Brienz railway station

Geschichte

Brienz is a railway station in the village of Brienz in the Swiss canton of Bern. Brienz is a stop on the Brünig line, owned by the Zentralbahn, that operates between Interlaken and Lucerne. It is also the lower terminus of the Brienz–Rothorn rack railway (BRB) that climbs to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain.The station is served by passenger trains of both operators, and also provides an interchange with the local bus network provided by PostBus Switzerland. Shipping services operated by the BLS AG on Lake Brienz call at a quay adjacent to the station, linking to various lakeside places between Brienz and Interlaken. Amongst other destinations, buses link to the Ballenberg open-air museum, whilst boats link to the lower station of the Giessbach Funicular, which gives access to the Giessbach Falls.The station was opened in 1888 by the Jura–Bern–Lucerne Railway, as the western terminus of the Brünig line, with journeys to and from Interlaken requiring passengers and goods to transfer between trains and boats on Lake Brienz. The Brienz–Rothorn line terminus opened in 1892. Brienz remained the terminus of the Brünig line until 1916, when the line was extended along the north shore of Lake Brienz to Interlaken Ost, thus eliminating the need for transfer. Brünig line trains were hauled by steam locomotives until the early 1940s, when the line was electrified. Ownership of the Brünig line section of the station was transferred to the Swiss Federal Railway in 1903, and to the Zentralbahn in 2004.