The Thun ship canal () is a long

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. Together with a navigable reach of the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

of similar length, it connects

Lake Thun Lake Thun () is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore. At in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton. The lake was created after the last gl ...

with a

quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

in the town of

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

adjacent to

Thun railway station Thun is a railway station in the town of Thun, in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. At the station, the Swiss Federal Railways owned Bern–Thun railway line, Bern to Thun main line makes a junction with the other lines, all owned by the ...

. The canal allows shipping services on the lake to serve the town and connect with railway services. It is still in regular use by the Lake Thun passenger ships of the

BLS AG BLS AG is a Swiss railway company created by the 2006 merger of BLS Lötschbergbahn and Regionalverkehr Mittelland AG. Its ownership is divided, with 55.8% of it owned by the canton of Berne, and 21.7% by the Swiss Confederation. It has two ma ...

History

Shipping services on

date back to at least 1834, when the first

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

was introduced to connect the towns of Thun and

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

, at each end of the lake. Originally steamers docked at Scherzligen, and in 1861 the Bern–Thun railway line was extended to a terminal there. In 1923, the station at Scherzligen was merged with that at Thun to create a new central station. Two years later, in 1925, the ship canal was constructed in order to retain the connection between trains and ships.

References

External links

*
Shipping pages
fro
BLS AG web site
{{coord, 46.754108, 7.632279, type:landmark_region:CH-BE, display=title Canals in Switzerland Lake Thun Ship canals Transport in Thun Canals opened in 1925