Aare Seeland mobil

The legal merger of the transport companies in Aare Seeland mobil AG had long been preceded by company agreements between individual companies. The Langenthal-Jura Railway (Langenthal-Jura-Bahn; LJB) was opened in 1907 and it also provided the operational management of the Langenthal–Melchnau-Bahn (lit. 'Langenthal-Melchnau Railway'; LMB), which was opened in 1917. The Solothurn-Niederbipp Railway (Solothurn-Niederbipp-Bahn, SNB), which opened in 1918 also immediately agreed to cooperate with the LJB. The LJB and the LMB formally merged in 1958 to form the Oberaargau-Jura Railways (Oberaargau-Jura-Bahnen; OJB). The cooperation with the SNB increased and the isolated Biel-Täuffelen-Ins Railway (Biel-Täuffelen-Ins-Bahn; BTI) began cooperating with the two companies in 1960.

The cooperation was put on a new footing on 5 April 1984 as a contractual agreement for a joint operation under the name Oberaargau-Solothurn-Seeland-Transport (OSST) between OJB, SNB, BTI, the Oberaargauische Automobilkurse (OAK), the Ligerz-Tessenberg-Bahn (a funicular railway; LTB) and the Bielersee-Schifffahrts-Gesellschaft (Lake Biel Ferry Company; BSG). OSST, which was formed on a contractual basis, became the de facto predecessor of the company legally merged under the name Aare Seeland mobil AG (asm). Before the merger, the OJB had changed its name for the last time to Regionalverkehr Oberaargau AG (RVO) on 2 July 1990.

In 1999, RVO, SNB, BTI and OAK merged retroactively into a single public company, usually called Aare Seeland mobil (asm), with effect from 1 January 1999. OSST partner LTB was also merged into asm in 2003, with retroactive effect from 1 January 2003.

The BSG continues to be a cooperating partner in asm, while being legally independent.

Rail operations

The oldest business division of asm derives originally from four railway companies, each with its own main line. These four lines had a total length of 57.76 km. Today there are two isolated sub-networks, each of which can be served by one service.

The lines of the former OJB—originally LJB and LMB—and the SNB have a length of 33.2 km, running from St. Urban via Langenthal, Niederbipp and Oensingen to Solothurn (Langenthal–Oensingen and Langenthal–Melchnau lines). The line is continuously electrified with 1200 volts DC and requires two changes of direction (Langenthal and Oensingen), with the Langenthal–Gaswerk (1.10 km) and Niederbipp–Oensingen (1.8 km) sections needing to be run over twice. Passenger traffic has been discontinued since 1982 on the 5.16 km-long St. Urban Ziegelei–Melchnau section. The line from Niederbipp to Oensingen was opened in 2012, although the LJB had already operated between these towns between 1907 and 1943.

The track of the former BTI (the Biel–Täuffelen–Ins railway line) is isolated and extends 21.19 km from Biel via Täuffelen and Siselen to Ins; its whole length is electrified at 1300 volt DC and it is in operation.

Bus operations

Asm's bus business is largely based on the OAK. It centres on routes in the Langenthal–Herzogenbuchsee–Wangen an der Aare (former headquarters of the OAK)–Niederbipp area, including routes of Stadtbus Langenthal (Langenthal municipal buses), which are operated by asm. From December 2008, a Niederbipp-Oensingen bus route was also operated that was intended as a trial for the extension of the metre-gauge railway to Oensingen. The Biel–Meinisberg bus route was taken over from Busbetrieb Grenchen und Umgebung (BGU) in December 2009. The Herzogenbuchsee–Solothurn BSU route is also partly operated with asm vehicles.