Biel–Täuffelen–Ins railway

The Biel-Täuffelen-Ins Railway (Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn; BTI) was a former railway company in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It merged in 1999 with Oberaargau Regional Transport (Regionalverkehr Oberaargau; RVO), the Solothurn-Niederbipp Railway (Solothurn-Niederbipp-Bahn; SNB) and the Oberaargauische Automobilkurse (OAK) to form Aare Seeland mobil (ASm), which now operates the 21 km-long, metre-gauge Biel–Täuffelen–Ins railway.

Biel-Täuffelen-Ins Railway
Overview
Native name	Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn
Termini	Biel/Bienne Ins
Line number	290
Operation
Owner	Aare Seeland mobil
Technical
Line length	21.19 km (13.17 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ^3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification	1300 V DC overhead catenary
Maximum incline	4.8%
Route map km elev Biel Bahnhofplatz ("station place"; 1926–1975) 0.00 Biel/Bienne SBB line 430 m Connection to SBB Biel tunnel (215 m) Zihl 1.17 Nidau 433 m Nidau-Büren canal (64 m) 1.66 Nidau Beunden 434 m 2.14 Ipsach 435 m 2.91 Ipsach Herdi 438 m 4.24 Sutz 450 m 4.95 Lattrigen 455 m 6.31 Mörigen 481 m 7.74 Gerolfingen 502 m 8.81 Täuffelen depot and workshop 492 m 10.18 Hagneck 452 m Hagneck canal (91 m) 11.61 Lüscherz 446 m 13.53 Siselen crossover 440 m Siselen-Finsterhennen 440 m 13.94 Finsterhennen (closed 2015) 441 m 16.51 Brüttelen 447 m 20.21 Ins Dorf 476 m from Bern from Fribourg 21.19 Ins 438 m Transporter wagon yard (1917–1997) connection to BLS-BN and TPF-FMA to Neuchâtel Source: Swiss railway atlas[1]

History

Certificate for 4 shares worth 250 francs each in the Seeländische Lokalbahnen, issued on 15 January 1918

The company was founded as the Seeländische Lokalbahnen (Seeland local railway; SLB) in 1912 with its headquarters in Täuffelen. The first section of the line from Nidau to Siselen was opened on 4 December 1916 and the section from Siselen to Ins followed on 19 March 1917. Since the line ends in Ins next to the standard-gauge line of the Bern–Neuchâtel railway (BN), a transporter wagon yard was opened at the same time for the carriage of standard gauge freight cars on the metre-gauge line.

The last section between Nidau and the Biel/Bienne station forecourt (Bahnhofplatz) followed on 21 August 1926. A transporter wagon system was opened here, too; wagon could be delivered to any point on the whole line.

The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins line remained the only line of the Seeländische Lokalbahnen.

The Seeländische Lokalbahnen was renamed the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn (Biel-Täuffelen-Ins Railway, BTI) as of 1 September 1945. The cooperation between the Oberaargau-Jura railway (Oberaargau-Jura-Bahnen, OJB) and the Solothurn-Niederbipp Railway (Solothurn-Niederbipp-Bahn, SNB), which had existed for some time, was regulated by contract from 1960.

The new underground approach of the Biel-Täuffelen-Ins line to Biel/Bienne station was opened on 22 May 1975. This allowed the dismantling of the line that had run along streets under the large SBB railway bridge to Biel station forecourt. The underground station reduced the distance to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) trains and the station forecourt was cleared, allowing it to be rebuilt.

An early indication of the later merger was a formal agreement that was contracted on 5 April 1984 between the BTI, the OJB, the SNB, the Oberaargauischen Automobilkurse (a bus company; OAK), the Ligerz-Tessenberg-Bahn (a funicular railway; LTB) and the Bielersee-Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft (Lake Biel Ferry Company; BSG) under the name of Oberaargau-Solothurn-Seeland-Transport (OSST).

The first of seven low-floor GTW Be 2/6 articulated railcars was put into operation in 1997.

The majority of the participants of Oberaargau-Solothurn-Seeland-Transport were merged to form Aare Seeland mobil (ASm) in 1999. The Ligerz-Tessenberg-Bahn joined only in 2003, while the Bielersee-Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft still remains legally independent.

Route

The line runs largely on its own right of way, although the line runs for a few hundred metres on public roads. The steepest section at 4.7 percent is located between the stations of Ins and Ins Dorf.

The BTI ends under Biel SBB station, which is the hub of four SBB lines. The Biel–Grenchen–Solothurn–Olten and Biel–Neuchâtel–Yverdon-les-Bains–Lausanne lines together form the line known as the Jura Foot Railway. The Biel/Bienne–Bern and the Biel/Bienne–La Chaux-de-Fonds lines also connect at the station.

RegioTram planning

There is a Regiotram agglomeration Biel/Bienne project, in which the BTI line would in future be extended as a tram through Biel SBB station and through the city to Bözingenfeld railway station. Thus, the most important development areas (living, work, leisure) of the region would be connected without the need to change trains. With a total length of 27 kilometres, the line would be the longest tram line in Switzerland. The project was stopped by a government enquiry on 26 March 2015.[2]

References

Notes

1. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz (Swiss railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2012. p. 18. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
2. Wissmann, Reto (27 March 2015). "Bieler Regiotram wird nun doch nicht gebaut". Der Bund online (in German). Retrieved 18 June 2015.

Sources

• Aeschlimann, Jürg (2008). Aare Seeland mobil (in German). 1. Leissigen: Prellbock Druck & Verlag. ISBN 3-907579-30-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Bandi, Fritz (1978). Die Schweizerischen Privatbahnen I & II (in German). Avanti Verlag.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hunziker, Heinz (1992). Von den Seeländischen Lokalbahnen zur Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn (in German). Zürich: Verlag Ernst B. Leutwiler. ISBN 3-906681-11-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Stamm, René; Jeanmaire, Claude (1975). Oberaargauer Schmalspurbahnen (in German). Villigen: Verlag Eisenbahn. ISBN 3-85649-023-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Wägli, Hans G. (2010). Schienennetz Schweiz und Bahnprofil Schweiz CH+ (in German). Zürich: AS Verlag. ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ziegler, Albert (1977). Bieler Strassenbahnen - Tramways of Biel Switzerland; Städtische Strassenbahn Biel, Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe, Biel, Biel-Meinisberg-Bahn, Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn (in German). Villingen: Gut Vorhard, Verlag Eisenbahn. ISBN 3-85649-027-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)