A- Z of Swiss Railways (Part 1)

We welcomed Steve Ollive to our February meeting to give the first part of his trilogy A- Z of Swiss Railways. This instalment covered the three main Swiss operators and the letters A - C.

Steve began by giving a brief his presentation by giving a brief history of Swiss Federal Railways, known by the initials SBB based on the German language name of the company. In the 19th Century Swiss railways were owned by private companies, but following a referendum a state owned company was created and many operators were nationalised. 1 January 1902 is regarded as the official birthday of SBB. A significant event was the creation of the Taktfahrplan clock face timetable with trains leaving at hourly intervals for various destinations. The entire SBB network is electrified. Steve’s presentation included a survey of the various classes of locomotives and multiple units to be found on the system which includes double decker trains. SBB has a freight subsidiary with its locomotives painted in a red and blue livery.

Steve then reviewed BLS, the initials standing for the Bern -Lotschnerg Simplon Bahn. In 2006 the company merged with Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG to form a new company called BLS AG. The route mileage of BLS is a lot less than that of SBB. Like SBB, BLS has a freight subsidiary. Moving on, we looked at Sudostbahn that operates in the east and central Switzerland where Stadler FLIRT stock is used.

Our attention then turned to smaller companies including the Biere -Apples - Morgues Railway, the Brienz Rothorn rack -operated railway and concluding with Chemins de fer du Jura which operates in the area bordering France.

Our thanks to Steve for his introduction to Swiss railways. We look forward to seeing the next part of his presentation.