Berner Oberland-Bahnen
| Bernese Oberland Railway | |
|---|---|
A BOB train approaches Grindelwald.
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| Overview | |
| Native name | Berner Oberland-Bahn BOB |
| Type | Mountain, partially rack railway |
| Status | operating daily |
| Locale | Bernese Highlands |
| Termini |
Interlaken Ost railway station Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen |
| Stations | 9 |
| Services | 2 |
| Website | BOB |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1890 |
| Owner | Berner Oberland-Bahn AG |
| Operator(s) | BOB |
| Character | Commuter and touristic railway |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 23.69 km (14.72 mi) |
| Number of tracks | mostly single track with passing points and a double track section at the lower end. |
| Track gauge | Metre (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) |
| Electrification | 100%, 1500 V DC, Overhead line |
| Highest elevation | 1,034 m (3,392 ft) |
| Maximum incline | 120‰ |
| Rack system | Riggenbach |
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The Bernese Oberland Railway (or correctly translated Bernese Highlands Railway; German: Berner Oberland-Bahn, BOB) is a narrow-gauge mountain railway in the Bernese Highlands of Switzerland. It runs, via a "Y" junction at Zweilütschinen to serve Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. The railway is rack assisted (that is although an adhesion railway, rack and pinion operation is used on steep sections of the line to assist traction).
The BOB is owned by the Berner Oberland-Bahnen AG, a company that also owns the 800 mm (2 ft 7 1⁄2 in) Schynige Platte Railway. Through that company it is part of the Allianz - Jungfrau Top of Europe marketing alliance, which also includes the separately owned Wengernalpbahn, Jungfraubahn, Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen–Mürren, Harderbahn, and Firstbahn.
The first proposals for the Berner Oberland-Bahn, made in 1873, showed a line from Interlaken (at that time Aarmühle) to Zweilütschinen with later options to Lauterbrunnen and Grindlewald with starting point at Bönigen. Four years later an 80 years concession was obtained for construction and operation of the line and the company, Berner Oberland-Bahn was founded on 2 November 1888 and construction started the following year
In 1897 the company obtained a concession to construct a 54.7 km line from Lauterbrunnen to Visp, with stations at Stechelberg, Steinberg, Oberborn, and Blatten. It would have involved the construction of a 4,650 m tunnel at 2,200 m elevation under the Breithorn mountain. At Visp it would have had a connection with the Simplon line.
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Wikipedia