Zentralbahn (ZB) - Brünig Bahn - www.simplonpc.co.uk

Simplon - The Passenger Ship Website - www.simplonpc.co.uk Simplon Home - www.simplonpc.co.uk - Simplon facebook - Recent Updates - Search Simplon - Copyright Information - Contact Simplon This website has no connection with any shipping company, cruise line, boat operator or other commercial organisation - There are no postcards for sale on this website

	Zentralbahn - ZB Brünig Bahn of the Swiss Federal Railways - SBB Luzern-Stans-Engelberg Bahn - LSE All images link to larger copies which will open in a new window/tab
	The Zentralbahn is a Swiss railway company that owns and operates two connecting railway lines in Central Switzerland and the Bernese Oberland. It was created on January 1, 2005, with the acquisition of the independently owned Luzern–Stans–Engelberg Railway, and the Brünig line of the Swiss Federal Railways. The company has its headquarters in Stansstad (Ref: Wikipedia)

	Sections on this Page Brünig Bahn of SBB Brünig Steam Operations Ballenberg Dampfbahn (BDB) Brünig Electric Operations Luzern-Stans-Engelberg Bahn (LSE) Zentralbahn (ZB) Other Swiss Pages GFM/TPF - Metre & Standard Gauge in Fribourg LEB - Metre Gauge railway from Lausanne - this page NStCM - Metre Gauge railway from Nyon Geneva Trams & Trolleybuses CGN Header Page - Lake Geneva - Lac Leman CGN Page 1 - CGN Paddle Steamers 1822-1886 CGN Page 2 - CGN Paddle Vessels 1887-2004 CGN Page 3 - CGN Screw Motor Vessels LNM - Lacs de Neuchâtel & Morat	Associated Pages UK Excursion Vessels Cruise Ships Ocean Liners World Ferry Fleets Simplon Postcards. Home Page Simplon Postcards - Recent Updates - Simplon Postcards facebook page References Swiss Railways Platform 5 European Handbook No.5 by Haydock, Fox, Garvin Lokomotiven & Triebwagen der Schweizer Bahnen Band 3: Privatbahnen Berner Oberland by Peter Willen (Orell Fuessli Verlag) http://www..com Contacts Website:- www.zb.ch http://www..com h h
- Search the Simplon Website

The Zentralbahn is a Swiss railway company that owns and operates two connecting railway lines in Central Switzerland and the Bernese Oberland. It was created on January 1, 2005, with the acquisition of the independently owned Luzern–Stans–Engelberg Railway, and the Brünig line of the Swiss Federal Railways. The company has its headquarters in Stansstad

The Brünigbahn is a metre gauge rack railway line that links Lucerne, with Interlaken, in the canton of Bern, via Alpnachstad, Giswil, Meiringen and Brienz. The line passes over the Brünig Pass, using sections of the Riggenbach rack system 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, 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 railway company.

The line is served by hourly InterRegio trains that operate the full length of the line, together with hourly Regio trains that operate between Interlaken and Meiringen, and twice-hourly trains between Lucerne and Giswil. The latter trains operate as Lucerne S-Bahn line S5. 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.

(Ref: Wikipedia)

The line was constructed by the Jura–Bern–Lucerne Bahn (JBL), which opened the section between Brienz over the Brünig Pass to Alpnachstad in 1888. Initially, the line relied on steamships on Lake Brienz and Lake Lucerne for its onward connections. In 1889, the line was extended from Alpnachstad to Lucerne, giving connections to the rest of the Swiss railway network. In 1891, the JBL became part of 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 operated from Lucerne to Interlaken, and provided an easy interchange with trains to Bern and beyond.

Initially six G3/3 (0-6-0T) adhesion locos JBL 301-306 were delivered by SLM to the Jura–Bern–Lucerne Bahn between 1887-1894 for the adhesion sections of the route. These were joined by eight rack HG 2/2 (0-4-0T) locos, also SLM, numbered JBL 351-358. These were renumbered JS 901-906 and JS 951-958 by the Jura-Simplon Bahn, who then bought three more of the adhesion locos JS 907-910 and 951-963 between 1891-1901. The SBB renumbered the locos 101-110 and 1001-1013. More powerful rack HG 3/3 locos 1051-1068 were bought by SBB from SLM between 1905-1910, followed by one in 1926. Adhesion H 3/4 (2-6-0T) locos Nos.201-218 were acquired new and from other railways between 1905 and 1926.

(Ref: Schmalspurparadies Schweiz by Scheers/Wall)

Three Brünig steam locos have been preserved and operate stem trains on selected Sundays in the summer. The original intention had been to run a regular link from Brienz with the countryside museum at Ballenberg, but this has yet to be achieved. Instead the reduced timetable of quite lengthy trips is operated between Interlaken Ost to the Brünig summit and Giswil using the rack locomotive 1067. Adhesion loco 208 is also available to run on non-rack sections of the local metre gauge railways. None of the local railways use compatible electrical systems so the trains of different railways cannot run through onto other lines. This obviously does not affect the the steam locos so 1067 can run beyond the Brünig lines on the extensive narrow gauge network in the Bernese Oberland, The BDB operate trains on request on the lines of the MIB up to Innertkirchen and BOB to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen.

(Ref: www.ballenberg-dampfbahn.ch)

The line was electrified in 1941 and 1942, using the standard Swiss main line system of 15 kV 16⅔ Hz AC supplied by overhead line. The electrification lead to 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 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 the tunnel, serves the Swissporarena.

(Ref: Schmalspurparadies Schweiz by Scheers/Wall)

The Luzern–Stans–Engelberg Bahn line is a Swiss metre gauge rack railway that connects Luzern, via Hergiswil and Stans, to the resort of Engelberg. The line was built by the Stansstad–Engelberg Bahn (StEB), which became the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg Bahn (LSE) when the line was extended to Luzern.

Today the line is part of the Zentralbahn railway company, which also owns the Brünig line.

The Zentralbahn is a Swiss railway company that owns and operates two connecting railway lines in Central Switzerland and the Bernese Oberland. It was created on January 1, 2005, with the acquisition of the independently owned Luzern–Stans–Engelberg Bahn (LSE), and the Brünig line of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). The company has its headquarters in Stansstad.

From 2004, the Zentralbahn began receiving deliveries from Stadler of ABe130 SPATZ adhesion-only EMU sets for use from Luzern to Stans & Giswil, plus Interlaken Ost to Meiringen. SPATZ stands for Schmalspur Panorama Triebzug.

In September 2009, Zentralbahn AG ordered four seven-car electric rack-and-adhesion train sets (ADLER) and six three-car electric rack-and-adhesion train sets (FINK) from Stadler Rail. The first seven-car train was due to enter service on the Brünig route at the end of 2012. The six three-car push-pull trains will be used as expansion modules for the seven-car InterRegio trains, but can also be deployed on the valley lines. The ten new trains should all be in service by autumn 2013.