Berner Oberland Bahn
The Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB, pro. beh-oh-beh) is a narrow-gauge mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. It runs, via a "Y" junction at Zweilütschinen to serve Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald.
History
The Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB), with a track gauge of 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in), was opened, using steam traction, on 1 July 1890 and electrified on 17 March 1914, nowadays using a 1500 V d.c. system, overhead supply. The BOB has a total length of 23.608km and is a mixed rack and adhesion railway with two rack and pinion sections, using the Riggenbach system, on the steep sections of both arms of the line.
The line commences at Interlaken Ost (East) station, which also has connections to the Bruenigbahn, BLS and Swiss Federal Railways. At the first station at Wilderswil there is a connection with the Schynige Platte Railway.
Operations
Since 1949 railcars have predominated. Some of the older electric locomotives still survive and are used to haul goods trains or kept in reserve service. The centre of operations is Zweilütschinen with the depot headquarters and the modern main workshops.
From the introduction of the 1999 timetable, a newly constructed 2.5km section of dual track between Wilderswil and the junction station at Zweilütschinen allows trains to pass without one having to wait in a loop, off the main line. This means that a half-hour timetable can be operated with only five train compositions. Since 2005, every composition has been equipped with a comfortable three-part low-floor unit as standard. Two train compositions are usually coupled together to travel to Zweilütschinen where they are then split. One train, usually the front portion, travels to Lauterbrunnen, the other, to Grindelwald. In recent years, all compositions have been assembled with shuttle potential. The locomotive (power unit) is always positioned on the uphill side, unusual on a system which involves "rack" operation, a control car with a driver’s cab being positioned on the downhill side, to avoid any switching manoeuvres at the terminal stations.
At these two stations it is possible to transfer to the Wengernalpbahn and continue to Kleine Scheidegg. The terminus for the Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren to Mürren is also located next to the station at Lauterbrunnen. The Zweilütschinen to Lauterbrunnen section has one intermediate station, Sandweid, whilst that to Grindelwald has three at Schwendi, Burglauenen and Lutschental.
Timetable
Like all Swiss railways the BOB operates to a clock - face timetable offering connections from the main line at Interlaken and, at its upper terminals, to the Wengeralpbahn. Trains leave Interlaken Ost, dividing at Zweilütschinen, at 06h30, 07h20 and every hour until 22h20 with additional, dated, trains, leaving at 50 minutes past each hour during the morning and afternoon and an extra late evening service departing at 23h20. In the reverse direction trains leave Lauterbrunnen at 05h53, 06h55, 07h50 and every hour until 21h50, again with additional dated trains, leaving at 20 minutes past each hour during the morning and afternoon, with a late service at 22h50. Trains leave Grindelwald at 05h39, 06h39, 07h35 and every hour until 20h35, then 21h46. Additional, dated trains operate at 5 minutes past each hour in the morning and afternoon with a late service at 22h46.
Accident
On 7 August 2003 two trains collided head-on on a single track section between Zweilutschinen and Lauterbrunnen, 1 person was killed and 64 injured. [1]
Locomotives / Railcars.
See also
de:Berner Oberland-Bahnen fr:Berner Oberland-Bahnen it:Ferrovie dell'Oberland bernese
| No. | Name | Class | Builders Details | Date | Notes. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tm | Stadler/SLM/MFO/SIG | 1946 | Rebuilt 1980; 6-cyl/110kW | |
| 21 | Xm1/2 | P&T | 1979 | 6-cyl diesel/123kW | |
| 24 | HGe3/3 | SLM/MFO/BBC | 1919 | Rebuilt 1940 | |
| 29 | HGe3/3 | SLM/MFO/BBC | 1926 | ||
| 31 | HGm2/2 | Steck/Deutz/SLM | 1985 | 6-cyl diesel/296kW | |
| 302 | ABDeh4/4 | SLM/BBC | 1949 | ||
| 303 | ABDeh4/4 | SLM/BBC | 1949 | ||
| 304 | ABeh4/4 | SIG/SLM/BBC | 1965 | ||
| 305 | Gundlischwand | ABeh4/4 | SIG/SLM/BBC | 1965 | Rebuilt 1999 |
| 306 | Lũtschen | ABeh4/4 | SIG/SLM/BBC | 1965 | Rebuilt 1997 |
| 307 | Wilderswil | ABeh4/4 | SIG/SLM/BBC | 1965 | Rebuilt 2002 |
| 308 | Gsteigwiler | ABeh4/4 | SIG/SLM/BBC | 1979 | |
| 309 | ABeh4/4 | SIG/SLM/BBC | 1979 | ||
| 310 | ABeh4/4 | SIG/SLM/BBC | 1979 | ||
| 311 | Grindelwald | ABeh4/4 | SLM 5297/BBC | 1986 | |
| 312 | Interlaken | ABeh4/4 | SLM 5297/BBC | 1986 | |
| 313 | Lauterbrunnen | ABeh4/4 | SLM 5298/BBC | 1986 | |
| 321 | BDe4/4 | SIG/SAAS/BOB | 1953 | Rebuilt 2003 | |
| 322 | BDe4/4 | SIG/SAAS/BOB | 1953 | Rebuilt 2003 |
