French–Swiss Company
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The Franco-Swiss Company (French: Compagnie Franco-Suisse, FS) was a former railway company in Switzerland, formed in 1859 and absorbed into the Western Swiss Railways in 1872.
The French company, Paris–Lyon–Mediterranean Railway (PLM) sought to connect its network with the Swiss network. To achieve this, it founded in 1856 with other investors the Franco–Swiss Company, and subscribed 40% of the capital for the construction of a railway line from Pontarlier in France to the Swiss border at Les Verrières through the Val-de-Travers to Neuchâtel.
On 7 November 1859 the company opened a line from Vaumarcus (extending the West Switzerland Company's line from Yverdon-les-Bains) to the village of Frienisberg, near Le Landeron on Lake Biel, part of what is now called the Jura foot line. A temporary station was established at a pier in Frienisberg for a link by boat across Lake Biel to Nidau near Biel, which was served by trains of the Swiss Central Railway on its section of the Jura foot line from Olten via Herzogenbuchsee.
On 25 July 1860 the line from Auvernier on the Jura foot line to Les Verrières on the Swiss border opened, connecting with and Frasne–Les Verrières line of the PLM. The construction of the line proved quite difficult requiring numerous engineering works. In order to achieve a maximum gradient of 2% between Auvernier and the crest at Les Bayards the line had many cuttings and tunnels. Four lives were lost in the work.
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