List of narrow-gauge railways in Switzerland

Switzerland has an extensive collection of narrow-gauge railways, almost all of which are metre gauge and electrified with different voltages. Most lines have at least one interchange station with the standard gauge Swiss Federal Railways or Bern–Lötschberg–Simplon railway.

List of companies and lines[edit]

The cantons listed below are the principal areas of operation, but some lines may extend into parts of neighbouring cantons and countries:

Canton of Aargau[edit]

Aargau Verkehr operates:
- Menziken–Aarau–Schöftland line, formerly operated by the Wynental and Suhrental Railway. Services are operated as Aargau S-Bahn route S14.
- Bremgarten–Dietikon line, formerly operated by BDWM Transport. Services are operated as Zürich S-Bahn route S17.
- The company also operates services on the Limmattal light rail line since December 2022.

Cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen[edit]

Appenzell Railways, including:

Canton of Basel-Landschaft[edit]

Baselland Transport, including:
- Line 10 (BLT)
- Waldenburg railway - reopened in December 2022 after a 19-month conversion from 750 mm track gauge to 1000 mm gauge

Canton of Basel-Stadt[edit]

Trams in Basel

Canton of Bern[edit]

Allmendhubelbahn - funicular
Bernese Oberland Railway
Biel–Täuffelen–Ins railway
Brienz Rothorn Railway - 800 mm track gauge, not electrified and most trains operated by steam
Jungfrau Railway
Langenthal-Jura Railway
Langenthal–Melchnau railway line
Lauterbrunnen–Mürren Mountain Railway
Meiringen–Innertkirchen Railway - operated by the Zentralbahn
Niesen Funicular
Schynige Platte Railway
Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS), including:
- Zollikofen–Bern railway
Trams in Bern
Wengernalp Railway - 800 mm track gauge
Funiculars:
Closed lines:
- Trams in Biel/Bienne (closed 1948)
- Meiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht tramway (closed 1956)
- Steffisburg–Thun–Interlaken tramway (closed 1958, converted to trolleybus and later to a bus service)

Canton of Geneva[edit]

Trams in Geneva
Geneva (Chantepoulet) – Ferney (France) - Gex (France) tramway - closed in 1938 and replaced by a bus service

Canton of Fribourg[edit]

Transports publics Fribourgeois, including:

Canton of Glarus[edit]

Braunwaldbahn - funicular
Sernftal tramway (closed 1969)

Canton of Grisons[edit]

Rhätische Bahn (RhB) - the longest metre-gauge railway in Switzerland, linking Arosa, Disentis, Davos, St. Moritz in the high Alps, and Tirano in Italy with Chur, including:

Cantons of Grisons, Uri and Valais[edit]

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB)
- Links with the RhB at Disentis, to Andermatt (with a branch to Goeschenen), Brig and Zermatt. The line includes several sections of rack railway. The MGB was created in by the merger in 2003 of the Furka Oberalp Bahn and BVZ Zermatt-Bahn. The MGB operates the Glacier Express jointly with the RhB.
Furka Steam Railway - a preserved railway formerly part of what is now the MGB, not electrified and most trains operated by steam
Treib–Seelisberg railway - funicular in Canton of Uri
Altdorf–Flüelen tramway (closed 1951, Canton of Uri)

Canton of Jura[edit]

Chemins de fer du Jura, including:
- La Chaux-de-Fonds–Glovelier line, including the former Régional Saignelégier–Glovelier
- Tavannes–Noirmont railway
La Traction - preservation group

Cantons of Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Bern[edit]

Brünig railway line - operated by the Zentralbahn
Luzern–Stans–Engelberg railway line - including the Grafenort – Engelberg Tunnel, operated by the Zentralbahn
Pilatus Railway - 800 mm track gauge, operating in the Canton of Obwalden
Bürgenstock Funicular - Canton of Nidwalden
Sonnenberg Funicular - funicular at Kriens near Lucerne

Canton of Neuchâtel[edit]

Canton of Vaud[edit]

Canton of Zürich[edit]

Dolderbahn - rack railway in Zürich
Forch railway
Funicular Rigiblick
Glattalbahn
Limmattal light rail line
Trams in Zürich
Closed lines:
- Limmattal tramway (closed 1955)
- Trams in Winterthur (closed)
- Uster–Oetwil tramway (closed 1949)
- Wetzikon–Meilen tramway (closed 1950)

Trams[edit]

There are trams operating on nine systems in seven Swiss cities. Street-running tramways are nearly all 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in). The Chemin de fer Bex–Villars–Bretaye (BVB) in Bex is more of a mixed interuban light rail line connected to a rack railway but it does have some street running portions, particularly in Bex where the BVB operates along the right of way of a tramway system originally built in the 1890s.

City	System	Start of electric operations	Gauge	notes
Basel	Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB)^[1]	6 May 1892^[1]	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge	8 lines
Basel	Baselland Transport (BLT)^[1]	6 October 1902	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge	4 lines, 65.2 km (40.5 mi), 100 trams, serves suburbs
Bern^[1]	Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe Bern	1 July 1902	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Bex	Bex–Villars–Bretaye railway (BVB)	1898	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge	connects to rack railway in Villars-sur-Ollon
Geneva^[1]	Transports Publics Genevois	22 September 1894	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Lausanne	Tramway du sud-ouest lausannois	2 June 1991	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Neuchâtel^[1]	Trams in Neuchâtel	16 May 1897	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Zürich^[1]	Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ)	8 March 1894	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Zürich^[1]	Stadtbahn Glattal	10 December 2006

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Buckley, Richard (2000). Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria. Light Rail Transit Association. ISBN 0-948106-27-1.

External links[edit]

Swiss narrow-gauge railways

[buckley-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Buckley, Richard (2000). Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria. Light Rail Transit Association. ISBN 0-948106-27-1.

[1]