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Pont–Brassus Railway

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(Vallorbe–) le Pont–le Brassus
Travys RBDe 4/4 568 384 push-pull train
in Sentier-Orient
Overview
OwnerTravys
Line number201
Termini
Technical
Line length13.26 km (8.24 mi)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius200 m (660 ft)
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Maximum incline2.3%
Route map
Vallorbe–Le Day–Le Pont–Le Brassus line profile
grey: SBB section
blue: Travys section

Legend
km
elev
SNCF line from Dijon
46.31
 Vallorbe
806.9 m
SBB/SNCF line to Pontarlier (until 1940)
Le Day Viaduct (152 m)
43.16
3.15
 Le Day
787.2 m
SBB line to Lausanne
9.4  
 Les Epoisats
former halt
9.52
high point of line
1018.3 m
Mont-d'Orzeires tunnel (431 m)
11.63
11.29
 Le Pont
SBB
PBr
property
boundary
1007.8 m
12.19
 Charbonnières
1024.8 m
13.26
 Séchey
1045.1 m
15.45
 Le Lieu
1049.6 m
16.6  
Pré-Lionnet I tunnel (37 m)
16.9  
Pré-Lionnet II tunnel (17 m)
17.90
 Les Esserts-de-Rive
1034.8 m
19.06
 Le Rocheray
1026.0 m
20.50
 Solliat-Golisse
1011.4 m
21.65
 Sentier-Orient
1012.5 m
22.80
 Chez-le-Maître-Ecole
1016.0 m
23.0  
 Chez-le-Maître
former halt
1016.6 m
24.46
 Le Brassus
Depot
1021,0 m
24.55
until 2008
Source: Swiss railway atlas[1]

The Pont–Brassus Railway ( Chemin de fer Pont–Brassus; PBr) was a railway company in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It built a standard gauge line from Le Pont parallel to the north shore of the Lac de Joux to Le Brassus. The line has been owned by the Travys regional transport company since 2001. Passenger traffic on the line is operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Trains run continuously from Vallorbe via Le Pont to Le Brassus. They operate hourly on non school days and half-hourly on school days.

History

After the electrification in the Vallée de Joux, the SBB used Fe 4/4 18509 to 18511 railcars, which were equipped with regenerative brakes because of the large descent between Le Pont and Le Day.
The two light-metal cars Bi 475 (centre) und Bi 476 (left, in VST uniform orange[note 1]) of Seetal class procured by the Le Pont–Le Brassus Railway in 1950 together with the SBB.

In response to a petition from the residents of the valleys in 1867,[2] a tunnel was built through the Mont d'Orzeires, which had a dual purpose, on the one hand it would serve the railway, and on the other hand, it would channel floodwater from the valley during an extraordinary flood. Lake Brenet used to drain naturally underground, although it now operates as a hydroelectric reservoir.

The Pont–Vallorbe Railway (Chemin de fer Pont–Vallorbe; PV) opened the railway line between Vallorbe and Le Pont on 31 October 1886.[3] As a result, the PBr was founded to extend the branch line further into the Vallée de Joux. Traffic between Le Pont and Le Brassus was started on 21 August 1899. The PBr had only passenger cars and freight wagons, but none of its own locomotives. So operations were carried out from the beginning by the JS and after its nationalisation on 1 May 1903 by the SBB.

The economic crisis of the 1930s led to a marked decline in freight and passenger traffic; operations with steam locomotives proved to be too unprofitable. For this reason, electrification was approved and was completed on 1 October 1938. Operating costs would be significantly reduced as a result. As the line continued to be managed by the SBB, the use of its power system was adopted.

Frequencies of passenger services declined markedly in the 1980s, not least because of the poor timetable. Therefore, the track has been fundamentally modernised and a new timetable concept with modern rolling stock (SBB RBDe 4/4) has been introduced.

The PBr was absorbed into a new company, Travys on 1 January 2001.

In 2008, the terminal station in Le Brassus was relocated during station modernisation by about 100 metres towards Le Pont. This shortened the total length of the line from 24.55 km to 24.46 km.[4]

Rolling stock

Model class Manufacturer Build year Source Quantity Scrapped Remarks
Class Number Total Current
Lokomotives
Re 420 503 SLM
BBC/MFO/SAAS 		1967 BLS (2013) (ac)1 1 ex SBB Re 4/4II 11119
Railcars
RBDe 568
RBDe 560 		384–385 SWA/SIG/ABB 1989/2009 2 2 NPZ RBDe 4/4 2184–2185
ABDe 538 316 SIG/SWS
SAAS/BBC/MFO 		1966 THB (2004) (ac)1 0 2018 ex GFM 171, ex MThB 16;
transferred to VHMThB
RBDe 567 (315) 174 SIG/SWS/BBC 1983 TRN (2013) (ac)1 1 ex RVT 105, ex TRN 315
Control car
ABt 39-43 984–985 SWP/SIG/ABB 1989/2009 2 2 NPZ
Bt 80-35 904 1964 THB (2004) (ac)1 0 2018 ex GFM 302, ex MThB 204;
transferred to VHMThB
ABt 80-33 (202) 375 SWP 1964/1983 TRN (2013) (ac)1 1 ex RVT 202, ex TRN 202
Passenger cars
B 20-35 (304) 504 SWP/SIG 1985 TRN (2008) (ac)1 1 «B Lego»; ex RVT 304, ex TRN 304
B 29-43 384–385 BT 2009 2 2 NPZ Inova
B 20-35 (301) 475 FFA 1965 TRN (2013) (ac)1 1 EW I, ex RVT 301
B 20-35 536 1981 BLS (2019) (ac)1 1 «B Lego»; ex GBS 780, ex BLS 780
Motor cars
Te 218 (301) 101 1946 SBB (1982) (ac)1 0 ex SBB Te 2/2 957; scrapped
Tm 238 (302) 102 1957 SBB (1989) (ac)1 0 2011 ex SBB TmI 420;
transferred to CTVJ (Tm 230 320)[5]
Tm 238 (303) 103 RACO 1992 1 1
Tm 238 (304) 104 1962 BLS (1997) (ac)1 ex BLS 61
Tm 238 (305) 105 1961 SBB (2000) (ac)1 ex SBB TmI 458
Te 218 (306) 106 1967 SBB (2000) (ac)1 1 ex SBB TeII 86
TemIII 329 1956 SBB (2012) (ac)1 1 ex SBB TemIII 329, parts of 356
ac= acquired from third-party stock (used vehicle); cv= converted from own inventory
Historic passenger cars
  • BC 11 (1875), acquired by SBB in 1914 (NOB BC 846, SBB BC 4296), abandoned in 1938[6]
  • C 21–22 (1899), sold to SBB for demolition in 1952[6]
  • BC4 65 (1950), from 1956 AB4 65, from 1963 ABi 65, from 1970 Bi 475, since 1984 in the CTVJ (No. 4420 red)[6]
  • C4 476 (1950), from 1956 C4 476, from 1963 B4 476, from 1970 Bi 4756, Since 1993 with CTVJ (No. 7476 brown)[6]
  • B 477 (1939), acquired by SBB in 1984 (B 50 85 23-33 008-8)[6]

References

Notes

  1. ^ The Verband Schweizerischer Transportunternehmungen ("Association of Swiss transport companies", VST, now Verband öffentlicher Verkehr) sought to improve the safety of public transport vehicles in traffic by having them painted a uniform orange in 1974.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz [Swiss railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2012. p. 28. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
  2. ^ L'assemblée populaire de la Vallée (26 January 1868). Rapport sur la question du percement du Mont d'Orzeires entre Le Pont et Vallorbes (in French). Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne: "Le 1er novembre 1886: les Combiers ont inauguré la voie qui les désenclavera en toute saison"". 24heures.ch (in French). 1 November 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. ^ Wägli 2010.
  5. ^ "Spitzmaus TmI 102 in Le Pont" (in German). IG-Schiene Schweiz. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e Dehanne 1997.

Sources

  • Dehanne, Michel (1997). Voies normales privées du Pays de Vaud (in French). Belmont-sur-Lausanne: La Raillère. ISBN 2-88125-010-6.
  • Wägli, Hans G. (2010). Schienennetz Schweiz und Bahnprofil Schweiz CH+ (in German). Zürich: AS Verlag. ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9.
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