Virtual Railfan Tour of Switzerland - Wednesday - Neuchatel Trams

The downtown Place Pury terminus

Since 1976, there is just one tram line left in Neuchatel, and only 8.9 km long. This is the interurban route to Boudry, which starts in the centre of Neuchatel directly on the lake shore at the central Place Pury, where transfers to various trolleybus and bus lines are offered. The trams are some 38 years old and the track was getting very poor in places.

However, in recent years indications are that the city has decided to upgrade the system somewhat.

At Porte de Serriers a new platform with a passing siding has been built

At Place Pury the track has been rebuilt

The Porte de Serriers station was so new that there were no signs to even show which direction was which

Boudry

Boudry

The ride was much better after the work on the track.  Rebuilding the track is fine but what about the old trams which were long life expired?

Last year there was news that the trams that had operated on the Trogen line out of St. Gallen had been sold by the Appenzellerbahn to Neuchatel. Picture above was taken at Trogen.

This picture of a former Trogen tram was taken in December 2019 ((Urban Transport Magazine)

There is a small tram museum but it has very restricted hours. On our last visit the tracks had yet to be reconnected to the rebuilt main line. The above video shows the historic trams

This video shows the line well