Meiringen–Innertkirchen
MIB Be 4/4 8 near the Aareschlucht
Overview
Owner	Meiringen-Innertkirchen-Bahn
Locale	Bernese Highlands,canton of Bern,Switzerland
Termini	Meiringen Innertkirchen
Stations	7
Service
Services	1
History
Opened	1 August 1926
Electrified	19 November 1977
Technical
Line length	4.99 km (3.10 mi)
Character	commuter and tourist railway
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 1,200 V DC
Highest elevation	635 m (2,083 ft)
Maximum incline	20 ‰
Route diagram Legend km elev Brünig Railway from Interlaken Brünig Railway from Lucerne 0.00 Meiringen 0.16 former Meiringen MIB platform 0.65 Meiringen Alpbach (500 m to)Reichenbachfall Funicular 1.37 Aareschlucht West Kirchetunnel 1502 m 3.38 Aareschlucht Ost MIB 4.15 Innertkirchen Unterwasser Chiesten 63 m 4.44 Innertkirchen Grimseltor 4.99 Innertkirchen MIB workshops Source: Swiss railway atlas[1]

TheMeiringen–Innertkirchen railway line is a1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gaugerailway line in theSwisscanton of Bern. It covers a distance of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) betweenInnertkirchen andMeiringen, where it connects with theBrünig railway line of theZentralbahn company, which linksInterlaken andLucerne.^[1]

TheKraftwerke Oberhasli (KWO) electricity supply company built the line in 1926 to support the development of the localhydroelectricity industry. It began carrying passengers in 1946 and the KWO spun off a new company, theMeiringen-Innertkirchen-Bahn (MIB), to operate it. KWO sold the company to theZentralbahn at the end of 2020. The line serves a local transport role, as well as transporting tourists to the scenicAare Gorge.

The line was originally built as a construction railway to support the building ofhydroelectric dams in theOberhasli and theGrimsel Pass. It was built by theKraftwerke Oberhasli (KWO) company, which was founded to build and operate the hydroelectric plants, and it was opened in 1926. SeveralMallet-typesteam locomotives were acquired from theRhätische Bahn to operate the line. As well as construction traffic, the line also operated a limited passenger service for workers and their families. In 1931 a batteryrailcar was purchased, and a second in 1939.

In 1940, a military installation was constructed in caverns, which connected to the Kirchetunnel that by-passes theAare Gorge, as well as to the gorge itself. A train parked in the tunnel provided offices and other facilities for this installation. The caverns and connecting tunnels still exist, but are no longer used.^[2]

In 1946 the line received a licence to operate as a public passenger-carrying railway, and to this end the Meiringen-Innertkirchen-Bahn company was founded to operate the line as a subsidiary of the owners, KWO.

When the license came up for renewal in 1976, it was decided to upgrade the line drastically. The heavy, four-wheel battery railcars were harsh on the track and trackbed, and were at the end of their economic life. The line was electrified and electricstreetcar-type railcars were purchased. In 1996, a new railcar was purchased to run most services. In 2005, a second-hand railcar was purchased to act as reserve, allowing the former streetcars to be scrapped.

In 2003, the underground Aareschlucht Ost stop was opened, to provide access to the eastern entrance to the Aare Gorge.^[3]

On January 1, 2021, theZentralbahn took over the line.^[4]

The line begins at track 13 ofMeiringen railway station, where it is physically connected to theBrünig line of theZentralbahn company. Both lines are of1,000 mm gauge, but are incompatible electrically, and no through passenger services are operated. Shortly after leaving the station, the line crosses a level crossing and passes the disused former passenger terminus of the line, used until passenger service was extended into the main station.^[1]

The first stop on the line is at Alpbach. This is some 500 metres (1,600 ft) walk from the lower station of theReichenbachfall Funicular, which takes visitors up to the famousReichenbach Falls, the site of the apparent death ofSir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional hero,Sherlock Holmes. For many years, Alpbach was the point at with the MIB made a level crossing with theMeiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht line, atramway that existed from 1912 to 1956.^[1][5]

From Alpbach the line follows the north bank of theAare river. The next stop is Aareschlucht West, just before the beginning of the scenicAare Gorge or Aareschlucht. The line by-passes the gorge through the 1,502-metre (4,928 ft) long Kirchetunnel, which contains the underground Aareschlucht Ost stop. Both Aareschlucht stops link to the tourist walkways through the gorge itself.^[1]

After a further intermediate stop at Unterwasser, the line passes through the middle of Innertkirchen village, calling at the Innertkirchen Post stop, before ending at the KWO plant in Innertkirchen. Beyond the passenger terminus, the line continues into the KWO's workshops, where the line's workshops are also found.^[1]

• 
  The MIB terminus on track 13 at Meiringen railway station
• 
  Aareschlucht West station, typical of the line's intermediate stops
• 
  The unusual Aareschlucht Ost station
• 
  MIB car passes through centre of Innertkirchen at Innertkirchen Post
• 
  Railcar by the KWO's workshops at Innertkirchen terminus

Passenger services are operated once or twice per hour, seven days a week, with connections into and out of most trains on the Brunig line. Trains comprise a single railcar.^[6]

The operation of the Aareschlucht Ost stop is particularly notable, as the train stops within the tunnel, with its front door adjacent to a door in the side of the tunnel that opens out through the side of the gorge. The tunnel door is opened by the train driver only once the train has come to a halt. The stop is a request stop, and passengers wishing to board a train must press a button outside the tunnel door to request the train to stop.

Freight traffic is run as demand warrants, largely carrying spare parts arriving via theBrünigbahn for thepower stations.

Image	Numbers	Notation	Year	Notes
	8	Be 4/4	1996	New railcar built byStadler Rail.[7]
	11	BDe 4/4	1953	ExChemins de fer du Jura 604. Bought and rebuilt in 2005 as reserve railcar used when 8 is not available.[7]
	12	Gem 4/4	1952	Ex Chemins de fer du Jura 402. Rebuilt from De 4/4, with the addition of adiesel engine. Operational in 2011.[7]

Image	Numbers	Notation	Year	Notes
	3	Ba 2/2	1931	Battery railcar with 12 seats. Taken out of service in 1979 and sold to theDeutscher Eisenbahn-Verein atBruchhausen-Vilsen where it is numbered T46.
	4-5	CFa 2/2	1939, 1949	Battery railcars with 22 seats. Number 4 was put on display at theVerkehrshaus Luzern in 1982. Number 5 is on display outside the MIB's Innertkirchen workshops.
	6-7	Bem 4/4	1952	ExOberrheinische Eisenbahn railcars 63, 65 and 68. Bought and rebuilt in 1977. Railcar 6 was broken up in 1999 and railcar 7 was broken up in around 2001.
	9	Be 4/4	1961	ExRegionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn Be 4/4 74. Bought in 1997 for use as reserve railcar used when 8 is not available, replaced by 11 in 2005. Plans to restore it as a historic vehicle for RBS failed in 2007 due to the high cost of asbestos removal.[7]
	10	Tm II	1959	ExBrünigbahn Tm II 980. WithLa Traction since 2011.[7]

• Media related toMeiringen-Innertkirchen-Bahn at Wikimedia Commons
• Official web pages of the Meiringen-Innertkirchen-Bahn
• Video showing the reserve railcar 11 operating on the line
• Video showing driver's eye view of line from Innertkirchen to Meiringen

• Metre-gauge railways in Switzerland
• Oberhasli
• Railway lines in Switzerland
• Transport in the canton of Bern
• 1200 V DC railway electrification

• CS1 errors: missing title
• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Commons category link is on Wikidata