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39-617: In the early 1860s, the rail links between Romandy and German-speaking Switzerland were controlled by three railway companies, the West Switzerland Company ( Compagnie de l’Ouest Suisse ; SO), the Franco-Swiss Company ( Franco-Suisse , FS) and the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern Railway ( Chemin de fer Lausanne–Fribourg–Berne , LFB). One of the lines ran from Lausanne along the southern foot of

78-678: A banking group that was responsible for funding the expansion of rail networks, attempted unsuccessfully to raise the necessary funds for the Western Switzerland and to form a joint operation between the three railways. The funding was provided by the Societe Suisse pour l'industrie des chemins de fer ("Swiss Company for the Railway Industry"), which forced the SO to reorganise the administration. Its board of four members

117-480: A company, but run directly. Under pressure from the French-speaking cantons , especially Vaud , the three West Swiss railways merged on 1 January 1872. The new Western Switzerland Railway Company ( Chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale et du Simplon ) now had the largest route network of any Swiss rail company with 315 kilometres of line. The cantons used their influence to help the Western Switzerland build

156-512: A loose synonym. "Romandy" is not an official territorial division of Switzerland any more than there is a clear linguistic boundary. For instance, substantial parts of the canton of Fribourg and the western canton of Bern are traditionally bilingual, most prominently in Seeland around the lakes of Morat , Neuchâtel and Bienne (Biel). French is the sole official language in four Swiss cantons : Geneva , Vaud , Neuchâtel , and Jura ; and

195-472: A representative—and a supervisory board. Three members of the Supervisory Board were appointed by the Western Switzerland and two each by Franco-Swiss and the canton of Fribourg . The association paid 8,000 francs per kilometre per year to the firm of Laurent-Bergeron et Comp. The financial situation of the three western Swiss railways stabilised and from 1868 onwards the association was able to pay

234-548: A very modest dividend . Financial and construction matters remained the responsibility of individual railway companies. The map shows the ownership structure of the network of the Association of French-Swiss Railways at the end of 1871 before its merger as the Western Switzerland Railways. The three railways agreed to intensify their cooperation in 1871. The business would no longer be leased to

273-661: Is a regional dialectal variant of roman (modern French romain , i.e. "Roman"); in Old French used as a term for the Gallo-Romance vernaculars. Use of the adjective romand (with its unetymological final -d ) in reference to the Franco-Provençal dialects can be traced to the 15th century; it is recorded, as rommant , in a document written in Fribourg in 1424 and becomes current in

312-720: Is known as Röstigraben (lit. " rösti ditch", adopted in Swiss French as barrière de rösti ). The term is humorous in origin and refers both to the geographic division and to perceived cultural differences between the Romandy and the German-speaking Swiss majority. The term can be traced to the WWI period , but it entered mainstream usage in the 1970s in the context of the Jurassic separatism virulent at

351-702: Is known as Welschland or Welschschweiz , and the French-speaking Swiss as Welsche , using the old Germanic term for non-Germanic speakers also used in English of Welsh (see * Walhaz ). The terms Welschland and Welschschweiz are also used in written Swiss Standard German but in more formal contexts they are sometimes exchanged for französischsprachige Schweiz ("French-speaking Switzerland") or französische Schweiz ("French Switzerland"). Simple Westschweiz "western Switzerland" may also be used as

390-570: Is supported by Radio Télévision Suisse and the universities of Geneva , Fribourg , Lausanne and Neuchâtel . Historically, most of the Romandy has been strongly Protestant, especially Calvinist ; Geneva was one of the earliest and most important Calvinist centres. However, Roman Catholicism continued to predominate in Jura , Valais , and Fribourg . In recent decades, due to significant immigration from France and Southern European countries, Catholics can now be found throughout

429-827: Is the French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland . In 2020, about 2 million people, or 22.8% of the Swiss population, lived in Romandy. The majority of the romand population lives in the western part of the country, especially the Arc Lémanique region along Lake Geneva , connecting Geneva , Vaud , and the Lower Valais . French is the sole official language in four Swiss cantons : Geneva , Vaud , Neuchâtel , and Jura . Additionally, French and German have co-official status in three cantons: Fribourg/Freiburg , Valais/Wallis , and Berne/Bern . The adjective romand (feminine romande )

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468-478: The Léman , Simplon and Mont-Terrible départements , respectively). Suisse romande is used in contrast to Suisse alémanique ("Alemannic Switzerland") the term for Alemannic German speaking Switzerland. Formed by analogy is Suisse italienne ("Italian Switzerland"), which is composed of Ticino and of a part of Grisons . In Swiss German , French-speaking Switzerland

507-531: The Jura to Biel/Bienne and on to Herzogenbuchsee , where it met the competing line running via Fribourg and Bern. The West Switzerland and Franco-Swiss were thus opponents of the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern, which also owned the westernmost Geneva – Versoix line. This harsh competitive situation was compounded by financial difficulties due to construction cost overruns. After long and difficult negotiations,

546-778: The Palezieux–Payerne–Fräschels line (known in French as the ligne de la Broye longitudinale —longitudinal Broye line) and the Fribourg–Yverdon railway (transverse Broye line). These lines were originally intended to form the western end of the Swiss National Railway ( Schweizerischen Nationalbahn ; SNB). The shares of the merged railway companies were exchanged for those of the Western Switzerland Railway, whereby, depending on

585-691: The 17th and 18th centuries in Vaud and Fribourg; it was adopted in Geneva in the 19th century, but its usage never spread outside of what is now French-speaking Switzerland. The term Suisse romande has become widely used since World War I; before World War I and during the 19th century, the term Suisse française "French Switzerland" was used, reflecting the cultural and political prestige of France (the canton of Vaud having been created by Napoleon out of former Bernese subject territories, while Geneva, Valais and Jura were even briefly joined to France, as

624-912: The High Alps again, separating the Val d'Anniviers from the Mattertal . Historically, the linguistic boundary in the Swiss Plateau would have more or less followed the Aare during the early medieval period, separating Burgundy (where the Burgundians did not impose their Germanic language on the Gallo-Roman population) from Alemannia ; in the High Middle Ages , the boundary gradually shifted westward and now more or less corresponds to

663-721: The Jura–Simplon Railways took over the Pont Vallorbe Railway operated by the SOS. The JS eventually initiated the construction of the Simplon Tunnel, which had been discussed for decades. Overview of the history of the Western Switzerland–Simplon (O: opening;   T: takeover): In 1882, the company owned 105 locomotives , 331 passenger cars and 2022 freight cars . From 1881,

702-623: The Mediterranean"), also known as the Chemins de fer Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée or simply PLM , established in 1857, was one of France’s main railway companies until the nationalization of all French railways and establishment of the Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) on 1 January 1938. Established on 3 July 1857, the PLM grew between 1858 and 1862 from the amalgamation of

741-487: The Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean Railway ( Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée ; PLM). On 21 January 1888, large masses of rock disintegrated at Cheyres and fell on the track creating piles of rubble two or three metres high. A Payerne–Yverdon passenger train loaded with about 40 passengers ran into the rubble, causing the two locomotives to derail. The fireman of the bank engine

780-483: The SO designated their locomotives with Roman numerals: classes I and II consisted of locomotives with two drive axles, class III consisted of passenger locomotives with three drive axles and class IV consisted of freight locomotives with three drive axles. In rolling stock statistics, these class designations were partly used from 1873. The locomotives acquired from the Jougne–Eclépens Railway were named in

819-580: The Swiss Jura participate in the Frainc-Comtou dialect spoken in the Franche-Comté region of France. Since the 1970s, there has been a limited amount of linguistic revivalism of Franco-Provençal dialects, which are often now called Arpitan (a 1980s neologism derived from the dialectal form of the word alpine ) and their area Arpitania . The cultural identity of the Romandy

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858-714: The Western Switzerland–Simplon route network before the merger with the Jura–Bern–Lucerne (JBL): On 1 January 1890, the SOS merged with the Jura-Bern-Lucerne Railway (JBL), including the Gümligen–Lucerne line , which belonged to the canton of Bern, to form the newly established Jura–Simplon Railways (JS). The Swiss Confederation also participated in the new railway company by means of a voluntary share purchase. Exactly one year later,

897-488: The co-official language – along with German – in the cantons of Valais , Bern , and Fribourg , French speakers forming the majority of the population in the regions of Lower Valais , Bernese Jura and Fribourg francophone ("French-speaking Fribourg "). Bernese Jura is an administrative division of the Canton of Bern, whereas the two others are informal denominations. The linguistic boundary between French and German

936-764: The communities of Morat and Fribourg . It divides the canton of Fribourg into a western French-speaking majority and an eastern German-speaking minority and then follows the eastern boundary of Vaud with the upper Saane/Sarine valley of the Bernese Oberland . Cutting across the High Alps at Les Diablerets , the boundary then separates the French-speaking Lower Valais from the Alemannic-speaking Upper Valais beyond Sierre . It then cuts southwards into

975-653: The earlier Paris–Lyon and Lyon–Méditerranée companies, as well as subsequently incorporating a number of smaller railways. The PLM operated chiefly in the Southeast of France, with a main line which connected Paris to the French Riviera by way of Dijon , Lyon and Marseille . The company was also the operator of railways in Algeria . The PLM was absorbed in 1938 into the majority state-owned Société nationale des chemins de fer français , and its network became

1014-432: The high medieval period (see Walser ). Traditionally speaking the Franco-Provençal or Patois dialects of Upper Burgundy , the romand population now speak a variety of Standard French . Today, the differences between Swiss French and Parisian French are minor and mostly lexical, although remnants of dialectal lexicon or phonology may remain more pronounced in rural speakers. In particular, some parts of

1053-757: The region. The Tour de Romandie is an annual cycling event on the UCI World Tour , often considered to be an important race in preparation for the Tour de France . The Library Network of Western Switzerland is in the region of Romandy. It is a collection of Libraries of Western Switzerland that are based in the region of Romandy. 46°12′00″N 6°09′00″E  /  46.2000°N 6.1500°E  / 46.2000; 6.1500 Chemins de fer de Paris %C3%A0 Lyon et %C3%A0 la M%C3%A9diterran%C3%A9e The Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée ("Railway Company of Paris to Lyon and

1092-537: The share price, additional payments were made in the form of bonds totalling Swiss francs (CFF) 14 million. The capital of the Western Switzerland was composed of shares worth CFF 85 million and bonds worth CFF 102 million at the end of 1876 following the closing of this financial transaction . The Swiss Central Railway ( Schweizerische Schweizerische Centralbahn ) and the Swiss Northeastern Railway ( Schweizerische Nordostbahn ), together with

1131-534: The southeastern region of the SNCF. The PLM commissioned poster artist Roger Broders , sponsoring his travel to the French Riviera and the French Alps so he could visit the subjects of his work. Lithographs of travel posters Broders rendered for PLM are still available commercially. Several of their draughtsmen went on to notable careers, including Alfred Grévin and David Dellepiane . The PLM head office

1170-702: The statistics as class V and the Simplon Company locomotives as class IV. The locomotives were designated according to the uniform system used throughout Switzerland from 1887. This is a list of the locomotives used by the SO and the SOS. The designation of the class valid from 1902 is listed in brackets. During shortages of rolling stock—especially during the Franco-Prussian War period—the SO responded by renting mostly French locomotives. Romandy Romandy ( French : Romandie or Suisse romande ; Arpitan : Romandia )

1209-550: The three railway companies formed a business association under the name of the Association des chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale (Association of the Railways of Western Switzerland) on 1 January 1865. Each railway company provided its own infrastructure and rolling stock. Revenue was distributed according to a fixed ratio. The business community was managed by a three-member operating committee—with each company nominating

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1248-493: The time. The linguistic boundary cuts across Switzerland north-to-south, forming the eastern boundary of the canton of Jura and then encompassing the Bernese Jura , where the boundary frays to include a number of bilingual communities, the largest of which is Biel/Bienne . It then follows the border between Neuchâtel and Bern and turns south towards Morat , again traversing an areal of traditional bilinguism including

1287-531: The western boundary of the Zähringer possessions, which fell under Bernese rule in the late medieval period, and does not follow any obvious topographical features. The Valais has a separate linguistic history; here, the entire valley, as far as it was settled, would have been Gallo-Roman speaking until its upper parts were settled by Highest Alemannic speakers entering from the Bernese Oberland in

1326-569: Was financially too weak to promote the construction of a Simplon tunnel , the canton of Vaud in particular pushed for a merger of the two railways. The SOS, with investment capital of CHF 248 million and a network length of 581 kilometres, was the largest railway company in Switzerland at the time. The Geneva–Lausanne –Brig routes and the extensions from Lausanne via Romont to Bern and via Yverdon and Neuchâtel to La Neuveville formed its main route network. Its strategically most important goal

1365-415: Was killed, while the other fireman and the driver of the bank engine were seriously injured. The Western Switzerland Railway and the SOS operated other railway lines: The operating results of Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways were always positive. Freight and passenger traffic contributed approximately equally to this. The SOS was able to distribute a modest dividend every year. The following map shows

1404-652: Was replaced by a single director in 1875. In 1872, the Western Switzerland acquired a significant stake in the Jougne-Eclépens Railway ( Chemin de fer de Jougne à Eclépens ; JE), which had a direct connection to the network of the French Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM). The SO wanted to prevent a competitor taking over the JE, which was constantly fighting financial problems. The Jougne-Eclépens Railway went bankrupt in 1876 and

1443-539: Was taken over fully by the Western Switzerland. There were four deaths and three injuries after a collision in Palézieux on 7 July 1876. The Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways ( Suisse-Occidentale–Simplon ; SOS) was created on 26 June 1881 as a result of the purchase of the Simplon Company ( Ligne du Simplon ; S) by the Western Switzerland at a price of around CFF 13.2 million. Since the Simplon Company

1482-576: Was the building of a connection from Brig to Domodossola by tunnelling under the Simplon Pass , but this did not proceed for the time being. The SOS invested around CFF 670,000 in preparatory work in 1886 alone. The SOS commissioned the Saint-Gingolph–Saint-Maurice railway , the Swiss section of the railway along the south shore of Lake Geneva on 1 June 1886. The Savoy section from Saint-Gingolph to Évian-les-Bains belonged to

1521-513: Was the most opulent headquarters building of any of the French railway companies. It was built in the late 1860s on the former grounds of the Tivoli Garden , with main entrance at 88, rue Saint-Lazare . As soon as the SNCF was created on 1 January 1938, the former PLM's head office became the new state company's headquarters. The SNCF head office remained there until 1999 when it moved to

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