CH: Le Locle–Les Brenets line permanent closure date?

[Shinkansenfan]

I understand the short 4 km Le Locle to Les Brenets line is to permanently close and replaced by an electric trolleybus.

I'd like to ride this before it closes, but I'm reading different closure dates ranging from March 2022 to December 2024. Can anyone point me to an official (or reliable) source with the closure date?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gysev]

The electric bus (not a trolleybus!) should run in 2025 and the trackbed of the railway will be used by them. It was announced that the trains will run as long as possible. Work to convert the line will start in 2022 and should be completed by 2025. I guess the final day of operation will be announced when work is underway.

 

[30907]

The best I can find is "pour 2023" which suggests December 2022, but don't take that as Gospel! Of course, that assumes the railcar lasts that long...

 

[JRT]

The Federal Office of Transport, the Canton of Neuchâtel and municipalities prefer a new electric bus link between the station and the village of Le Locle Brenets. The current rail infrastructure will in part be adapted to create a dedicated bus lane. Commissioning in 2025 is targeted.

Link here (en français)

Nouvelles perspectives pour la ligne Le Locle – Les Brenets - République et canton de Neuchâtel

www.ne.ch

 

[30907]

The Federal Office of Transport, the Canton of Neuchâtel and municipalities prefer a new electric bus link between the station and the village of Le Locle Brenets. The current rail infrastructure will in part be adapted to create a dedicated bus lane. Commissioning in 2025 is targeted.

Link here (en français)

Nouvelles perspectives pour la ligne Le Locle – Les Brenets - République et canton de Neuchâtel

www.ne.ch

...which confirms what gysev has posted but doesn't give any indication of a closure date

BTW @Shinkansenfan it will be an electric bus not a trolleys.

 

[James James]

According to this report (published in July 2020, based on info from the government) it's closing at the end of 2023 (i.e. presumably together with the usual timetable changes that happen every December). I've seen the same date in a few other german-language sources, although you can never be sure if that means it's the actual date or if it's just misinformation being repeated:

Le Locle–Les Brenets wird 2025 elektrischer Bus

Les Brenets, 26.7.2020, Foto: M. Grädel Der Kanton Neuchâtel hat seit 2019 zusammen mit dem BAV und TransN verschiedene Zukunftsszenarien für die Schmalspurbahn Le Locle–Les Brenets untersucht. Die Varianten reichten von einem Umbau auf Normalspur bis zur Umwandlung in einen elektrischen Bus.

eisenbahn-amateur.ch

 

[30907]

According to this report (published in July 2020, based on info from the government) it's closing at the end of 2023 (i.e. presumably together with the usual timetable changes that happen every December). I've seen the same date in a few other german-language sources, although you can never be sure if that means it's the actual date or if it's just misinformation being repeated:

Le Locle–Les Brenets wird 2025 elektrischer Bus

Les Brenets, 26.7.2020, Foto: M. Grädel Der Kanton Neuchâtel hat seit 2019 zusammen mit dem BAV und TransN verschiedene Zukunftsszenarien für die Schmalspurbahn Le Locle–Les Brenets untersucht. Die Varianten reichten von einem Umbau auf Normalspur bis zur Umwandlung in einen elektrischen Bus.

eisenbahn-amateur.ch

Thanks. 12 months to lay the roadway sounds enough

 

[WestRiding]

Sad day when a train gets replaced by a crappy bus.

 

[johncrossley]

Sad day when a train gets replaced by a crappy bus.

It depends how "crappy" the bus is. If the bus is the standard you would expect in Switzerland it is likely to be high spec. It isn't likely to be like a British bus. If it is more frequent, more convenient and as fast as the train then it might not be a bad thing.

 

[Brooke]

It depends how "crappy" the bus is. If the bus is the standard you would expect in Switzerland it is likely to be high spec. It isn't likely to be like a British bus. If it is more frequent, more convenient and as fast as the train then it might not be a bad thing.

Indeed, if it was the UK, the train line would have been withdrawn in the 1960s and the bus would be down to one every couple of hours at most by now!

As it is there are two trains per hour, and presumably the busway will not have a lower frequency than that, given the expense of converting a dedicated route for the purpose.

Even after years living in CH on & off, as a Brit I’m still amazed by the quality of services that quite small places get here.

 

[zero]

Buses in Switzerland are anything but crappy, they are on the whole powerful and comfortable

Of course a train is more interesting for enthusiasts (and I rode the line in question last December) but I think I'd prefer a bus if travelling on it every day

 

[Austriantrain]

Sad day when a train gets replaced by a crappy bus.

The Swiss are prepared to invest tax money into railways in an amount unimaginable even in other continental countries, let alone the English-speaking world, but even they have a limit.

AFAIUI, this isolated line would need complete renewal (not just the trains, everything), which is unsustainable considering the low usage and the missing network effect.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The Swiss are prepared to invest tax money into railways in an amount unimaginable even in other continental countries, let alone the English-speaking world, but even they have a limit.

And Swiss buses are not "crappy". They, unlike us here in the UK, know how to do them properly and why integration is important.

 

[bahnause]

The train station in Les Brenets is in the wrong place. The bus might go further down to the boat landing in the future, this would not be possible by train.

 

[Robertj21a]

And Swiss buses are not "crappy". They, unlike us here in the UK, know how to do them properly and why integration is important.

Bus services in the UK are usually operated by individual companies who need them to be profitable. Abroad, many countries recognise that buses provide an essential service for many - and pay accordingly.

 

[Shinkansenfan]

I sent an email (in English) to the transport agency a few days after posting to this forum. I asked when the last date of train service might be.

No reply.

Perhaps I need to resend in French? Or find a better email address. Certainly someone at the agency must have an idea when the tentative last train date is? Or at least an approximate year for when train service will end?

 

[30907]

I sent an email (in English) to the transport agency a few days after posting to this forum. I asked when the last date of train service might be

No reply.

Perhaps no final decision has been taken

Perhaps I need to resend in French? Or find a better email address. Certainly someone at the agency must have an idea when the tentative last train date is? Or at least an approximate year for when train service will end?

The approximate year appears to be 2023 from the sources quoted.