Verkehrsbetriebe STI (

Steffisburg Steffisburg is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2020 the former municipality of Schwendibach merged into the municipality of Steffisburg. History Steffisburg is first me ...

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

Interlaken , neighboring_municipalities= Bönigen, Därligen, Matten bei Interlaken, Ringgenberg, Unterseen , twintowns = Scottsdale (USA), Ōtsu (Japan), Třeboň (Czech Republic) Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and mun ...

) is a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

operator in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton of

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. It is a private company based in the city of

, and operates

services in that city, as well as routes linking

with the neighbouring

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

s and

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

including the

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

hubs of

and

. The company also manages the

Thunersee–Beatenberg Funicular The Thunersee–Beatenberg Funicular (german: Thunersee–Beatenberg Bahn; TBB) is a funicular in the Swiss Canton of Berne. It links a jetty, at Beatenbucht in the municipality of Sigriswil and on the shores of Lake Thun, to the village of Beat ...

and the Seilbahnen Beatenberg-Niederhorn.

History

Thun trolleybus 8 and trailer 23 at Thun Bahnhof in 1979

STI was formed in December 1911, originally as the Elektrische Bahn Steffisburg-Thun-Interlaken (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Steffisburg–Thun–Interlaken Electric Railway),Pearson, David (January 1982). "The Thunersee Trolley". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 122, pp. 5–14. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . and began carrying passengers on 10 October 1913, with the opening of a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

line between

and Oberhofen (via Thun), which was later extended to Beatenbucht and finally to Interlaken. Plans for road rebuilding led to the closure of the Beatenbucht–Interlaken section of tramway in 1939, but trams continued to provide the Thun–Beatenbucht service, STI's main line, until 1952. The Thun–Steffisburg tram line closed in 1958, and since then the STI network has been covered exclusively by

es.

Trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es, powered by electricity drawn from overhead wires, were used on the main line, Thun–Beatenbucht, connecting at Beatenbucht with the

Thunersee–Beatenberg funicular The Thunersee–Beatenberg Funicular (german: Thunersee–Beatenberg Bahn; TBB) is a funicular in the Swiss Canton of Berne. It links a jetty, at Beatenbucht in the municipality of Sigriswil and on the shores of Lake Thun, to the village of Beat ...

and with a

motorbus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

route covering the section to Interlaken. In 1982, the trolleybuses were replaced with conventional, diesel-powered buses. STI introduced its first night service in 1993, between Thun and Bern. Further extensions made to the network in 1999 and 2001 took STI buses into areas such as Gwatt, which had seen railway station closures.

Fleet

As of January 2014 the fleet consisted of 65 vehicles

Colors

Since its 100th anniversary the STI vehicles are painted in a light yellow and an anthracite.

References

External links

Official siteFerrovie, with images of STI vehicles
{{Authority control Bus companies of Switzerland Public transport in Switzerland Transport in Thun Transport in Interlaken