Travers–Buttes railway

The Travers–Buttes railway is a railway in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. It was built by the Régional du Val-de-Travers (RVT), officially the Compagnie du Chemin de fer Régional du Val-de-Travers (Val-de-Travers Regional Railway Company), which operated an almost 14 km-long Y-shaped RVT line from Travers via Fleurier to St-Sulpice and Buttes. The company merged in 1999 with the Chemins de fer des Montagnes Neuchâteloises (Railways of the mountains of Neuchâtel, CMN) and the Transports du Val-de-Ruz (VR) to form the Transports Régionaux Neuchâtelois (Neuchâtel Regional Transport, TRN).

Travers–Buttes
Fleurier station
Overview
Line number221
TerminiTravers
Buttes
Technical
Line length13.59 km (8.44 mi)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Maximum incline1.5%
Route map

km
0.00
Travers
749 m
SBB line to Pontarlier
2.24
La Presta
730 m
4.02
Couvet RVT
735 m
6.42
Môtiers
735 m
8.85
Fleurier
741 m
Depot and workshop
Passenger traffic closed in 1973
10.46
St-Sulpice
750 m
Depot of the
Vapeur Val-de-Travers (VVT)
11.98
Buttes
770 m
Source: Swiss railway atlas[1]

History

The Compagnie du Chemin de fer régional du Val-de-Travers was founded in Fleurier in 1881 with the aim of providing rail access to the villages in the Val de Travers.

Although the Franco-Swiss Company (Compagnie Franco-Suisse) had already opened a railway line through the Val-de-Travers on 25 July 1860, this ran through the higher ground of the valley of Les Verrières and on to Pontarlier. In order to reach the necessary altitude, the line was built from Travers on a hillside, far from the settlements on the valley floor. The line of the Régional du Val-de-Travers was therefore built largely parallel to that of the Franco-Suisse and ran on the valley floor from Travers. The Travers–Fleurier railway was opened to St-Sulpice (the seat of the company and the location of the depot) on 24 September 1883. The Fleurier–Buttes railway was opened on 11 September 1886.

When the RVT was founded, the Franco-Suisse already had changed its name for the second time due to mergers and was called the Jura–Simplon Railways (Jura-Simplon-Bahn, JS) when it was nationalised to become part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 1903, but the RVT still retained its original name.

The shortage of coal during the Second World War led to the virtual complete electrification of the Swiss railway network. Travers station lies on the (Neuchâtel–)Auvernier–Les Verrières route, on which was electrification was completed on 22 November 1942. The RVT adopted the SBB electrification system (15 kV 16⅔ Hz) and began electrical operations on its line on 4 May 1944. The final step to electric traction was marked at the RVT with the demolition of its last steam locomotive in 1951.

On the basis of the so-called Privatbahnhilfegesetz (private railway assistance act), the rolling stock was renewed around 1965. In accordance with the concept for standardized types of rolling stock developed by the Federal Office of Transport (EAV) and the Swiss rolling stock industry, the RVT procured a so-called EAV-Triebwagen ("EAV railcar", which was numbered 103), three matching control cars (201–203) and two standard cars, class 1 (Einheitswagen I, nos 301–302), that made possible the operation of push-pull trains.

Passenger operations on the more than 1.6 kilometre-long Fleurier–St-Sulpice section was finally abandoned on 2 June 1973 and they were replaced by a bus route. Since then the former branch line to Buttes has formed the last part of the RVT main line. The line to St-Sulpice, where an RVT carriage shed once stood, was officially retained for goods traffic and service traffic. The catenary was dismantled in 2001.

The disused section was revived for its 100th anniversary in 1983 to carry nostalgic trips, which benefitted from the founding of the Vapeur Val-de-Travers (VVT) steam railway club in 1984. The VVT now maintains the depot at the end of the line in St-Sulpice and uses the line for steam rides. The concession for the Fleurier–St-Sulpice section was transferred to the Vapeur Val-de-Travers in 2012.

Parallel with the gradually introduction of the integrated regular interval timetable starting from 1980, two new railcars were procured, which corresponded to those of the new BLS push-pull trains and were procured for cost reasons by various private railways in pooled orders. Two Privatbahn-NPZ railcars (Neuer Pendelzug—"new push-pull train"—for private railways; 104–105) with two driver's cabs, which were delivered in 1983, replaced the 1965 EAV railcar 103, which was sold to the Martigny–Orsières Railway (Chemins de fer Martigny–Orsières; MO), but the EAV control cars (202–203) were reused with the new railcars.

Between 1985 and 1991, additional rolling stock was procured, including two newer Privatbahn-NPZ sets (106–107) with only one cab, three matching control cars (204–206) and four new intermediate cars (304–307). The RABDe 104 was sold to the Gruyère–Fribourg–Morat Railway (Chemins de fer fribourgeois Gruyère–Fribourg–Morat; GFM). In 1991, BLS sold its three ABDe 4/8 railcars (741–743) to the Oensingen-Balsthal Railway (Oensingen-Balsthal-Bahn; OeBB), which in turn sold no. 743 to the RVT in 1994, which renumbered it 313 under a new numbering scheme.

In 1999, RVT was merged with neighbouring companies, in which the canton of Neuchâtel also held considerable holdings—the Chemins de fer des Montagnes Neuchâteloises (CMN) railway company and the Compagnie des Transports du Val-de-Ruz (VR) bus company, formerly the Régional du Val-de-Ruz (VR) railway company, to form the Transports Régionaux Neuchâtelois ("Neuchâtel Regional Transport"; TRN).

Rolling stock

The RVT tended to match its rolling stock purchases with that of the neighbouring standard-gauge private railways. Some rolling stock therefore either formed part of follow-up orders, originate from joint orders coordinated by the Federal Office of Transport or were "exchanged" with other companies.

Model class Manufacturer Build year Origin Quantity Scrapped Remarks
Class Number total current
Locomotives
Be 4/4 (301)0001 ACMV/SAAS 1952 1 hist.001 Historical stock
Rail cars
BCFe 2/4
ABDe 2/4
(311)0101 SWS/BBC 1944 2 hist.001 2006 Dismantled
(312)0102 1945 Historical vehicle
ABDe 4/4 103 SIG/SWS
SAAS/BBC/MFO
1965 1 0 1983 EAV railcars; sold to MO
ABDe 537 313 SIG/SAAS 1946 BN (1994) (used) 01 0 2005 "Blauer Pfeil"; ex BN 743; donated
RABDe 4/4 104 SIG/SWS/BBC 1983 2 0 1991 KTU-NPZ; sold to GFM
(315)0105 2013 KTU-NPZ; sold to Travys
RBDe 4/4 (316)0106 1985 2 1 KTU-NPZ; rented to TPF (2004–2013)
(317)0107 1991 2018 KTU-NPZ; sold to DSF
RABe 527 321–322 BT/Alstom 2002–2003 1 0 2008–2009 Nina; sold to BLS
RABe 527 331 STAG 2007 3 3 Flirt
332–333 2009
Control cars
Bt 201 SWP 1964 3 0 1985 EAV (EW I); sold to MO
202 1964/1983 2013 EAV (EW I); sold to Travys
203 1992 EAV (EW I); sold to GFM
ABt 204 1985 3 1 KTU-NPZ; rented to TPF (2004–2013)
205 1991 2018 KTU-NPZ; sold to DSF
206 2006 KTU-NPZ; sold to TPF
Passenger carriages
B 301 FFA 1965 2 1 2013 EW I; sold to Travys
302 1965/2005 EW I; rebuilt as B Jumbo
B 304 SWP/SIG 1985 4 1 2008 "B Lego"; sold / sold/rented to Travys?
305–306 1992 2018 "B Lego"; sold to DSF
307 "B Lego"
Shunting locomotives
Te 4/4 11 SWS/BBC 1910/1949 MO (1966) (used)001 0 1978 ex MO BCFe 4/4 1; transferred to CJ
used= used vehicle acquired from third party
ABDe 2/4 101 in Couvet
Historic push-pull train between Môtiers and Couvet (1984)

References

  1. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz [Swiss railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2012. pp. 15, 17. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.


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