Bern–Lötschberg–Simplon railway

Bern–Lötschberg–Simplon railway

BLS Re 4/4 class on the Lötschberg ramp
Dates of operation	1913–2006
Predecessor	Lake Thun railway Bern–Neuchâtel railway Gürbetal–Bern–Schwarzenburg railway Spiez–Erlenbach-Zweisimmen railway
Successor	BLS AG
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV, 16⅔ Hz, AC

The Bern–Lötschberg–Simplon railway (BLS), known between 1997 and 2006 as the BLS Lötschbergbahn, was a Swiss railway company. In 2006 the company merged with Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG to form a new company called BLS AG.

The Bern–Lötschberg–Simplon railway was the largest standard gauge network on the Swiss Railway system apart from the Swiss Federal Railways. The railway had not been built at the time that the Federal government took control of the five big Swiss standard gauge railway companies in 1902 and so it led a separate existence, being considered the largest of the Swiss "private" railways, although the majority of its capital was owned by the cantonal government of Bern, with the Confederation holding about one fifth.

With the opening of the Gotthard line in 1882 the canton of Bern became separated from the main north–south route. The administration, not being happy with the situation, made full use of its federal rights to build its own line but it could not rely on financial aid from the Swiss Confederation, the authorities being vehemently opposed to any rival transit route. Bern had to look elsewhere to raise the necessary funds and these were to come from an unexpected source. In 1871, due to the Franco-Prussian War, France had surrendered Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. As part of this annexation, the French-Swiss border crossing at Basel was lost.

Because of this, business circles in Paris were interested in co-financing a viable international transit route through Switzerland. Several alternative routes via Frutigen–Lötschberg were proposed but eventually, the Pro-Lötschberg Initiative Committee won the day. The Bern–Lötschberg–Simplon railway was founded on 27 July 1906 and within a few months construction work commenced.

Possibly because of French finance the construction of the “Mountain Route” the 58 km Frutigen–Brig line, was assigned to a French construction consortium, the major civil engineering work on the section being 13.7 km (8.5 mi) single-track Lötschberg Tunnel. Construction began on 15 October 1906 but within months the Swiss federal authorities ordered the BLS to enlarge the tunnel to double track and to profile its access ramps to suit. Money was not forthcoming for the provision of a double track line throughout and only the Lötschberg Tunnel itself was constructed in this way. Due to an accident on 24 July 1908 in which rock, washed with alpine waters, collapsed into the tunnel gallery killing 25 Italian miners, construction work was halted for six months before the gallery was sealed and plans made to bypass the site. The plan was to construct three curves inside the mountain and extending the length of the tunnel to 14.612 km (9.079 mi). The breakthrough was finally made on 31 March 1911. With the completion of the access ramps, the other civil engineering works on the line, 33 tunnels, 3 avalanche galleries and 22 bridges, together with the provision of electrical support masts, power stations, sub-stations, etc., the line, powered at 15,000 volts, alternating current, 16⅔ Hz was officially opened on 19 June 1913.