRZq~~91.83~~Fluhmühle~~0.13! !\\\\KBHFe-L\LKBHFe-R

The Bernese Jura Railway (Chemins de fer du Jura bernois, abbreviated Jura bernois, JB) was a railway company in Switzerland. The company was called the Jura–Bern–Luzern (Jura–Bern–Lucerne, JBL) from 1 July 1884. The Jura–Bern–Lucerne merged with the Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways (Suisse-Occidentale–Simplon, SOS) to form the Jura–Simplon Railway (Jura-Simplon-Bahn), JS) on 1 January 1890.

History

The railway network of the Canton of Bern initially developed according to the interests of the Swiss Central Railway (Schweizerische Centralbahn, SCB). The Grand Council of Bern, decided to conclude a contract with the SCB in 1852. The Central Railway undertook to build the Murgenthal–Bern line and the Solothurn–Herzogenbuchsee railway within four years and in return received tax exemption and the privilege of being given preferential treatment in future grants of concessions to build railways. The Central Railway's construction now concentrated for a period on the more populated areas in the Swiss Plateau. The rugged and economically less developed Jura had a much more limited railway network. The Central Railway had no interest in competing with its existing Hauenstein Railway. Under the chairmanship of Xavier Stockmar, the Zentralkomitee für die jurassische Eisenbahn (Central Committee for the Jura Railways) planned a railway line from Biel/Bienne to Basel with a branch from Delémont to Porrentruy. Although the concession was granted, it was not built due to lack of funds. To connect the Bernese Jura to the old part of the canton, the Grand Council provided a subsidy of CHF 6,950,000 of the estimated construction cost of CHF 40 million in 1867. The Delémont–Delle railway, which was financed by French companies, was built and handed over for operations on 23 September 1872.

Capital procurement, construction and transfer of track

A new situation arose in 1871, with the cession of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War. A line built across French territory and through the Bernese Jura would connect the Paris–Belfort line directly to the Swiss Plateau. The Jura bernois was founded in 1874 as a joint-stock company, with the French Chemins de fer de l'Est subscribing CHF 4½ million and the canton of Basel-Stadt subscribing CHF 0.5 million. The municipalities and Bürgergemeinden of the Jura purchased a total of over 7 million shares, partially exploiting their forests to fund them. The Jura bernois began construction and opened individual sections of its network between Biel, Convers (near La Chaux-de-Fonds), Delle and Basel between 1872 and 30 March 1877. It complemented its network through acquisitions. The JB bought the bankrupt Jura industriel (JI) for CHF 3.6 million on 1 May 1875 and the Chemin de fer Porrentruy–Delle (PD) for CHF 1.99 million on 16 August 1876. It took over the Bernese State Railway (Bernische Staatsbahn, BSB), including the Zollikofen–Biel –La Neuveville line in 1877. The canton of Bern received JB shares worth CHF 11.56 million in return. The JB was built during the railway construction boom after 1872 and interest rates and construction prices rose sharply. The recession of 1876 and the subsequent "railway crisis" almost bankrupted even the financially solid Swiss Northeastern Railway (Schweizerische Nordostbahn, NOB). Against this background, the consistent profits of the JB were unusual. The revenue from freight was higher than the revenue from passengers in each year from 1878.

Jura–Bern–Lucerne

For the start of the operations of the Bern-Lucerne Railway Company (Bern-Luzern-Bahn, BLB) in 1875, the BLB and the Bernese Jura formed a joint operating company called the Jura–Bern–Luzern (Lucerne). This company continued to exist even after the bankruptcy of the BLB and, as of 1 July 1882, the JB leased the line from Bern to Lucerne, which now belonged to the canton of Bern. Thus, the Bernese Jura came into possession of the continuous Delle–Bern–Lucerne line, which connected with the Gotthard Railway. This route competed with the route of the Swiss Central Railway (Centralbahn) via, which lost direct access to the railway from Basel to France after the Franco-Prussian War. The extended route network prompted the railway to change its name to the Jura–Bern–Luzern (JBL). Ten years after its construction, the Canton of Neuchâtel exercised its buyback right and acquired the Neuchâtel–La Chaux-de-Fonds–Le Locle line on 1 January 1886 for around CHF 5 million, so it could lease it to the newly established Jura neuchâtelois (JN). However, the JN could not earn enough to pay its rent, which made support by the public sector necessary. The Jura–Bern–Luzern built the Brünig Railway from 25 August 1886. With the opening of the first, over 44 km long section from Alpnachstad via the Brünig Pass to on 14 June 1888, the network of the JBL was significantly extended. The extension from Alpnachstad to Lucerne followed on 1 June 1889. The metre-gauge line with sections of rack connects the two tourist regions of Central Switzerland and the Bernese Highlands. In addition, it was considered to have great military importance. The Jura–Bern–Luzern also took care of the operation of the Bödelibahn (Bödeli Railway, BB) Därligen–Interlaken–Bönigen opened in 1872.

Merger into the Jura–Simplon Railway

On 1 January 1890, the Jura–Bern–Luzern including the Gümligen–Lucerne line, which was owned by the canton of Bern, and the Western Swiss Railways (Suisse-Occidentale–Simplon, SOS) merged to form the Jura–Simplon Railways (Chemins de fer du Jura-Simplon, JS). From this point on it was the largest Swiss railway company; it was partly owned by the Swiss Confederation as a result of the purchase of shares on the market. On 1 January 1891, the JS took over the operations of the Pont–Vallorbe Railway (Chemin de fer Pont–Vallorbe, PV). Only the JS had sufficient resources to progress on the construction of the Simplon Tunnel that had been planned for decades. The bridge over the Birs built by Gustave Eiffel for the Bernese Jura collapsed shortly after the merger. The Münchenstein rail disaster on 14 June 1891 was the largest railway disaster in Switzerland to that time.

Graphical summary

Bwlow is an overview of the history of the Jura bernois and the Jura–Bern–Luzern (O: opening;   T: takeover):

Route network

No. Route Section Opening Remarks Length
1. –Bern Wylerfeld (15 November 1858) (7.46 km)
(16 June 1857)
Zollikofen–Lyss– (1 June 1864) Lyss–Busswil section taken over from the BSB
on 24 May 1875; 2 tracks since 1877		115.54 km
30 April 1874
16 December 1876
24 May 1877
Moutier– 16 December 1876 Trains reverse in Delémont station
Delsberg– 25 September 1875
2. Sonceboz–Le Creux–Convers 30 April 1874 Connection to Neuchâtel–Le Locle-Col-des-Roches railway. Le Creux–Convers operations ended on 17 December 1888 and the line closed on 1 July 1895 29.55 km
17 December 1888 Own access to La Chaux-de-Fonds after separation from the JN on 1 January 1886
3. 15 October 1876 39.84 km
30 March 1877
Porrentruy–border (–Delle) (23 September 1872) Taken over by the PD on 16 August 1876
4. Bern–Lucerne(1 July 1859) (5.38 km)
(1 June 1864) Originally BLB, bought by the canton of Bern at auction on 15 January 1877 and managed by the JB
leased from the canton of Bern since 1 July 1882 		3.27 km
Langnau–Fluhmühle (11 August 1875)
Fluhmühle– (1 June 1859) (3.27 km)
5. Biel–Neuchâtel (BE-NE canton border) (3 December 1860) Connecting in Lausanne to OS network,
taken over by the BSB on 24 May 1875 		14.45 km
6. –Neuchâtel-Vauseyon (7 November 1859) (1.37 km)
(1 December 1859) Taken over by the JI on 1 May 1875,
transferred to the JN on 1 January 1886 		(38.21 km)
Les Hauts-Geneveys–Convers (15 July 1860)
Convers–La Chaux-de-Fonds (27 November 1859)
(2 July 1857)
Le Locle–Col des Roches–border(–Besançon) 4 August 1884
7. 1 June 1889 , partly rack
Trains reverse in Meiringen station 		57.64 km
Alpnachstad– 14 June 1888
8. Lyss–Fräschels (BE-FR canton border) 12 June 1876 Connection in Murten to the SO network12.97 km
Total 269.49 km

Rolling stock

The locomotives from the beginning were designated as class A for express-tank locomotives, B for locomotives of "Bourbonnais" design (referring to the Compagnie du chemin de fer de paris à Lyon par le Bourbonnais, a predecessor company of the PLM, which developed the design) for passenger trains on mountain lines and freight trains on valley routes, C for freight locomotives, D for pilot tender locomotives and E for shunters. The locomotives were designated according to the uniform system used throughout Switzerland from 1887.

The following locomotives were available to the Jura–Bern–Lucerne. The class designation valid from 1902 is listed in brackets.

Class
from 1873 		Class
from 1887 !		JBL no. Name JS no.
from 1890 		SBB no.
from 1903 		Manufacturer Build year Remarks Scrapped Image
I A2 (Ec 2/4)1–12 Property of the Bern-Lucerne Railway (see there)
A A2 (Eb 2/4) 13 13 5441 SLM 1876 Biel workshop from 1903 1917
Passenger locomotive
A2 no. 18
14 14 5442 1904
15 15 – 1900
16 16 – 1900
17 17 5451 Esslingen 1880 1911
18 18 5452 1927
19 19 5453 1933
20 20 5454 1925
21 21 5455 1881 1928
22 22 5456 1925
23 23 5457 1911 MO 1; sold in 1917
24 24 5458 1919
25 25 5459 1883 Heating car Xd 99009 from 1927 1927
26 26 5460 1919
27 27 5462 SLM 1888 1925
28 28 5461 Heating car Xd 99011 from 1927 1927
29 29 5463 1930
30 30 5464 EB 9 from 1926 1933
31 31 5465 1919
32 32 5466 Heating car Xd 99010 from 1927 1933
AI B2E (Ec 2/5) 41–43 Taken over from the Jura industriel in 1875 (see there) 1856–1858 1883–1888
–
A3T (B 3/4) 		41' 205 1561 SLM 1889 1924
42' 206 1562 1924
43' 207 1563 1924
44 208 1564 1929
45 209 1565 1924
46 210 1566 1924
47 211 1567 1924
48 212 1568 1932
B B3T (C 3/3) 51–54 Property of the Bern-Lucerne Railway (see there)
Bourbonnais-hauling
tender locomotive B3T no. 54
55 425 – SACM 1875 1900
56 426 – 1901
57 427 – 1901
58 428 – 1902
59 429 2416 1876 1905
60 430 2405 1903
61 431 2415 1911
C C3T (D 3/3) 101 541 3392 1874 Originally had operating numbers 1–6.
When the JB took over the operation of BLB in 1875, a new numbering scheme was established and the locomotives were renumbered. 		1904
JS no. 542, built in
Mülhausen
102 542 3393 1904
103 543 3360 1908
104 544 3361 1907
105 545 – 1874 1901
JB no. 6 of SLM
106 546 3399 1913
107 547 3388 SACM 1875 1908
108 548 3394 1907
109 549 3395 1905
110 550 – 1902
111 551 3362 1876 1917
112 552 3396 1904
113 553 3397 1906
114 554 3398 1906
115 555 3363 1917
CI D3E (Ed 3/5) 141, 142 and 144 Taken over by the Jura industriel in 1875 (see there) 1859 Taken over by the JN in 1886 1898–1905
143, 145 Esslingen 1873 1912–1914
D C3 (Ed 3/3) 151–157 Property of the Bern-Lucerne Railway (see there)
EF3 (E 3/3) 201 851 8571 SLM 1875 1913
202 852 8572 1911
Locomotives of the narrow gauge Brünig Railway:
– G3 (G 3/3) 301 901 101 SLM 1887 1911
Brünig valley locomotive
no. 309, now at
the BC
302 902 102 1912
303 903 103 1888 1911
304 904 104 1916 Trento–Malè 104
305 905 105 1916 Trient–Male 105
306 906 106 1889 1916 IMB 106
1919 Trient–Male 106
– HG2 (HG 2/2) 351 951 1001 SLM 1887 1908 SV 10
1927 MCL 241 		1936
Brünig mountain locomotive
no. 352 for mixed
adhesion and rack
operations
352 952 1002 1888 1908 MCM 2
353 953 1003
354 954 1004 1908
355 955 1005 1908
356 956 1006 1889 1911
357 957 1007 1911
358 958 1008 1911

References

Sources

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