Main > Reference > Switzerland  > BLS group        

BLS, or as their full name is, Berner Alpenbahn Gesellschaft Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon, is one of the "big" rail companies of Switzerland. It is privately owned, but the state SBB has a minority stake in the company. It operates trains on almost all normal gauge and normal electricity rail lines in the country, even visiting Germany close to Basel, but their "home ground" is the Lötschbergbahn route from Bern to Thun and Spiez close to Interlaken, up the valley to Kandersteg and then through the world famous Lötschberg line to Goppenstein, down to Visp and Brig in the next valley and further through the Simplonpass to Italy, Domodossola, where it connects to the Italian line to Milano. The Lötschberg line was opened in 1913 and it was a world sensation. For example, trains make full turns inside a mountain and pass one and the same lake three times at different elevations while climbing up the Lötschberg.

In 2007 BLS got in full speed a new and almost as sensational line: a new "flatland" line right under the Lötschberg route. High speed trains can now pass right under the Alps between Bern and Brig along the new route, at speeds up to 260 km/h.

Key services of the BLS group are: 1) they run the majority of the local commuter train services ("S-Bahn") of the Bern area, 2) they run a successful cars-on-train ("Rollende Landstrasse") service every 15-30 minutes through the mountain between Goppenstein and Kandersteg (and during the summer from Domodossola to Kandersteg) and 3) they run a big and lively cargo business in co-operation with the German DB Cargo/Railion/DB Schenker from Germany to Italy, both along the Lötschberg route and also along the Gotthard route. Although the state SBB is a part owner and has placed many of its own Re 465 locomotives in the BLS blue house colours and rolling the BLS services, BLS and SBB have also been bitter rivals for years. In 2001-02 it silenced at least to a temporary truce: BLS stopped operating express trains and express train coaches (e.g. between Basel and Brig or Italy) and handed over all their long distance coaches to SBB. SBB on the other hand retracted from the Bern area S-Bahn traffic and handed over that business to BLS as a monopoly. SBB also handed over all of its Swiss Express trains, including all EW III type coaches and a number of matching Re 4/4 II locomotives. These were all renovated, repainted and are now in BLS´ regional services, e.g. on lines Bern-Interlaken and Bern-Neuchâtel.

A number of other companies have been merged into the BLS group, most notably and recently the RM, Regionalbahn Mittelland. The merger of RM and BLS in 2006, together with the new logo (BLS adopted the old logo of RM) and new trains and livery have created a totally new BLS company, which has an almost monopoly position in the regional traffic around Bern and also a very strong position in cargo traffic. But many other famous Swiss train companies are nowadays also a part of the BLS group after numerous mergers. Famous names and acronyms include the EB (Emmentalbahn), LHB (Langenthal-Huttwil-Bahn), EBT (Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn), VHB (Vereinte Huttwil-Bahnen), SMB (Solothurn-Münster-Bahn) and BN (Chemin de Fer Berne-Neuchâtel).

These pictures still mostly portray the "old" BLS, but newer pictures will be added.

This is how the BLS AG looks like today. This Re 485 no 005 is the same engine as the German DB Br 185. BLS started in the beginning of the 21st century a cooperation with DB, got a permission for the DB Br 185 locomotives to run all way through Switzerland and then bought similar locomotives for themselves. They build now the backbone of BLS´ cargo services together with the little bit older Re 465 engines. This one is here running the "Rollende Landstrasse" or rolling highway lorry train service between southern Germany and northern Italy. Photographed at the Weil am Rhein station in Germany close to the Swiss border 17.7.2007 by Ilkka Siissalo
Uploaded 19.2.2008

There the rolling highway is rolling... The coaches under the lorries have surprisingly small wheels. Behind the Re 485 loco is a cabin/sleeper coach for the truck drivers. Photographed at the Weil am Rhein station in Germany 17.7.2007 by Ilkka Siissalo
Uploaded 19.2.2008

Just to show that the old iron from the early 1970s is still valid in 2007. A long container train being pulled by two BLS Re 4/4 I alias Re 425, on their way to Italy. The official painting livery of the BLS has since changed twice, but the brown, strong locomotives still keep on rolling. Photographed at the Weil am Rhein station in Germany 17.7.2007 by Ilkka Siissalo
Uploaded 19.2.2008

This was the beginning of a new era. The new low floor RABe 525, better known as the "NINA" for Niederflur-Nahverkehrs-Pendelzug (low floor pendeling commuter) was the first BLS train in the new painting livery. Built by Bombardier and Alstom, the 8 first ones entered service in 1998-1999, 6 followed in 2002, and a further 22 in 2003-2005. A three coach Nina (in brackets the equivalent figures for a four coach Nina unit) is 47,74 metres long (61,91 m), weighs 78 tons (96t), has a nominal power rating of 1000 kW (1000kW) and a maximum speed of 140 km/h (140km/h). A 3 coach unit has 16 1. class seats (32) and 136 2. class seats (159). Each unit has its own name; this one, the very first Nina 001, bears the name La Thielle / in German Zihl. All the names are listed on BLS´ own Nina train website.
Uploaded 19.2.2008

The BLS Lötschbergbahn Re 4/4 locomotive no. 179 doesn´t much resemble the looks of the later versions of Re 4/4. While the SBB was first time experimenting with direct drive electric motors on the axels, the BLS went on to thyristor technology and built 35 of these - that time - powerful locomotives in three series for their steep Lötschberg ramps. In fact these locomotives are among some of the very earliest to be based on modern thyristor steered AC technology, although their looks are almost directly from the SBB´s Re 4/4 1. series of the fourties. In comparison, in the neighbouring Germany, even the modern Baureihe 143 of 1980´s was still using old direct drive motors; these BLS engines were really ahead of their time in the seventies. They were first designated Ae 4/4 II series, but were later renamed Re 4/4, adding to the vast confusion of different locomotives with that same "name". This no. 179 is of the last BLS series, built in 1972. It is 15,47 meters long, weighs 80 tons, generates 4 990 kW of power and has a maximum speed of 125 km/h. Here it is leading an SBB express train bound for the BLS Lötschberg line and Italy. Usually it is mainly used with lighter passenger trains and car-on-train "Rollende Landstrasse" services along the Lötschberg - Simplon axle. In today´s new numbering scheme this engine is designated Re 425 no. 179. (In the old numbering Re means rapid and electric and 4/4 means that all 4 axles out of 4 deliver power. In the new numbering the first 4 indicates it´s a 4/4 series locomotive, the 2 indicates it is from second generation [number 1 would be the Re 4/4 1. series of SBB from 1948] and the last 5 indicates the owner, the BLS group). Photo at Bern station in June 1999 by Ilkka Siissalo
Uploaded 15.6.2002

An extremely heavy cargo train led by two BLS Re 465 locomotives in full speed between Basel and Bern, a fraction of a second before passing the photographer, on the way to the Simplon line and south to Italy. The Re 465 is a modification of the Re 460, the so called "Lok 2000", the pride of Switzerland. Re 465 is 18,5 metres long, weighs 84 tons and has a maximum speed of "only" 230 km/h. The difference between the original Lok 2000 alias SBB´s Re 460 and the 465 is that the 465 has been adapted for use on the extremely steep slopes of the Simplon mountain line; therefore it is slower but stronger. The company BLS, Bern-Lötschberg-Simplonbahn, has 8 of its own of these blue beauties and in addition to that the state SBB, part owner of BLS, bought 1996-97 a further ten (numbers 009-018; so this one we see is actually an SBB locomotive) and painted them in the blue colours of the BLS. The original painting of the Lok 2000 is bright red, as seen at the SBB Re 460s. Matter of taste, but I find the BLS blue more attractive. The stylish design of the locomotive is from the famous Italian design company Pininfarina. The picture actually shows a modern paradox: an SBB locomotive in "enemy colours" pulling a cargo train for the competitor of SBB: namely the BLS entered recently into agreement with Germany´s DB Cargo (DB Schenker) and these two are now together giving the state SBB a hard time by taking a large share of transit cargo traffic between Italy and Germany. This is a typical train pulled from Germany with BLS engines all the way through the Simplon pass. Photo at Herzogenbuchsee station Oct 1999 by Ilkka Siissalo. Uploaded 21.5.2002

Re 465 no 9 of the BLS, Bern-Lötschberg-Simplonbahn at Zürich Hauptbahnhof station ready to take an SBB passenger train across the Alps to Italy. The Re 465 is otherwise the same "Lok 2000" locomotive as the Swiss national railroad SBB´s famous Re 460, except that it has been slightly modified for slower speed ("only" 230 km/h) and higher power (7000 kW vs. 6100 of the SBB Re 460) for use at the Lötschberg mountain line. The first series, numbers 1 to 8, were built in 1994. This one no. 9, belongs to the second series, no. 9-18, built in 1996 and actually is not owned by the BLS but by the SBB, despite the BLS livery paintings. SBB ordered these engines for the so called NEAT transito traffic along the Lötschberg - Simplon - Italy mountain line, but lets BLS operate and maintain the engines. Picture in Zürich in June 1999 by Ilkka Siissalo.
Uploaded 15.6.2002

Glistening from rain, the BLS Lötschbergbahn Re 465 locomotive "Simplon" has just led an SBB express train from the other side of the Alps to the Bern station. Now it´s time for the state SBB to put their own locomotive once again in front of their train while "Simplon" will lead another train back to the Lötschberg tunnels and - Simplon. The picture shows well the famous Italian Pininfarina design of the "Lok 2000" engine. Basically the same engines have also been exported, most notably to Norway and to Finland. German DB was highly interested, but opted instead to create a new design themselves because of "the astronomic costs of the Swiss engine": about 3 times the cost of their Br 101, which made it "impossible to afford such luxury". Their cheaper new design became the BR 101, which today is the main locomotive on long-haul IC and EC trains in Germany. Photo in Bern 1999 by Ilkka Siissalo.
Uploaded 15.6.2002

This ABDe 4/8 number 751 of the BLS Lötschbergbahn is the first one built in 1964, in the third series of similar trains. The first series was built in 1945, the second in 1954 to -57. Ten years later BLS ordered a further four of almost exactly similar short distance commuter trains. The trains were designed for S-Bahn local commuter traffic around the capital, Bern. This third series from the sixties differs from the earlier ones by a "newer" front design which resembles the Re 4/4 locomotives of BLS of that time (see bls-re425-179.jpg). The electrical parts of these trains were modernised in 1977, which allowed for a higher maximum speed of 125 km/h.
The two-coach unit is 46,8 metres long, weighs 102 tons (sic! - _thick_ iron!), but generates a modest 1180 kW of power. The original ABDe 4/8 pair was designed in 1945. The idea was that these pairs could form trains which could be used for through-the-Alps traffic all the way to Italy. This was however never realised and the trains have been in valley line traffic around Bern. The very last trains of this kind were still in use on less-than-important local commuter routes like here between Reichenbach and Thun in 1999. These trains were pushed out of service at the arrival of the new "Nina" low-floor units. Photo at Reichenbach station June 1999 by Ilkka Siissalo. Uploaded 6.6.2002

Another view of the BLS Lötschbergbahn ABDe 4/8 no 751. This electric motor unit is a fixed two coach pair. The electric systems of these trains were built in 1964 and renewed in 1977, raising the maximum speed to 125 km/h. From three different series, there are 13 of these pairs, 10 of which were in 1999 still operating under the blue-white colours of the BLS. Three pairs of the oldest series from 1945 were already in 1999 sold to two other private railroads, OeBB and RVT. Originally, the trains were designed in the fourties to be retrofitted with a second drive system to accommodate also the differing voltage in Italy in order to allow short-haul passenger trains of this type to pass through all the way through to Domodossola in Italy. This plan was never realised, but it explains why there is plenty of empty space on the roof to accommodate a second aerial and coolers. Photo at Reichenbach station June 1999 by Ilkka Siissalo. Uploaded 6.6.2002

The RBDe 4/4 (or with the new numbering scheme RBDe 565) was built in three series between 1982 and 1991. It was in the 1990s responsible for the majority of BLS´s short haul services, especially in the S-Bahn network around the capital Bern. It is very similar to the RBDe 560 of the state SBB and in fact almost 1:1 identical with the prototype series of SBB´s trains, named NPZ or Neue Pendelzug (new pendeling train). Similar or almost similar trains took care of the majority of traffic on other private companies networks, such as EBT, GFM and RVT/Regionalverkehr Mittelland, SüdOstBahn, Bodensee-Toggenburgbahn, MittelThurgauBahn and others. Now the landscape has changed. EBT and RM are a part of BLS, GFM has a new name, BT is part of SOB and MThB is bankrupt.

BLS had 22 of these units. Just like SBB also BLS later retrofitted old aluminium express train coaches of the EW I series ("Einheitswagen" - a similar coach used by the majority of Swiss companies) to be used as extra coaches in the middle of the originally two-car units, but BLS and some other companies also later ordered middle coaches to exactly fit into the look and feel of the NPZ trains. This picture shows one of those later "tailor-made" middle wagons. The original two-coach unit is 25 metres long, weighs 69 tonnes, has a maximum speed of 125 km/h and generates 1700 kW of power. Photo of the "S2" line S-Bahn of Bern close to Belp in June 1999 by Ilkka Siissalo.
Uploaded 15.6.2002

Every major station has for a long time had its own permanently stationed locomotive in Switzerland in reserve and for swithcing work - a luxury which has been standard practise here, but almost nobody else can afford. This means that the country is still full of very small, most often electric locomotives, most of which are officially classified as rail tractors. This example, Tm 215 of the BLS Lötschbergbahn is a rarity - BLS only has this one - but almost exactly similar new locomotives were still built in the beginning of the 1990s for other companies. For example the state SBB has over 200 of the Tm II series engines which look very similar to this one, but now in 2008-2009 is planning to get rid of most of them by replacing some 200 with some 30 new.
The BLS Te 215 from 1925 (modernised 1956) is 8,13 m long, weighs 36 tons and has a maximum speed of 50 km/h. Photo in 1999 at Herzogenbuchsee by Ilkka Siissalo.
Uploaded 15.6.2002

Two "rail tractors" or small helper locomotives of the type Tm 235 of the BLS Bern-Lötschberg-Simplonbahn. The one in the middle, number 70, shows the original painting from years 1962-75, whereas the one on the right, number 68, has undergone a total revision during 1993-95 and is now painted bright red. These small ones weigh 9,1 tons, they are 5,24 m long and they can pull a couple of coaches at speeds up to 45 km/h with their tiny diesel engines. Photo on 15.10.2001 at Bern-Weissenbühl station by Ilkka Siissalo. Uploaded 6.6.2002

Closeup of the Tm alias Tm 235 (according to new numbering scheme) of the BLS, in the original state of the sixties, having undergone no revision. In Switzerland it is the habit that almost every station, no matter how small, has at least one small locomotive or "rail tractor" - as the smallest are usually called - always present, just in case. They are rarely used and then when they are, it is just a matter of moving or switching a wagon or two. The state railroad SBB usually has a bit bigger electric locomotives for this purpose, whereas private companies such as the BLS have settled for something as small as one can get. Few other countries can afford keeping tens of locomotives on every station just standing still, for just-in-case. Photo on 15.10.2001 at Bern-Weissenbühl station by Ilkka Siissalo. Uploaded 6.6.2002

Old history - RM, Regionalbahn Mittelland before their merger with the BLS

A real piece of history, the RM De 586-235 seen at Huttwil station 1.9.2002. Even in 2002 this train was part of old history and was only kept "just in case" as a reserve. Picture by Ilkka Siissalo, uploaded 20.2.2009

RM´s locomotive Re 436 number 115 at Huttwil station 1.9.2002. RM and before that the EBT were among those private railroad companies which owned Re 4/4 II and Re 4/4 III type locomotives similar to the SBB´s famous locos. The RE 436 is the same as Re 4/4 III, third generation Re 4/4. It was originally developed for the Südostbahn SOB but later also bought by some other companies as well. Today this locomotive can be seen in the colours of the cargo rail company Crossrail. Picture by Ilkka Siissalo, uploaded 20.2.2009