Swiss Central Railway
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The Swiss Central Railway (''Schweizerische Centralbahn''; SCB or S.C.B.) was one of the five major private railway companies of Switzerland. The SCB with a track length of 332 kilometres was integrated into the
Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...
(SBB) in 1902.


History

The SCB based in
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
was founded on 4 February 1853 by Johann Jakob Speiser, Achilles Bischoff and Karl Geigy. The shares were mainly owned by Parisian banks. But Basel banks and the cantons of Basel-Stadt and
Basel-Landschaft Canton of Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country, informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; ; ; ; ), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital city is Liestal. It is traditional ...
were also involved. The issue of
shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...
worth
Swiss Franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...
s (CHF) 36 million and bonds worth CHF 12 million were planned. Speculation on the Paris stock exchange, however, led to a sharp fall in prices. Thus, the value of the SCB shares fell from CHF 500 to 200 and the share capital finally amounted to only CHF 14.5 million. The cantons of Luzern and
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
and Bernese municipalities rescued the company by buying shares and subsidies totaling CHF 6 million. The main goal of the SCB was the construction of a railway network in the shape of a cross with its centre at . Its intention was to forestall
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
interests who wanted to build a line via to Waldshut on the
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...
bank of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
to Basel. The
Canton of Solothurn The canton of Solothurn or canton of Soleure (; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn. History The village of ''Salodurum'' was founded in the time of t ...
initially wanted to grant a concession only for the Hauenstein line to Olten. It wanted to ensure that a direct Olten–– line was built instead of a branch line from
Herzogenbuchsee Herzogenbuchsee is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. The population is 7055 (2 ...
to Solothurn. The issue of concessions for railway lines in
Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most nort ...
was also controversial because there was a fight between the interests of Basel and Zürich in this canton. Zürich and
Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...
planned a link via
Les Verrières Les Verrières () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel in Switzerland. History Les Verrières is first mentioned in 1344 as ''villa de Verreriis''. Jt was here ...
to France, competing with the SCB. The canton of Basel-Landschaft refused to issue a concession for a Bötzberg Railway, which caused considerable disagreement in Aargau. Nevertheless, the SCB finally received a concession for the Olten–
Murgenthal Murgenthal is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Murgenthal is first mentioned in 1255 as ''Murgatun''. The ''Herrschaft'' rights to the village belonged to the Counts of Frohburg until ...
and
Aarburg Aarburg is a historic town and a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. The small town lies in the southwest Aargau, in a narrow section of the Aare valley, at the confluence with the Wigger. It lies in ...
– sections. The section from to the canton border near Wöschnau was, on the other hand, given to the Northeastern Railway (''Nordostbahn''; NOB). The line crossed the Jura between
Sissach Sissach () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and the capital of the district of Sissach (district), Sissach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland. History Sissach is first mentioned around 1225-26 as ' ...
and Olten with gradients of up to 2.6% and passed through the 2.5 km-long Hauenstein Tunnel from
Läufelfingen Läufelfingen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sissach (district), Sissach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Läufelfingen is first mentioned in 1226 as ''Leinvolving ...
to Trimbach, Switzerland's longest tunnel at the time. Cost overruns and building delays of more than a year brought the SCB close to bankruptcy. CHF 4 million of investment aid from the federal government and bonds worth CHF 12 million from Basel and Stuttgart banks secured further funding in 1857. SCB was able to build lines from via and Olten to , , , and . In 1858, after the construction of the Schanzen tunnel, the SCB network was connected with the NOB network at Aarau. In 1860, SCB's network connected on the cantonal border near Bern with the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern Railway (''Chemin de fer Lausanne–Fribourg–Berne'') and on
Lake Biel __NOTOC__ Lake Biel or Lake Bienne (; ) is a lake in western Switzerland. Together with Lake Morat and Lake Neuchâtel, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies on the language boundary between German and F ...
with the Schweizerische Ostwestbahn (Swiss East-West Railway). In the same year, the
Chemins de fer de l'Est The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (, , CF de l'Est), often referred to simply as the Est company, was an early France, French railway, railway company. The company was formed in 1853 by the merger of ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Pari ...
linked its network in Basel with the Central Railway, giving the SCB a direct connection to the international rail network. In there is a stone relief documenting the zero point of the distance measurement of the railway lines prescribed by the Federal Government. From the starting point in Olten, the SCB measured line distances in hours. However, the stone never marked kilometre 0 for the SCB. When the old Swiss measures were metricised in 1877, the Central Railway changed the distance designation of its railway lines. Since then, the metric chainage of the SCB lines has had its starting point in Basel.


Workshop

The SCB built its main workshop at Olten station around 1855. This, in addition to the usual maintenance work, also produced new locomotives and freight wagons. The modern SBB workshop emerged from the SCB workshop.


Traffic development

SCB's annual reports provide information on the rapidly growing volume of rail traffic on the network. The capacity of the Hauenstein line, at that time the only railway connection from the Rhine Valley to the Swiss Plateau, proved inadequate after just a few years. The SCB was of vital importance for supplying Switzerland with imported goods such as grain or coal. As a result goods traffic was large and grew steadily. The improvement in the company’s financial situation, led to calls for further expansions of its network.


Railway crisis

From 1872, the
Swiss National Railway The Swiss National Railway (German: ''Schweizerische Nationalbahn'', SNB) was a railway company in Switzerland. The Swiss National Railway was created in 1875 from the merger of the two companies, the ''Winterthur–Zofingen Railway'' and the ''Zo ...
(''Schweizerische Nationalbahn''; SNB) tried to establish competition with the existing railway companies with a second rail link between
Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...
and
Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...
(''Bodensee''). Originally, the National Railway planned a line from Aarau via Olten through the
Gäu In the south German language (of the Alemannic-speaking area, or in Switzerland), a ''gäu'' landscape (''gäulandschaft'') refers to an area of open, level countryside. These regions typically have fertile soils resulting from depositions of loess ...
to Solothurn and on to
Lyss Lyss () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Seeland (administrative district), Seeland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2011, the former municip ...
. Along with the NOB, the SCB made daring commitments to build new lines to fight the competition. In 1872, the SCB entered into an undertaking with the canton of Solothurn to build the
Gäu Railway In the south German language (of the Alemannic-speaking area, or in Switzerland), a ''gäu'' landscape (''gäulandschaft'') refers to an area of open, level countryside. These regions typically have fertile soils resulting from depositions of loess ...
(''Gäubahn''; Olten–Solothurn–Lyss, now considered part of the
Jura Foot Railway The Jura Foot Line (, ) or Jura South Foot Line, is a railway line in Switzerland. It runs from Olten along the foot of the southern Jura range through Solothurn, Grenchen, Biel/Bienne, Neuchâtel, Yverdon-les-Bains and Morges to Lausanne. It is ...
), along with the Solothurn–
Biberist Biberist is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Wasseramt (district), Wasseramt in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. History Biberist is first mentioned in 762 as ''Bi ...
branch line (now considered part of the
Solothurn–Langnau railway The Solothurn–Langnau railway is a railway line in the Emmental in Switzerland. It was built by the Emmentalbahn (Emmental Railway, EB), which was based in Burgdorf, Switzerland, Burgdorf. The line runs from Solothurn via Burgdorf to Langnau im ...
). In return, Solothurn demanded the creation of the Waterfalls Railway (''Wasserfallenbahn'') from through the Jura to Solothurn and its continuation from Solothurn to Schönbühl near Bern. The SCB also committed to build a local railway (
Lokalbahn A ''Lokalbahn'' or ''Localbahn'' ("local line", plural: -en) is a secondary railway line worked by local trains serving rural areas, typically in Austria and the south German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. ''Lokalbahnen'' appeared at t ...
) from Liestal to Waldenburg and to participate in the Sissach–Gelterkinden tramway (''Sissach-Gelterkinden-Bahn''), including funding a third of its construction costs. The SCB increased its share capital from CHF 37.5 to 50 million in 1873 to finance the construction of new lines and the duplication of parts of the old network. When Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to Germany as a result of the
Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
in 1871, attempts were made to build a rail link from
Delle Delle () is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in northeastern France. Delle is the last French town on the railway line from Belfort to Berne, in Switzerland. The railway station in Delle is served ...
to via and Langenthal ( Jura–Gotthard Railway). In addition, the Bern-Lucerne Railway (''Bern-Luzern-Bahn''; BLB) planned a line to the Gotthard via Langnau. To defend against this double competition, the SCB began construction of the Langenthal–Wauwil railway. It would have connected the Olten–Bern and the Olten–Lucerne lines and significantly shortened the detour via Aarburg. However, the raising of additional funds was difficult due to the economic crisis and led to significant restrictions on the construction program. The construction of the Waterfalls Railway and the Langenthal–Wauwil line, in which CHF 3.5 million had already been invested, had to be abandoned. The payment of
dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...
s was discontinued and the net income of 2 ½ years was used to write off the construction costs of the discontinued lines. In 1881, the unrealised Waterfalls Railway cost the SCB the deposit of CHF 125 000 that it had paid for the concession. The construction of the Waldenburg Railway was left to a special undertaking. The SCB had more success with the joint ventures with the NOB. The SCB together with the NOB built the Bötzberg Railway from
Pratteln Pratteln (Swiss German: ''Brattele'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, located in the district of Liestal. History Pratteln is first mentioned around 1102-03 as ''Bratello''. Geography Pratteln has an area, ...
to from 1871 to 1875 and the
Aargau Southern Railway Aargau Southern Railway () is a former railway company in Switzerland. Between 1873 and 1882, the Schweizerische Centralbahn (SCB) and the Schweizerische Nordostbahn (NOB) jointly built a connecting line to the Gotthardbahn. The line was ope ...
(''Aargauische Südbahn''), which connected their lines to the Gotthard Railway from
Rupperswil Rupperswil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lenzburg (district), Lenzburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History A partially preserved Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman-era ti ...
via to , operated by the Central Railway, from 1873 to 1882. The opening of these two lines led to a decline in traffic on the Hauenstein line. The construction of the Basel Connecting Line also occurred in this period. In the Treaty on the Construction and Operation of the Gotthard Railway, Switzerland undertook to connect its network with the Baden Railways by rail over the Rhine. The Basel Connecting Line was built by the SCB together with the
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways Grand Duchy of Baden had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (''Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen or G.Bad.St.E.''), which was founded in 1840. At the time when it was integrated into the Deutsche ...
and put into operation on 3 November 1873. A year before, the section of the Strasbourg–Basel railway from the French border at St. Ludwig to the Centralbahnhof was transferred from the
Chemins de fer de l'Est The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (, , CF de l'Est), often referred to simply as the Est company, was an early France, French railway, railway company. The company was formed in 1853 by the merger of ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Pari ...
to the SCB under a federal decree. The ''Salinenbahn'' (Salt Railway) from Pratteln to the ''Schweizer Salinen'' (Swiss salt works) at Schweizerhalle was opened on 28 October 1872.


Recovery and nationalisation

The opening of the Gotthard Railway gave the SCB a strong boost from 1882 onwards. Both passenger and freight traffic increased strongly and permanently. The SCB received half the profits of the highly profitable Bötzberg Railway. Also, the initially loss-making Southern Railway produced abundant profits from 1882, half of which were paid to the SCB. As early as 1873, SCB was again able to pay dividends to shareholders, which reached nine or more percent of the capital value of shares between 1898 and 1900. These high payments to shareholders shortly before the nationalisation did not meet with approval everywhere. The railway crisis caused many domestic shareholders to sell their shares to domestic and foreign banks. The railway shares played an important role in speculation on the stock market. The new majority of foreign shareholders considered short-term
profit maximisation Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...
to be the main priority of the company. In 1887 and 1896, the management was replaced by a president who was more comfortable with the banks. On 30 May 1898, a group of track workers employed by the Swiss Central Railway was run over by a passenger train of the Northeastern Railway at the southern exit from the Gütsch tunnel near Lucerne. Seven railway workers were killed immediately and four seriously injured. On 4 June 1899, the Zurich– night express of the NOB ran past a designated stopping point in Aarau and ran into two stationary Central Railway locomotives. The accident caused two deaths and three serious injuries. In 1891, a banking consortium offered the federal government the majority of shares in SCB. The policy would have had a great impact on the SCB. However, a
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
was called to prevent the purchase because of its high cost and it was rejected by the voters. The nationalisation of SCB was only decided in 1898 with the adoption of the repurchase law. The Central Railway became the property of the Confederation in 1902 and became part of the
Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...
(SBB).


Infrastructure


Stations

Zentralbahnhof Basel 1861.jpg, Basel Centralbahnhof in 1861 StatioOloduniI.jpg, station, about 1860 Bahnhof Olten 1900.JPG, station, about 1900 Bahnhof Bern 1860.jpg, station in 1860 Bahnhof Bern 1900.jpg, Bern station, opened in 1891 Bahnhof Biel 1864.jpg, station, built in 1864 Bahnhof Biel-Bienne 1864.JPG, Biel/Bienne station, built in 1864 Erster Luzerner Bahnhof 1.jpg, First Lucerne station Luzern (5).jpg, Second Lucerne station built in 1896 on the left, lake bridge on the right


Network


Rolling stock

In 1882, the company owned 97
locomotives A locomotive is a rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for longer and heavier freight train ...
, 195
passenger cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
and 1609
freight car Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon types ...
s.


References


Notes


Footnotes


Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swiss Central Railways 1898 disestablishments in Switzerland Defunct railway companies of Switzerland Swiss companies established in 1853 Railway companies established in 1853 Railway companies disestablished in 1898