On the Zurich Seebach-Wettingen test track, MFO used the Ce 4/4 II locomotive to test electrical operation with single-phase alternating current.
Swiss Museum of Transport

DECISION ON THE GOTTHARD

The years passed, the rail network grew, but the electricity issue remained unresolved. It wasn’t until 1912 that things started to move. The Swiss Study Commission for Electric Railway Operation (Schweizerische Studienkommission für elektrischen Bahnbetrieb) recommended the single-phase alternating current that is still used today. The BLS started operating just a year later. The issue of the type of electricity used in Swiss rail transportation seemed to have been settled. Seemed, because with the outbreak of World War I the SBB suspended its planning works.

For Walter Boveri (1865-1924), co-founder of the BBC and a member of the SBB’s management board, the hiatus came at just the right time. He made use of the time and pulled some strings, so that in 1916 the SBB was planning a trial with direct current at the Gotthard, because three-phase current had not proved successful. This brought the single-phase alternating current faction out of its lair. This time, their argument focused not only on the price and the greater efficiency of electric operation, but also on the more secure operation with domestic energy and the greater value creation for the country. This argument hit the mark, because the scarcity and the high price of coal had made Switzerland acutely aware of its dependence on other countries. The price of coal had increased tenfold from 1914 to 1920.

It was clear to everyone that the decision on the Gotthard would point the way for the whole rail network, so there was no expectation of an amicable agreement. And this expectation was confirmed in 1916.

Kilian Elsasser

All electricity is not the same