175 Years Swiss Railways
4 November 2022
At last, on 9 August 1847, 175 years ago, the first train carrying passengers ran on the Zurich-Baden railway (Canton Aargau) to the station in Baden.
The railway was named Spanisch-Brötli Bahn, because of a patisserie in Baden, so the story goes, that transported Spanish sandwiches quickly and fresh to Zurich.
Railway Station Baden, 1890. Photo: Staatsarchiv Baden.
Railway Station Olten, Paul Gugelmann (1929-2022), commemoration presented by the city of Olten to the SBB in 2006 on the occasion of 150 year station Olten (1856).
Olten, railway station. In 1856, the ‘zero hour stone’ was the starting point for measuring the railway in hours of travel. In 1875, the metre measure replaced the hour and the foot. Since then, it has been the Km 39.292 stone, measured from Basel, the seat of the railway management at the time. The stone continued to be popularly known as the ‘Kilometer Null-Stein’. However, the correct name is ‘Stunde Null-Stein’. The cross is a symbol for the central position of the station in the railway network; the ‘O’ is the hour zero.
Switzerland was 1848 last in Western Europe. The United Kingdom already had 10 000 kilometers of railway, Germany around 6 000 kilometers, and Switzerland only 2 kilometers, from St Louis to Basel, in 1844, as the last track of the Strasbourg-Basel railway.
The French Railway Station, Basel, 1845. Source: Ein Jahrhundert Schweizer Bahnen 1847-1847. Jubiläumswerk des Eidgenössischen Post- und Eisenbahndepartementes in fünf Bänden. Bd. 1, Frauenfeld 1947. Photo: Wikipedia
SBB Railway station Basel 2022
Disagreements between the sovereign cantons, the lack of coal for the steam locomotives, the absence of large urban agglomerations, and the mountainous landscape hampered construction.
After 1850, however, things moved quickly. Concessions had been granted to railway companies by the cantons. The federal government had no involvement.
By 1864, Switzerland had about 1 400 kilometers of railway. They connected Geneva to Lake Constance, Basel to Chur (canton of Graubünden), and Bern to Brig (canton of Valais).
However, the Alps were still an obstacle. The railways stopped at Brig, Lucerne, Chur, and Thun. Credit Suisse was founded in 1856 to finance these ventures.
Tourism in the mountain regions led to further steps to build, continue or operate the mostly unprofitable railways. The travel agency Thomas Cook was one of the advocates.
Collection Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen
The cantons and railway companies and later the federal government also relied on the experience and knowledge of foreign (especially English, German Austrian) engineers.
Moreover, the ETH in Zurich, founded in 1855, and later the EPFL in Lausanne, pooled knowledge, talents, and experience at home. The wonders and achievements of bridges, viaducts, and tunnels can be seen nationwide.
The federal government took an important decision in 1872: the railways became a national, federal competence (after the agreement of the cantons).
This was partly motivated by lagging behind France (the Mont-Cenis tunnel of 1871) and Austria (the Brenner tunnel of 1864). The Gotthard base tunnel was the result in 1882.
The federal government took over (often bankrupt and unprofitable ) railway companies in 1898.
The Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)/ Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses (CFF)/ Ferrovie federali svizzere (FFS)/Viafiers federalas svizras (VFS) was established in 1902.
By 1914, all regions of the country were accessible by train, and the country had the densest railway network in Europe.
Bahnmuseum Albula, Bergün/Bravuogn
Three regional private initiatives are particularly worth mentioning. The initiative to set up the famous Rhaetian Railway was taken by Dutchman Willem-Jan Holsboer (1834-1898).
Oberalppas. End of the railway
The railway station at 3 454 meters on the Jungfrau (4 158 meters) is another feat. The initiator Adolf Guyer-Zeller (1839-1899) began construction; his successors completed the project in 1912.
Dampflok.7, 1873. Photo: Rigibahnen AG
The 1871 rack railway on the Rigi by Niklaus Riggenbach (1817-1899) was also revolutionary
Another notable fact is the early use of electricity. Switzerland has no oil, coal, or gas. It made the country innovative in the Industrial Revolution, even visionary from today’s perspective.
The first hydropower plants for generating electricity were commissioned in the late nineteenth century. Steam trains disappeared relatively quickly. Since 1967, all trains have been running on electricity.
Switzerland also had its railway barons. Martin Escher (1788-1870) and Alfred Escher (1819-1882) stand out in particular.
However, the people and the cantons always had the last say in various referendums. The last two major projects are the Gotthard base tunnel in 2016 and the Ceneri base tunnel in 2021, completed on time or before schedule and without EU interference or subsidies.
Some other projects cannot be realised for the time being due to external reasons. The Rotterdam/Hamburg to Milan/Genoa direct rail link and the environmentally friendly transport of freight traffic on trains (1992 Transitabkommen and 1994 NEAT project) have been stalled due to delays/delays in other (EU) countries and EU blockades.
Lötschenbergbahn Kandersteg (canton Bern)-Goppenstein (canton Wallis)
However, the SBB and Switzerland have every reason to be proud of the operation and service in all seasons under almost all conditions, even if the timetable no longer always runs like Swiss clockwork on wheels!
(Source and further information: Bahn Extra, 3/2022, 175 Jahre Eisenbahn in der Schweiz. Geramond,2022).
Railway station Olten, Johann Jakob Speiser (1813-1856), founder of the Centralbahn.