Bern-Lucerne Railway Company

Plans for a new connection between Romandy and Central Switzerland were developed in the context of the construction of the Gotthard Railway (Gotthardbahn, GB).

Alfred Scheurer campaigned for a line via Sumiswald, Affoltern, Huttwil and Willisau, but was defeated in the Grand Council of Bern in 1871.

However, many Emmental municipalities and the City of Bern showed little enthusiasm for subscribing for shares because they had already lost a significant amount of money in the failed Swiss East–West Railway (Ostwestbahn, OWB).

The governing council exceeded its financial powers and handed over a sum that went down in Bernese history as the Vorschussmillion ("million advanced").

On the other hand, the Canton of Bern, which attached great importance to the direct connection of the Bern-Lucerne line to the Gotthard Railway, resisted.

In the elections for the Great Council in the spring of 1878, the Liberals suffered a severe defeat as a result of their financial policies.

The operating results of this company were always in positive territory, even in difficult times, and allowed the canton of Bern to demand a respectable rent for the Bern-Lucerne line.

An original share of the Bern-Lucerne Railway
Steam locomotive B3T no. 424 of the Jura–Simplon Railways, put into operation by the Bern-Lucerne Railway as no. 54 in 1875
The entire share capital of the Bern-Lucerne Railway was lost when it went bankrupt in 1876, although a considerable amount of rent was paid to the canton of Bern from 1882 on.