Jura Foot Railway

Jura Foot Railway
ICN running near Twann
Overview
Termini	Olten Geneva
Technical
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	15 kV/16​2⁄3 Hz AC overhead catenary
Route map from Basel and Aarau 39.2 Olten 396 m asl to Bern, to Luzern Aare bridge, Olten Hammer (135 m) 40.6 Olten Hammer 403 m asl 43.0 Wangen bei Olten 417 m. asl 45.3 Hägendorf 427 m asl 49.1 Egerkingen 435 m asl 51.4 Oberbuchsiten 442 m asl OeBB from Balsthal–Klus 56.6 Oensingen 462 m asl 58.8 Niederbipp 468 m asl to Solothurn and Melchnau Aare bridge, Wangen (96 m) 64.3 Wangen an der Aare 422 m asl 67.6 Deitingen 429 m asl 70.3 Luterbach-Attisholz 429 m asl Solothurn–Wanzwil railway narrow gauge line to Bern 73.8 Solothurn 431 m asl narrow gauge line to Niederbipp to Burgdorf closed line to Lyss Aare bridge at Solothurn (104 m) 74.7 Solothurn West 432 m asl to Moutier (BLS) 75.7 Solothurn Allmend 443 m asl 76.7 Bellach 443 m asl 77.6 Bellach 429 m asl 80.6 Selzach 438 m asl 82.8 Bettlach 440 m asl 85.3 Grenchen Süd 440 m asl Mösli viaduct (285 m) 88.0 Jura line from Basel 88.0 Lengnau 439 m asl 90.2 Pieterlen 435 m asl 94.0 Biel/Bienne Bözingenfeld /Champs-de-Boujean 444 m asl 95.8 Biel Mett 443 m asl 98.0 to Bern narrow gauge line to Ins 99.4 104.5 Biel/Bienne 437 m asl to La Chaux-de-Fonds Vingelz tunnel (2432 m) 99.8 Tüscherz 434 m asl 96.0 Twann 433 m asl 94.0 Ligerz 434 m asl 90.0 La Neuveville 433 m asl 87.7 Le Landeron 437 m asl 85.5 Cressier NE 436 m asl 83.6 Cornaux 435 m asl St-Blaise tunnel (155 m) 85.5 Saint-Blaise CFF 464 m asl from Bern (BLS) 75.3 Neuchâtel 479 m asl 73.6 to La Chaux-de-Fonds Route-de-France tunnel (58 m) 72.3 Neuchâtel-Serrières 437 m asl 70.3 Auvernier 492 m asl to Pontarlier 67.6 Colombier NE 490 m asl 66.3 Boudry 491 m asl 62.3 Bevaix 489 m asl 58.1 Gorgier-St-Aubin 451 m asl beginning of rebuilt line St-Aubin-Sauges tunnel (2252 m) 54.8 Vaumarcus 447 m asl La Raisse tunnel (1245 m) Fin-de-Lance tunnel (286 m) 50.7 Concise 430 m asl Concise tunnel (365 m) end of rebuilt line 47.5 Onnens-Bonvillars 435 m asl 42.7 Grandson 437 m asl narrow gauge line to Ste-Croix Thièle bridge, Yverdon (79 m) 39.1 Yverdon-les-Bains 434 m asl to Payerne 32.7 Ependes 440 m asl 29.6 Essert-Pittet 438 m asl 27.4 Chavornay 447 m asl from Orbe 24.9 Bavois 442 m asl Nord-de-Mormont tunnel (182 m) Sud-de-Mormont tunnel (302 m) 21.4 Éclépens 455 m asl 20.2 industrial siding SBB line from Vallorbe 19.3 Daillens 445 m asl 19.0 to Swiss Post logistics centre 19.0 from Swiss Post logistics centre 14.4 Cossonay funicular to Gare–Ville 428 m asl 11.0 Vufflens-la-Ville 406 m asl 10.0 industrial siding 6.9 14.9 Bussigny 407 m asl Poimboeuf bridge ( right: 64 m left: 71 m ) Poudrière III bridge (216 m) 13.2 7.3 Lécheires yard Larges-Pièces bridge (106 m) 4.5 Renens 416 m asl 0.0 Lausanne 447 m asl to Bern and Brig to Geneva

The Jura foot railway (French: ligne du Pied-du-Jura, German: Jurafusslinie) or Jura south foot line in Switzerland runs from Olten along the foot of the southern Jura range through Solothurn, Grenchen, Biel/Bienne, Neuchâtel Yverdon-les-Bains and Morges to Geneva. It is one of two routes used by intercity trains between Geneva and Zürich. The other is the Midland line (German: Mittellandlinie) which connects Olten via Langenthal, Burgdorf, Bern, Fribourg, Lausanne to Morges. The line was built by five railway companies, which after several mergers were absorbed into the Swiss Federal Railways in 1903.

The line is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC and is two track almost throughout.

History

ICN above Lake Neuchâtel, near Vaumarcus

ICN near Essert-Pittet

The Jura foot line was built in several stages. The oldest part are the sections opened by the West Switzerland Company (French: Compagnie de l'Ouest-Suisse, OS) in May 1855 from Yverdon-les-Bains to Bussigny-près-Lausanne and in July 1855 from Bussigny to Morges via Renens. On 5 May 1856, the company opened two new sections, Renens to Lausanne and the connecting curve from Morges to Bussigny. The OS opened a line from Morges to Coppet on 14 April 1858 and a line from Coppet to Versoix on the following 21 April. On 25 June 1858 the OS connected with Geneva with the opening of the Versoix–Geneva route of the Geneva–Versoix Railway (French: Chemin de fer Genève–Versoix, GM). In 1859 it opened the section from Yverdon to Vaumarcus.^[1][2] On 7 November 1859 the Franco–Swiss Company (French: Compagnie Franco-Suisse, LFB) opened an extension from Vaumarcus to the village of Frienisberg, near Le Landeron on Lake Biel. A temporary station was established at a pier in Frienisberg for a link by boat across Lake Biel to a station at Nidau near Biel built by the Swiss Central Railway (German: Schweizerische Centralbahn, SCB).^[1][2][3]

From the other direction in 1857 the SCB opened the line from Olten via Herzogenbuchsee to Solothurn and along the current route to Biel south of Solothurn. This route avoided having to cross the Aare river between Olten and Solothurn, but is longer than the route opened in 1876. In 1858 the SCB built a short line from Biel station to Nidau on Lake Biel, from where a connection by ship over Lake Biel was opened in 1859 to the temporary station at Frienisberg. The gap along the northern shore of Lake Biel from Biel to Landeron was closed on 3 December 1860 by the Swiss East–West Railway (German: Schweizerische Ostwestbahn, OWB). As a result, the short line from Biel to Nidau closed on 10 December 1860. It was now possible for the first time to travel from the east of Switzerland at St. Margrethen to its west at Geneva by train, although the different railway companies involved meant that several changes of train were necessary.

The last section of the Jura foot line to be completed was the section from Olten to Solothurn via Oensingen opened on 4 December 1876 by the SCB, also called the Gäu railway (German: Gäubahn). This was originally planned as part of the Swiss National Railway's proposed line from Lake Constance to Lake Geneva. The line from Herzogenbuchsee to Solothurn became a local railway after it was bypassed by the Gäu railway. As part of Rail 2000, the line and its stations at Derendingen, Subingen, Etziken and Inkwil were closed in 1992 and most of it was rebuilt as a connecting line without stations for high-speed passenger trains from Solothurn to the Mattstetten–Rothrist new line, connecting at a junction at Wanzwil and opened on 12 December 2004. Under the Rail 2000 program, a winding single-track section along the shore of Lake Neuchâtel between Gorgier-St-Aubin and Concise was replaced by a double track section mostly in tunnel, which was opened in 2000.

References