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15-562: 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

30-404: A half-hour timetable can be operated with only five train compositions. Since 2005, every composition has been equipped with an articulated (three-part) low-floor driving trailer as standard. Two train compositions are usually coupled together to travel to Zweilütschinen where they are then split. The front portion travels to Lauterbrunnen, the other one to Grindelwald. The motor coach (power unit)

45-419: A service every hour in each direction on both its lines, the trains leaving Interlaken Ost coupled together and dividing at Zweilütschinen. From mid December to late October, additional trains give a 30-minute service frequency in the morning and afternoon. The last services are often timetabled to be operated by buses. The passenger rolling stock of the line can be divided into that in regular use and that which

60-519: Is always positioned on the uphill side, a driving trailer (coach with a driver's cab) being positioned on the downhill side, to avoid any running round manoeuvres at the terminus stations. 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 Wengernalpbahn . Throughout the year the BOB offers

75-420: Is historic in nature. Present day passenger stock is painted in striking a blue/yellow livery. That in regular use can be divided as follows: Historical stock includes the following items, which still carry the former brown/cream livery for coaches and all-over brown for guards/parcels vehicles. Goods stock is a varied collection, much of which would not be out of place in a museum. The earliest wagon shown on

90-475: The Grindelwald section. Steam traction on the line came to an end in 1914, the line becoming electrified at 1500 V d.c., overhead supply, on 17 March of that year, although steam locomotives have been used since that date on special services. Several changes were made during the 1950s and 1960s, the two most important being in 1957, the construction of an airfield at Interlaken causing the realignment of

105-420: The BOB stock list dates from 1888 and was rebuilt by the BOB in 1990. The collection of goods stock totals over 30 assorted wagons, most pre-First World War, many built by SIG and much rebuilt by the BOB over the years. More recently a few additions have been made, most of which are second-hand from CFF/SBB/FFS. The line is home to a snowplough (Series Xrot e) with was built in 1954 by SIG/BBC and rebuilt in 1990 at

120-553: The BOB workshops. Several items of rolling stock have been sold (transferred) to metre gauge preserved railways. Items shown in the above list are taken from official BOB listings, last issue September 2004, and have been updated by personal observations made during September 2007 (plus visit to Grindelwald in December 2019). [REDACTED] Media related to Berner Oberland-Bahn at Wikimedia Commons Schynige Platte Railway Too Many Requests If you report this error to

135-492: The Berner Oberland-Bahn, made in 1873, showed a line from Interlaken (at that time Aarmühle) to Zweilütschinen with later options to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald 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-Bahnen AG was founded on 2 November 1888 and construction started the following year. In 1897

150-514: 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. Estimated at 15 million Swiss francs, finance

165-603: The line between Wilderswil and Interlaken Ost , but to no detriment and, with a need for servicing and construction facilities on the line a new depot was opened at Zweilütschinen in 1968. Since that time there has been a need for track capacity to be increased and in 1991 the Wilderswil to Gsteigwiler section was substantially improved. This was followed by the doubling of the Gsteigwiler to Zweilütschinen 4 years later. A bottleneck between Wilderswil and Zweilütschinen

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180-416: The older electric locomotives still survive and are used for special trains. The centre of operations is Zweilütschinen with the depot headquarters and the modern main workshops. From the introduction of the 1999 timetable, the newly constructed 2.5 km section of dual track between Gsteigwiler and Zweilütschinen allows trains to pass without one having to wait in a loop, off the main line. This means that

195-527: The steep sections of both arms of the line. On 7 August 2003 two trains collided head-on on a single track section between Zweilütschinen and Wilderswil, 1 person was killed and 64 injured. The regular train coming down from Zweilütschinen had passed a red signal at the end of the double track section and collided with an extra train near Gsteigwiler. Automatic train stop system ZSI-127 had already been in place but not yet in use, awaiting final completion and approval. Since 1949 railcars have predominated. Some of

210-466: Was eased when, in 1999, a 2.5 km. double track section was opened between those places meaning that trains could run through without the need to use the passing loop and, as necessary, awaiting the train in the opposite direction. The BOB has a total length of 23.608 km and is a mixed rack and adhesion railway with four rack and pinion sections, using the Riggenbach rack system , two each on

225-428: Was not forthcoming and by 1906 the plans were abandoned. By 1 July 1890 the 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge line, was opened, using steam traction. On 18 August 1902 a disastrous fire destroyed the station buildings and goods shed at Grindelwald and these were later rebuilt, surviving to the present day. On 7 October 1908 a new station was added to the system, that at Schwendi on

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