page_title: Trams in Bern
section_title: Electrification
hierarchical_section_title: Trams in Bern / History / Electrification
caption_attribution_description: Endstation Breitenrain zur Zeit der Städtischen Strassenbahn Bern (SSB). Das Bild zeigt die Situation des Breitenrainplatzes mit dem Läbchueche-Hüsli (Schweizerdeutscher Ausdruck für Lebkuchen Häuslein) als Tramhaltestellegebäude zu Beginn des 20ten Jahrjunderts.
context_page_description: The Bern tramway network is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Bern, the capital city of Switzerland. In operation since 1890, it presently has five lines, one of which incorporates the Bern–Worb Dorf railway.
  The trams on the network run on 1,000 mm metre gauge track. Initially, they were powered by compressed air, but from 1894, the air trams were supplemented by steam trams. Since 1901, the trams have been powered by electricity, at 600 V DC.
  The network is operated by a public transport corporation, the Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe Bern, which, since 2000, has marketed itself mainly under the trading name Bernmobil. The SVB also operates most of Bern's motor buses, and the Bern trolleybus system. Like the other public transport services in the region, the tramway network is part of the Tarifverbund Bern-Solothurn, which is equivalent to a passenger transport executive or transit district.
context_section_description: The development of urban tramway networks in Switzerland and abroad at around the turn of the 20th century did not go unnoticed in Bern.  A third line was planned for the Bern tramway network at that time, and it was intended to operate that line by electricity from the outset.  Electrification of the two existing lines was planned to follow.  There was opposition to the construction of overhead catenary, mainly from the residents of Kirchenfeld on the other side of the Aare. But at the ballot box, the electrification plans received the go ahead.  Equally as unsuccessful as the opposition to electrification was a simultaneous popular initiative for the retention of the Lufttrams on line I.
  On 1 July 1901, services commenced on line III. This led from Breitenrain to Burgernziel via the Zytglogge. For four and a half months, Bern had three types of tram traction at the same time. The opening of the Gürbetalbahn enabled the replacement of the city's horse bus services.  On the other hand, plans for the extension of line II were abandoned. The last day of operation of the pneumatic trams was 15 November 1901.  None of the pneumatically powered vehicles has been preserved, but the old Depot and a bus shelter at the Bärengraben continue to remind Bernese residents today of the Lufttram era. The Bärengraben depot was abandoned and sold three years later.
  In time for the winter of 1901-1902, the Burgernziel depot, which also still exists today, was able to be completed. Electric operations on line II were taken up on 29 January 1902. For that purpose, 24 two-axle and seven Maximum-bogied motor tramcars, as well as the twelve former steam tram trailers, were available.  The SSB remained the only Swiss tram company that bought the Maximum-bogied tramcars. In the course of 1902, the SSB also retrained the horse tram drivers from the city of Biel/Bienne as electric tram drivers, so that in the new year of 1903 a smooth transition could be made to the new form of traction.
  In the summer of 1904, eight short open tram trailer cars were added to the fleet. They rapidly came to enjoy great popularity. Unexpectedly, damage to the chassis frame occurred on two of the motor tramcars used to haul the open trailers, which operated mostly on line I. The damage was obviously caused by the Demerbe rails used on that line, and the SSB was forced to replace the two tramcars much earlier than planned.  At the end of 1905 came the first six axle enclosed tram trailer.  Between 1906 and 1914, 29 two-axle motor tramcars were commissioned in a number of separate deliveries. These new tramcars were stronger than their predecessors and were also no longer asymmetrical.
  Bern's fourth tramway, line IV, was the first radial route in the Bern tramway network. It ran from the railway station to Brückfeld.  Scheduled services on line IV commenced on 27 June 1908.  To cater for the  Eidgenössische Schützenfest 1910, line III had been extended during the preceding winter months to Papiermühlestrasse. In addition, four new two-axle tram trailers had been purchased.  In 1909, more than ten million passengers travelled on Bern's trams for the first time.
  In 1911, the SSB changed the routing of lines II, III and IV. The station was now the central interchange point. The line II trams ran from Weissenbühl to Papiermühlestrasse, those of line III from Länggasse to Burgernziel, and the trams on line IV from Wabern to Länggasse. With the opening of the Hirschengraben to Friedheim section through the Monbijou Quartier in 1912, the line IV trams could now run directly to Wabern without going through the Mattenhofquartier and Weissenbühl.  Since then, the Weissenbühl Friedheim section has been a non-revenue track. At the same time, a new network came into operation. The lines were now given Arabic designators:
  Line 1 (opposite direction: line 2): Bärengraben – Bahnhof – Friedhof (former line I)
  Line 3 (opposite direction: line 4): Weissenbühl – Bahnhof – Papiermühlestrasse (former line II)
  Line 5 (opposite direction: line 6): Länggasse – Bahnhof – Burgernziel (former line
caption: The Läbchueche-Hüsli station building in Breitenrainplatz at the start of the 20th century.
exif: {}