Appenzeller, S./Elsasser, K Pionierbahn am Lötschberg

100 years of the Lötschberg railway.
With the opening of the second transalpine line in 1913, which was to be operated electrically in the long term, the canton of Bern fulfilled its wish to be directly connected to Italy. For the financing and construction of the Lötschberg line, it had secured the support of France, which had a great interest in a connection that would bypass Alsace, which had been conquered by the German Empire in 1871.

In 1918, after the end of the First World War, hard times dawned. France once again had a direct connection to Basel via the Gotthard to Italy. BLS tried to increase efficiency with far-sighted technical solutions, such as the AE 6/8 electric locomotive or the Blue Arrow, and to generate passengers with innovative advertising. With posters, brochures, bookable slide shows and even a feature film, BLS pointed out the beauty of the landscape that could be reached with it. Nevertheless, the BLS had to be financially restructured several times, also because of the economic crisis. After the Second World War, the car transport from Kandersteg to Goppenstein developed into an important mainstay. With the skilful lobbying of the people of Berne and Valais in the 1990s, the Lötschberg base tunnel was also built and opened as early as 2007. Although BLS had to hand over long-distance transport to SBB, it now operates the S-Bahn in Berne. BLS-Netz AG is also responsible for operating the Lötschberg base tunnel. With the liberalisation of the railways, BLS Cargo AG developed into a new important pillar, which, in cooperation with DB, strongly promoted freight transport services in transalpine traffic. From 2002 to 2008, BLS Cargo AG increased the net tonne-kilometres transported from 870 million to 3.7 billion.