The Jura–Simplon Railway (JS), (French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: Chemin de fer du Jura–Simplon) was a former Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 rail company, formed in 1890 and absorbed into the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 1903.

History

The Jura–Simplon Railway was a railway company, which was formed from the 1890 merger of the Western Switzerland–Simplon Company

Western Switzerland–Simplon Company

The Western Switzerland–Simplon Railway was a former Swiss rail company, formed in 1881 and absorbed into the Jura–Simplon Railway in 1890.-History:...

 (SOS) and the Pont–Vallorbe Railway (PV). Earlier in the same year the SOS had also purchased the Jura–Bern–Luzern Railway (JBL). Its network stretched from Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

–Biel

Biel/Bienne

Biel/Bienne is a city in the district of the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.It is located on the language boundary and is throughout bilingual. Biel is the German name for the town, Bienne its French counterpart. The town is often referred to in both...

 railway to the border crossings to France at Delle

Delle

Delle is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.Delle is the last French town on the railway line from Belfort to Berne, in Switzerland....

, La Chaux-de-Fonds

La Chaux-de-Fonds

La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city of the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometres from the French border. After Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of...

, Les Verrières

Les Verrières

Les Verrières is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.-Geography:Les Verrières has an area, , of . Of this area, or 46.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 50.7% is forested...

, Vallorbe

Vallorbe

Vallorbe is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Vallorbe is first mentioned in 1139 as de valle urbanensi. In 1148 it was mentioned as de valle urbe.-Geography:...

 and Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, as well as to Brig, Switzerland

Brig, Switzerland

Brig, officially Brig-Glis is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.The current municipality was formed in 1972 through the merger of Brig , Brigerbad and Glis.-History:...

, Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

 and Brienz

Brienz

Brienz is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.The village lies on the north bank of Lake Brienz in the Bernese Oberland at the foot of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain.-History:...

 with a route length of 937 km.

A year after its establishment, the JS presented a definite project for a Simplon Tunnel

Simplon Tunnel

The Simplon Tunnel is an Alpine railway tunnel that connects the Swiss town of Brig with Domodossola in Italy, though its relatively straight trajectory does not run under Simplon Pass itself. It actually consists of two single-track tunnels built nearly 20 years apart...

 and in 1895 a treaty was signed with Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 for the construction of a tunnel from Brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 to Iselle. Construction of this 19,803 meter long tunnel began in 1898. But during construction, the Jura-Simplon Railway was nationalised on 1 May 1903 and absorbed into the Swiss Federal Railways, which completed the Simplon Tunnel in 1906. The tunnel was the longest railway tunnel in the world until the opening of the Seikan Tunnel

Seikan Tunnel

The Seikan Tunnel is a railway tunnel in Japan, with a long portion under the seabed. Track level is about below seabed and below sea level. It travels beneath the Tsugaru Strait—connecting Aomori Prefecture on the Japanese island of Honshu and the island of Hokkaido—as part of the Kaikyo Line...

in 1988.