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81-860: The railway owns the infrastructure of the 74 km (46 mi) long inter-regional Brünig line , which links Lucerne and Interlaken over the Brünig Pass , and the 25 km (16 mi) long Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line from Hergiswil , on the Brünig line some 9 km (5.6 mi) out of Lucerne, to Engelberg . Both lines are built to the 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge , and use rack railway technology to climb their steepest gradients, although most of both lines uses conventional adhesion. The railway operates two hourly InterRegio express services, one between Lucerne and Interlaken, and one between Lucerne and Engelberg. It also operates two half-hourly services of

162-411: A dual gauge configuration with the metre gauge tracks of the Brünig line. Since the merger several major projects have been undertaken. In 2010, the 4,043 m (13,264 ft) Grafenort to Engelberg tunnel was constructed to replace the very steep final approach to Engelberg. Whilst still rack operated, the tunnel has a maximum gradient of 10.5% as opposed to 25%. In late 2012, a new tunnel route

243-455: A pension equivalent to half the salary of Federal Council members in office. If a councillor leaves office for health reasons, they may receive this pension even if their length of service was less than three years. Councillors who leave their offices after less than four years may also receive a partial pension. After leaving office, "former federal councillors frequently pursue some other lucrative activity," but "their earnings, when added to

324-570: A failed referendum on railway nationalisation did the Radicals decide to co-opt the Conservatives by supporting the election of Josef Zemp . The process of involving all major political movements of Switzerland into the responsibility of government continued during the first half of the 20th century. It was hastened by the FDP's and CVP's gradually diminishing voter shares, complemented by

405-629: A high degree of fluency in German, French, and Italian. Each year, one of the seven councillors is elected by the United Federal Assembly as President of the Confederation . The Federal Assembly also elects a vice president of Switzerland. By convention, the positions of president and vice president rotate annually, each councillor thus becoming vice president and then president every seven years while in office. According to

486-416: A member resigns, they are generally replaced by someone who is not only from the same party, but also the same language group. In 2006, however, Joseph Deiss , a French-speaker , resigned and was succeeded by Doris Leuthard , a German-speaker . In 2016, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf , a German-speaker, was succeeded by Guy Parmelin , a French-speaker. Most recently, in 2023, German-speaking Simmonetta Sommaruga

567-513: A new Conservative Democratic Party , the SVP/UDC was left in opposition for the first time since 1929, but returned into the council with the election of Ueli Maurer on 10 December 2008, who regained the seat previously held by Schmid, who had resigned. The SVP/UDC regained its second seat on the Council in 2015 , when Widmer-Schlumpf decided to resign after the SVP/UDC's large election gains in

648-566: A personal bailiff ( huissier or Bundesweibel ) who accompanies them, in a red and white ceremonial uniform, to official events. The spouses of Councillors do not play an official part in the business of government, apart from accompanying the Councillors to official receptions. Federal councillors receive an annual salary of CHF 472,958, plus another CHF 30,000 annually for expenses. The councillors pay tax on this income. Former councillors with at least four years of service receive

729-563: A seat to fill presents two candidates with mainstream viewpoints to the United Federal Assembly, which then chooses one. This was not so, however, during the 2003 election , which was the most controversial in recent memory. Until the end of the 19th century, it was informally required of Federal Councillors to be elected to the National Council in their canton of origin every four years to put their popularity to

810-731: A significant acceleration of services, with typical through journey times reduced from over 3 hours to 2 hours. In 1964, a junction was constructed at Hergiswil with the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg Railway (LSE), and from that date trains of the LSE used Brünig line tracks to reach Lucerne station. On 30 June 2004, the Swiss Federal Council empowered the SBB to sell the Brünig line to the Zentralbahn company, formed by

891-399: A sitting Councillor. This has only happened four times – to Ulrich Ochsenbein in 1854, to Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel in 1872, to Ruth Metzler in 2003 and to Christoph Blocher in 2007. In practice, therefore, Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after three to five terms of office. Unlike most senior members of government in other countries,

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972-474: A term of four years after each federal parliamentary election , without the possibility of recall or a vote of no confidence . Incumbents are not term-limited and are by convention almost always re-elected; most serve around 8 to 12 years in office. As of 2024, the members of the Federal Council are, in order of seniority: The Federal Council was instituted by the 1848 Federal Constitution as

1053-692: A term of four years by both chambers of the Federal Assembly sitting together as the United Federal Assembly. Each Federal Council seat is up for (re-)election in the order of seniority, beginning with the Councillor who had the longest term of office. The office holders are then elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of the valid votes. Every adult Swiss citizen is eligible (and could even be elected against his own will), but in practice, only members of Parliament or more rarely, members of cantonal governments, are nominated by

1134-533: A test. This practice was known under the French term of élection de compliment . The first Councillor who failed to be reelected ( Ulrich Ochsenbein ) lost his election to the National Council in 1854. Once elected, Councillors remain members of their political parties, but hold no leading office with them. In fact, they usually maintain a certain political distance from the party leadership, because under

1215-550: Is a Swiss narrow gauge railway line that links Lucerne , in central Switzerland , with Interlaken , in the Bernese Oberland . The line runs via Alpnachstad , Giswil , Meiringen and Brienz , and passes over the Brünig Pass , using sections of rack railway to overcome the gradients, but with most of the line operated by normal adhesion methods. The line is 74 kilometres (46 mi) long. It opened in stages between 1888 and 1916, and was, between 1903 and 2004,

1296-688: Is also used to host official guests of the Swiss Confederation. While Councillors can draw on an Army security detail if they need personal protection, in particular during official events, they are often encountered without any escort in the streets, restaurants and tramways of Bern. Ueli Maurer was known to use the bicycle on most days from his apartment in Münsingen to the Federal Palace in Bern. Councillors are also entitled to

1377-550: Is colloquially referred to as its " field trip ", a day trip to some attractions in the President's home canton. In that and other respects, the council operates like a board of directors of a major corporation. Each Federal Councillor heads a government department, much like the ministers in the governments of other countries. Colloquially and by the press (especially outside Switzerland), they are often referred to as ministers even though no such post formally exists. For example,

1458-521: Is no track connection. Beyond Brienz, the Brünig line runs along the northern shore of Lake Brienz , in a section often affected by landslides . Finally the line crosses the Aare on a high bridge, so built in order to allow lake shipping to reach Interlaken . It then passes over the standard gauge access to the BLS AG works at Bönigen , before descending into its terminus at Interlaken Ost station , which

1539-508: Is shared with the BLS AG and Berner Oberland Railway (BOB). There is a physical connection with the BOB, which is also metre gauge, but again the lines are electrically incompatible and no through trains operate. The line is built to metre gauge ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in gauge), and operates on the rack and adhesion principle, using sections of Riggenbach rack to overcome

1620-617: Is shared with the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line. The line was constructed by the Jura–Bern–Lucerne Railway (JBL), which opened the section between Brienz over the Brünig Pass to Alpnachstad in 1888. Initially, the line connected to steamships on Lake Brienz and Lake Lucerne , but was extended in 1889 from Alpnachstad to Lucerne, giving connections to the rest of the Swiss railway network . In 1891, JBL became part of

1701-464: Is the fact that the eighth non-voting member of government, the chancellor, who sets the government agenda, was also a woman. In total, there have been ten female councillors in the period 1989 to present: Until 1999, the Constitution mandated that no canton could have multiple representatives on the Federal Council at the same time. For most of Swiss history, the canton of any given councillor

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1782-471: Is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation . Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since after World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions . While the entire Federal Council is responsible for leading

1863-576: Is under increased strain. "Latin speakers" – people who either speak French, Italian, or Romansh – now form a majority on the council, despite more than seventy percent of the Swiss citizens speaking German as a first language. Likewise, no current Federal Councillors grew up in an urban area (with the exception of Karin Keller-Sutter , who spent some school years in Neuchâtel NE ). Whenever

1944-406: The 2015 election , being replaced by Guy Parmelin . Women gained suffrage on the federal level in 1971. They remained unrepresented in the Federal Council for three further legislatures, until the 1984 election of Elisabeth Kopp . In 1983, the failed election of the first official female candidate, Lilian Uchtenhagen and again in 1993 the failed election of Christiane Brunner (both SP/PS),

2025-451: The Brünig Pass . Beyond the pass, the line descends its third and final rack section, down the steep side of the valley of the Aare , to Meiringen . This is the steepest rack worked section of the line. At Meiringen station , the Brünig line reverses direction with trains both entering and leaving the station from the west end. The Meiringen–Innertkirchen Railway (MIB) connects here, leaving

2106-731: The Jura–Simplon Railway (JS) in 1891, and the JS became part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 1903. The SBB opened the last section of the line, from Brienz to Interlaken in 1916. As constructed, the line was operated by steam locomotives , and used the Riggenbach rack system to overcome gradients of up to 12% on the approaches to each side of the Brünig Pass. The line was electrified in 1941 and 1942, using

2187-506: The Jura–Simplon Railway (JS). In 1903, the JS became part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Only in 1916 did the last section of the current line, between Brienz and Interlaken, open. This allowed through trains to operate from Lucerne to Interlaken, and provided an easy interchange with trains to Bern and beyond. The line was electrified in 1941 and 1942, using the standard Swiss main line system of 15 kV  16.7 Hz AC supplied by overhead line . The electrification led to

2268-463: The Lucerne S-Bahn line S5 provide a stopping service. The section of line between Hergiswil and Lucerne is shared with trains on the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line, including a further InterRegio train per hour, and the twice-hourly Lucerne S-Bahn line S4 . [REDACTED] Media related to Brünig railway line at Wikimedia Commons Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council

2349-556: The Lucerne S-Bahn , the S4 between Lucerne and Wolfenschiessen and the S5 between Lucerne and Giswil . During the rush hour, there are additional trains named S41, S44 and S55. At the Interlaken end of the line, an hourly Regio service is operated as far as Meiringen . Only the two InterRegio services traverse the company's rack sections and require rack equipped stock. The two lines of

2430-780: The Radicals (presently FDP. The Liberals ). After winning the Sonderbund War (the Swiss civil war) against the Catholic cantons, the Radicals at first used their majority in the Federal Assembly to fill all the seats on the Federal Council. This made their former war opponents, the Catholic-Conservatives (presently the Christian Democratic People's Party , CVP), the opposition party . Only after Emil Welti 's resignation in 1891 after

2511-552: The Sarner Aa and Lake Sarnen to Giswil . Beyond Giswil station , the line's first rack section then allows the line to climb to Kaiserstuhl station . From here, the runs through the upper basin of the Sarner Aa and alongside Lake Lungern as far as Lungern . This is the steepest adhesion worked section of the line. After Lungern station , a second rack section lifts the line to its summit at Brünig-Hasliberg station in

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2592-474: The Swiss order of precedence , the president of the Confederation is the highest-ranking Swiss official. They preside over council meetings and carry out certain representative functions that, in other countries, are the business of a head of state. In urgent situations where a council decision cannot be made in time, they are empowered to act on behalf of the whole council. Apart from that, though, they are primus inter pares , having no power above and beyond

2673-513: The canton of Bern were elected in 2010 . As of 2023, four cantons have never been represented on the Federal Council: Nidwalden , Schaffhausen , Schwyz , Uri . The canton of Jura is the most recent canton to be represented; since 1 January 2023, it has been represented by Elisabeth Baume-Schneider . With the council's 2023 iteration, the constitutional requirement that languages and regions be appropriately balanced

2754-429: The federal administration of Switzerland , each Councillor heads one of the seven federal executive departments. The President of the Swiss Confederation chairs the council, but exercises no particular authority; rather, the position is one of a first among equals and rotates among the seven Councillors annually. The Federal Council is elected as a body by the 246 members of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland for

2835-501: The "supreme executive and directorial authority of the Confederation". When the Constitution was written, constitutional democracy was still in its infancy, and the founding fathers of Switzerland had little in the way of examples. While they drew heavily on the United States Constitution for the organisation of the federal state as a whole, they opted for the collegial rather than the presidential system for

2916-425: The 1830s had also had good experiences with that mode of governance. Today, only three other states, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Andorra and San Marino , have collective rather than unitary heads of state. However the collegial system of government has found widespread adoption in modern democracies in the form of cabinet government with collective responsibility. The 1848 constitutional provision providing for

2997-514: The Brünig line, the StEB line was electrified from its opening, using a three-phase alternating current overhead line supply. It also used the Riggenbach rack system on its final approaches to Engelberg, but with a very steep maximum gradient of 25%. In 1960 work started on connecting the Engelberg line to the Swiss railway network by constructing a new line between Stansstad and Hergiswil on

3078-470: The Brünig line. This involved constructing a bridge over the narrow Alpnachersee arm of Lake Lucerne , followed by the Lopper II tunnel , under a shoulder of Mount Pilatus . In order to allow Engelberg trains to run over the Brünig line into Lucerne, the whole railway was converted to the same electrical system ( 15 kV  16.7 Hz AC ), and new rolling stock acquired. The line reopened in 1964, and

3159-458: The CVP/PDC's Ruth Metzler . Due to controversies surrounding his conduct in office, a narrow Assembly majority did not reelect Blocher in 2007 and chose instead Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf , a more moderate SVP/UDC politician, against party policy. This led to a split of the SVP/UDC in 2008. After liberal regional SVP/UDC groups including Federal Councillors Widmer-Schlumpf and Samuel Schmid founded

3240-465: The FDP councillors seats were unsuccessfully attacked by the green party. The following councillors were reelected: Following the resignation of Alain Berset as of 31 December 2023, replacement elections were held: In addition, Viktor Rossi ( GLP ) was newly elected as Federal Chancellor with 135 out of 245 votes cast in the second round of voting. Additionally Viola Amherd was elected President of

3321-561: The Federal Council ;– and indeed the institution of the Council itself – has remained unchanged to this day, even though Swiss society has changed profoundly since. The 1848 Constitution was one of the few successes of the Europe-wide democratic revolutions of 1848 . In Switzerland, the democratic movement was led – and the new federal state decisively shaped – by

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3402-399: The Federal Council's unique nature as a voluntary grand coalition of political opponents, its operation is subject to numerous constitutional conventions . Most notable is the principle of collegiality ; that is, the Councillors are not supposed to publicly criticise one another, even though they are often political opponents. In effect, they are expected to publicly support all decisions of

3483-612: The Federal Councillors are not entitled to an official residence . However, the Federal Palace houses living apartments for both the Federal Chancellor and President of the Confederation . Mostly, Federal Councillors have chosen to rent apartments or hotel suites in Bern at their own expense. However, they are entitled to use the Federal Council's country estate, Lohn , for holidays, and this estate

3564-413: The LSE, and which now owns both railways. The takeover took effect on 1 January 2005. In late 2012, a new tunnel route was opened between Kriens Mattenhof station and the approaches to Lucerne station . The tunnel replaces a less direct surface alignment, allowing the abolition of several congested level crossings and the provision of double track. A new station, Lucerne Allmend/Messe , built within

3645-545: The SBB, and as a result 2/3 of its shares are now owned by SBB. The LSE was subsequently renamed the Zentralbahn to reflect its much larger scale of operation. At the end of 2009, the Zentralbahn took over the operation of the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) ( standard gauge ) tracks of the Kriens-Luzern-Bahn between Lucerne and Horw . Most of these tracks were already laid in

3726-536: The Social Democrats were also temporarily included with Ernst Nobs . The 1959 elections, following the resignation of four councillors, finally established the Zauberformel , the "magical formula" that determined the council's composition during the rest of the 20th century and established the long-standing nature of the council as a permanent, voluntary grand coalition . In approximate relation to

3807-502: The Swiss Confederation for the year 2024 and Karin Keller-Sutter was elected vice president of the Federal Council for the year 2024. Following the elections there was a departmental reshuffle. Élisabeth Baume-Schneider took over the Federal Department of Home Affairs vacated by Alain Berset and newly elected Beat Jans took over Baume-Schneiders Justice and Police Department. The members of the Federal Council are elected for

3888-462: The Zentralbahn have quite distinct histories. The Brünig line was constructed in incremental stages between 1888 and 1916. The first stages, over the Brünig Pass between Brienz and Alpnachstad were opened by the Jura–Bern–Lucerne Railway (JBL), who also extended the line from Alpnachstad to Lucerne , giving connections to the rest of the Swiss railway network . Subsequently, the JBL became part of

3969-413: The bill at issue. The decisions themselves are formally taken by voice vote by a majority of the Councillors present at a meeting. However, the great majority of decisions are arrived at by consensus ; even though lately there is said to be a trend towards more contentious discussions and close votes. The meetings of the Federal Council and the result of the votes taken are not open to the public, and

4050-466: The cantons, the political parties and major interest groups are invited, and in which all members of the public can participate. If a change in a federal statute is to be proposed to the Federal Assembly, this step is mandated by law. In such cases, the consultation procedure also serves to identify political concerns that could later be the focus of a popular referendum to stop passage of

4131-469: The council are always prepared by the responsible department. Accordingly, a change in the salaries of federal employees would be proposed to the council by the head of the Federal Department of Finance , to whose department the Federal Office of Personnel belongs. Before a vote is taken at a council meeting, though, all proposals are circulated in writing to the heads of departments, who commission

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4212-446: The council, even against their own personal opinion or that of their political party. In the eye of many observers, this convention has become rather strained after the 2003 elections (see below). Due to the fact that technically no sole federal councillor but rather the entire council in corpore is the Swiss head of state , Federal Councillors did for a long time not travel abroad in official business. In other countries, Switzerland

4293-634: The executive branch of government ( directorial system ). This accommodated the long tradition of the rule of collective bodies in Switzerland. Under the Ancien Régime , the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy had been governed by councils of pre-eminent citizens since time immemorial, and the later Helvetic Republic (with its equivalent Directorate) as well as the cantons that had given themselves liberal constitutions since

4374-533: The forward direction, hence turntables are needed. The historic, hand-operated turntable in Meiringen was dismantled in 2011, but was rebuilt at a new location in 2013. Similarly, the historic turntable in Giswil was moved to another location in the course of the renewal of the station in 2013. The line is served by hourly InterRegio trains that operate the full length of the line, taking just under two hours for

4455-426: The head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports is often called "the Swiss defence minister", even though no such post officially exists. However, as council members, they are not only responsible for their own department, but also for the business of their colleagues' departments, as well as for the conduct of the government and the federal administration as a whole. Decisions to be taken by

4536-499: The head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs . Visiting heads of state are received by the Federal Council in corpore . The Federal Council operates mainly through weekly meetings, which are held each Wednesday at the Federal Palace in Bern , the seat of the Swiss federal government . Apart from the seven Councillors, the following officials also attend the meetings: During

4617-443: The journey. These through trains stop at all stations between Meiringen and Giswil, where they provide the only service, but only at a selected stations between Interlaken and Meiringen, and between Lucerne and Giswil. The through trains are supplemented by local trains at each end of the route. An hourly Regio train operates between Interlaken and Meiringen, stopping at all stations. Between Lucerne and Giswil, twice-hourly trains of

4698-524: The line runs on the surface to Hergiswil , where the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line diverges. From Hergiswil station the Brünig line runs through the Lopper I tunnel , under a shoulder of Mount Pilatus , to Alpnachstad , which is the starting point of the Pilatus Railway . The two lines are of different gauges, and there is no track connection. From Alpnachstad station , the Brünig line follows

4779-402: The meetings, the Councillors address each other formally (e.g. Mrs. Sommaruga, Mr. Berset), even though they are on first name terms with each other. This is done to separate the items on the agenda from the person promoting them. After the meetings, the Councillors take lunch together. The council also meets regularly in conclave to discuss important topics at length; it annually conducts what

4860-487: The only narrow gauge line of the Swiss Federal Railways . Today the line forms part, along with the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line , of the Zentralbahn company . The line is served by InterRegio trains that operate the full length of the line, with regular (non-rack) Regio trains between Interlaken and Meiringen, and Lucerne S-Bahn trains between Lucerne and Giswil . The section between Hergiswil and Lucerne

4941-519: The opening of Switzerland due to the Kennedy assassination, foreign travels of Federal Councillors were only normalized after the dissolution of the USSR . The most recent federal council elections were held on 13 December 2023. Federal Council Alain Berset and Federal Chancellor Walter Turnherr had both announced that they would not be seeking reelection. The other Federal Councillors were all reelected,

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5022-421: The other six Councillors. The president is not the Swiss head of state; this function is carried out by the council in corpore , that is, in its entirety. However, in recent practice the president acts and is recognised as head of state while conducting official visits abroad, as the Council (also by convention) does not leave the country in corpore . More often, though, official visits abroad are carried out by

5103-538: The owning company changed its name to the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg Railway (LSE). For 40 years, the ownership structure of the two lines remained unchanged, with LSE owned trains running over SBB owned tracks between Hergiswil and Lucerne. However, in June 2004, the Swiss Federal Council empowered the SBB to transfer the Brünig line to the LSE with effect from January 2005. In return the LSE issued shares to

5184-525: The parties' respective strength in the Federal Assembly, the seats were distributed as follows: During that time, the FDP/PRD and CVP/PDC very slowly but steadily kept losing voter share to the SVP/UDC and SP/PS, respectively, which overtook the older parties in popularity during the 1990s. The governmental balance was changed after the 2003 elections, when the SVP/UDC was granted a council seat for their leader Christoph Blocher that had formerly belonged to

5265-439: The pension they receive as an ex-federal councillor, may not exceed the salary of a federal councillor in office, otherwise their pension is reduced accordingly." Serving federal councillors "enjoy a certain number of special benefits, from free telephone contracts to a chauffeur-driven car for official business, a courtesy car for personal use or the use of federal planes and helicopters for official business trips. Each member of

5346-418: The political parties and receive a substantial number of votes. The voting is conducted in several rounds, under a form of exhaustive ballot . After the election is concluded, the winner holds a short speech and accepts or refuses the office of Federal Councillor. The oath of office is then taken, even then the regular term of office only begins a few weeks later, on 1 January. Usually, the party which has

5427-424: The records remain sealed for 50 years. This has lately been the subject of some criticism. In particular, the parties at the ends of the political spectrum argue that this secrecy is contrary to the principle of transparency . However, the council has always maintained that secrecy is necessary to arrive at consensus and to preserve the collegiality and political independence of the individual Councillors. Due to

5508-801: The rise of new parties of lesser power at the ends of the political spectrum . These were the Social Democratic Party (SP) on the Left and the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents (BGB; presently the People's Party , SVP) on the Right . In due course, the CVP received its second seat in 1919 with Jean-Marie Musy , while the BGB joined the council in 1929 with Rudolf Minger . In 1943, during World War II,

5589-449: The rules of collegiality , they will often have to publicly promote a council decision which does not match the political conviction of their party (or of themselves). Once elected for a four-year-term, Federal Councillors can neither be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence nor can they be impeached . Reelection is possible for an indefinite number of terms; it has historically been extremely rare for Parliament not to reelect

5670-407: The section between Lucerne and Hergiswil, which is shared with the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line, is mostly double track. For much of the distance between Lucerne and Horw, one of these two tracks is dual gauge , allowing standard gauge freight trains to reach the industrial areas along the line, and the Eichhof brewery. The steam locomotives G 3/4 and HG 3/3 can operate on the rack sections only in

5751-412: The senior career officials of their department – the heads of the Federal Offices – to prepare a written response to offer criticism and suggestions. This is called the co-report procedure ( Mitberichtsverfahren / procédure de co-rapport ), designed to build a wide consensus ahead of a council meeting. To prepare for important decisions, an additional public consultation is sometimes conducted, to which

5832-421: The standard Swiss main line system of 15 kV  16.7 Hz AC supplied by overhead line . The rack sections were retained. The major part of the line to Engelberg was constructed by Stansstad–Engelberg Railway (StEB) and opened in 1898. The line ran from Stansstad to Engelberg and, like the Brünig line in its early days, relied on steamship connections with the rest of the Swiss railway network. Unlike

5913-483: The station from its eastern end. Although there is a track connection between the two lines, they are electrically incompatible, and no through trains operate. From Meiringen to Brienz the line runs close to the Aare , in that river's valley. At Brienz station , the starting point of the Brienz Rothorn Railway is beside the Brünig railway station. The two lines are of different gauges, and there

5994-490: The steeper gradients encounted on the approaches to the Brünig pass, but with most of the line operated by normal adhesion methods. The line is electrified using the standard Swiss main line system of 15 kV , 16 + 2 ⁄ 3 Hz AC , delivered by overhead line . The line has maximum gradients of 12%, using the rack, and 3%, using simple adhesion. The route is 74 kilometres (46 mi) long. It consists mostly of single track with passing loops at most stations, although

6075-618: The tunnel, serves the Swissporarena . The line begins at Lucerne station , one of Switzerland's principal railway stations and which is shared with the standard gauge lines of the Swiss Federal Railways. The metre gauge terminal platforms, and the first section of the line, are shared with trains of the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line. Shortly after leaving the station, the line enters a tunnel under Lucerne's southern suburbs as far as Kriens Mattenhof station . From here

6156-528: Was changed to require an equitable distribution of seats among the cantons and language groups of the country, without setting concrete quotas. Since the rule against Federal Councillors being from the same canton was abolished, there have been a few examples of it happening. The first time was from 2003 to 2007, when both Moritz Leuenberger and Christoph Blocher from the canton of Zurich were in office. It happened again between 2010 and 2018, starting when Simonetta Sommaruga and Johann Schneider-Ammann from

6237-437: Was controversial and the Social Democrats each time considered withdrawing from the council altogether. There were two female councillors serving simultaneously for the first time in 1999, and three out of seven councillors were women from 2007 till 2010, when Simonetta Sommaruga was elected as the fourth woman in government in place of Moritz Leuenberger , putting men in minority for the first time in history. Also remarkable

6318-415: Was determined by their place of origin, but starting in 1987 this was changed to the canton from which they were elected (for former members of the Federal Assembly or cantonal legislative or executive bodies) or place of residence. Nothing prevented candidates from moving to politically expedient cantons; this was one of the motivators for abolishing the rule. At the 1999 Swiss referendums , the Constitution

6399-472: Was nearly exclusively represented by diplomats. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy , the Federal Councillors convened an urgent meeting, where they discussed sending a Councillor to Kennedy's funeral. Given that the absence of the Swiss government would not be understood by the population, they decided to send Friedrich Traugott Wahlen . On his travel to the U.S. capital, Wahlen also met with Secretary of State Dean Rusk to discuss tariffs . Despite

6480-493: Was opened between Kriens Mattenhof station and the approaches to Lucerne station , on the stretch of the Brünig line also used by Engelberg trains. The tunnel replaces a less direct surface alignment, allowing the abolition of several congested level crossings and the provision of double track. A new station, Lucerne Allmend/Messe , built within the tunnel, serves the Swissporarena . Br%C3%BCnig railway line The Brünig railway line ( German : Brünigbahn )

6561-441: Was replaced by French-speaking Elisabeth Baume-Schneider . Historically, at least two council seats have been held by French- or Italian-speakers. The language makeup of the council as of 2022 is four German-speakers, two French-speakers and one Italian-speaker. In November 2017, Ignazio Cassis became the first Italian speaker to serve on the council since 1999. For elections to the Federal Council , candidates are usually helped by

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