page_title: Trams in Bern
section_title: Interwar period
hierarchical_section_title: Trams in Bern / History / Interwar period
caption_attribution_description: Berner Bahnhofplatz Ende der 1930er Jahre. Der Umbau der Strassenbahn Motorwagen der Städtischen Strassenbahn Bern (SSB) von einem Lyrabügel auf einen Pantografen ist im Gange. Noch tragen nicht alle Motorwagen einen Pantografen. Im Hintergrund zwischen dem Empfangsgebäude des Hauptbahnhofs und der Heiliggeistkirche, steht vor dem Hotel Schweizerhof gerade noch sichtbar ein Zug der Solothurn-Zollikofen-Bern Bahn (SZB).
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: In 1919, the Bernese Gemeinderat debated the merits of two projects for the extension of the tram network. While the extension of line 1/2 from Bärengraben to Ostermundigen (with inclines at Aargauerstalden, Laubeggstrasse and Ostermundigenstrasse) was rejected for cost reasons, the Gemeinderat agreed to a line to Bümpliz. This line was compensation for the incorporation of Bümpliz into Bern.
  After the war, the economic situation did not improve much at first.  The SSB remained limited to only the most essential maintenance work. Nineteen twenty was the first year in the company's operating history to end in a deficit. In 1920 and 1921, a total of 65 people had to be laid off. The sale of surplus spare parts to the Lucerne tramway network brought in revenue of 700 Swiss francs.
  Between 1921 and 1932, the summer tramcars were rebuilt in the SSB's own workshop into closed all-year-round trailers. Some vehicles were used as testbeds for various modifications until, with one exception, they were all fitted with the large round platforms that were typical for Bern.
  In 1923, the network was extended once again for the first time in 15 years. With the commissioning of the branch line from the Effingerstrasse into Fischermätteli on 18 November 1923, the Bern tramway network reached a length of 18.2 km (11.3 mi). The branch line was the last new SSB line to be built for nearly a quarter of a century.  The new line's introduction led to a slight change in the network's operations: trams now ran from Brückfeld into Fischermätteli (line 11; in the opposite direction, line 12). The line to Wabern became a radial route.
  An application by the Bern–Worb-Bahn for permission to relocate its terminus from Helvetiaplatz to Casinoplatz (Hotelgasse) at the other (Bern) end of the Kirchenfeld Bridge was met with a negative response from the City of Bern: it feared that such a relocation would lead to a substantial deterioration of the traffic conditions on the edge of the inner city.  Instead, the proposal started a political debate that extended over the following eight decades, until it was finally implemented in the late 1990s.
  From 1924, trams made up of three tramcars were operated during rush hours for reasons of cost. In subsequent years, the SSB continued to incur no significant outgoings. Apart from the two extensions to Brückfeld and Wankdorf stadium, which operated only on special occasions, the main work the company performed on its tracks was maintenance work. As a search for cheap second hand tramcars in Germany, where the hyperinflation of 1923 had driven a number of tram operators into bankruptcy, did not produce the desired result, the company had to keep the 1901/02 vintage two axle motor tramcars in service by replacing the car bodies that had become rotten. Additionally, the Maximum motor tramcars were fitted with more powerful engines; the SSB thus hoped to extend their service life by 15 to 20 years. However, it was not possible to install track brakes in these cars, which is why they continued to operate mostly on line 3/4. From 1928, pantographs replaced the bow collectors with which the SSB tramcars had previously been fitted.
  Major renovation work carried out in 1930 in the Bahnhofplatz/Bubenbergplatz area changed not only the image of that part of the city, but also the line routes of the SSB. On the Bubenbergplatz, a large stabling area for trams (the "Blasermätteli") came into being. The station was robbed of its large entrance hall, and its front was moved to the back. The SSB took the opportunity to reorganise the network and introduced the coloured route panels still used in part today:
  Line 1/2 (blue): Friedhof – Bahnhof – Brückfeld
  Line 3/4 (white): Weissenbühl – Bahnhof – Papiermühlestrasse
  Line 5/6 (red): Länggasse – Bahnhof – Burgernziel
  Line 8/9 (yellow): Bärengraben – Bahnhof – Schönegg – Wabern (trams operating only as far as Schönegg ran as line 7)
  Line 11/12 (green): Bahnhof – Fischermätteli
  In August of the same year, the SSB received its first new vehicles for 16 years. These were two four-axle motor
caption: The Bahnhofplatz at the end of the 1930s.
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