The Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn (LSE) is a narrow gauge rack railway

Rack railway

A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...

 in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 with a track gauge of . It connects Lucerne

Lucerne

Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...

 via Stans

Stans

Stans is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-History:Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the 2nd Century BC...

 with the resort of Engelberg

Engelberg

Engelberg is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Engelberg has a population of . , 21.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.It is the leading mountain resort in central Switzerland...

.

In 1890 the concession to build a line was given from Stansstad

Stansstad

Stansstad is a village in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-Geography:Stansstad has an area, , of . Of this area, 33.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 14.9% is settled and the remainder is non-productive .-Demographics:Stansstad has a...

 to Engelberg

Engelberg

Engelberg is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Engelberg has a population of . , 21.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.It is the leading mountain resort in central Switzerland...

. The opening of the Stansstad-Engelberg-Bahn (StEB) followed in 1898. It was electrified from its beginning, which made it at that time the longest electrically operated railway line of Switzerland. Because of the maximum upward gradient of 25% on the track section between Grafenort and Engelberg, it was decided to use three-phase alternating current. In order to avoid a level crossing

Level crossing

A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...

 with a rack railway, a balance bridge for motor traffic was established at Gruenenwald.

Brown Boveri delivered seven 52 kw motorcoaches, with wooden bodies and side doors to each compartment, between 1898 and 1900, numbered 1 to 7. They also delivered, between 1898 and 1913, five 4-wheeled 110 kw rack bankers which were used beyond Grafenort on the steep uphill section, to assist the motorcoaches up the hill. These were also numbered 1 to 5. All these vehicles survived until 1964.

The railway ended at that time in Stansstad at the Lake of Lucerne. Passengers had to continue by lake steamer or bus. To connect the railway with the national rail network in Hergiswil

Hergiswil

Hergiswil is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-Geography:Hergiswil has an area, , of . Of this area, 29.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 44.4% is forested...

, where the metre gauge Brünigbahn of SBB had a station, a concession was passed in 1956. However, it took some time to find the money to build the line to Hergiswil. To resolve the problems of old loans, a new company was incorporated in 1959, still named Elektrische Bahn Stansstad-Engelberg. In 1960 work on the Lopper tunnel started and on 27 August 1964, the last three-phase train reached Engelberg. The rack line was rebuilt to Brünigbahn standards and a new overhead line for 15 kV 16⅔ Hz was built. On 19 December 1964, the line went back into business as the Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn (LSE). The new motor coaches were built for the same maximum speed as the contemporary Brünigbahn motive power (75 km/h (46.6 mph)).

In 2005 the LSE merged with the SBB

SBB-CFF-FFS

Swiss Federal Railways and SFR are not in official use) is the national railway company of Switzerland headquartered in Bern. Formerly a government institution, it is since 1999 a special stock corporation with all shares held by the Swiss Confederation or the Swiss cantons...

 Brünigbahn

Brünigbahn

The Brünigbahn was, until 31 December 2004, the only narrow gauge railway of the Swiss Federal Railways . On 30 June 2004, the Swiss Federal Council empowered the SBB to sell the Brünigbahn to Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn , and this company was renamed to Zentralbahn.The Brünigbahn encompasses the...

 to form the Zentralbahn

Zentralbahn

The Zentralbahn is a Swiss railway company that was created on January 1, 2005, with the merger of the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn and the Brünigbahn...

. Formally, SBB sold the Brünigbahn to LSE which paid for it with own shares. LSE was subsequently renamed Zentralbahn and 2/3 of its shares are now owned by SBB.

In December 2010, the Grafenort - Engelberg Tunnel

Grafenort – Engelberg Tunnel

The Grafenort – Engelberg Tunnel is a railway tunnel built on the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn, part of the Zentralbahn in Switzerland.Historically, the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg-Bahn had a very steep 25% incline between Grafenort and Engelberg; replacing this with a more direct tunnel has shortened...

 opened between Grafenort and Engelberg

Engelberg

Engelberg is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Engelberg has a population of . , 21.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.It is the leading mountain resort in central Switzerland...

, bypassing the very steep 25% incline.

Stations

• Luzern
• Kriens Mattenhof
• Horw
  Horw
  Horw is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.-History:Horw is first mentioned in 1231 as Horwe.-Geography:...
  
  
• Hergiswil
  Hergiswil
  Hergiswil is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-Geography:Hergiswil has an area, , of . Of this area, 29.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 44.4% is forested...
  
  
• Stansstad
  Stansstad
  Stansstad is a village in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-Geography:Stansstad has an area, , of . Of this area, 33.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 49.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 14.9% is settled and the remainder is non-productive .-Demographics:Stansstad has a...
  
  
• Stans
  Stans
  Stans is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-History:Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the 2nd Century BC...
  
  
• Dallenwil
  Dallenwil
  Dallenwil is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-History:Dallenwil is first mentioned about 1199-1210 as Tellewilare or Telliwilare. In 1850 it was known as Thalwyl and it wasn't until 1913 that it became Dallenwil....
  
  
• Niederrickenbach Station
• Wolfenschiessen
  Wolfenschiessen
  Wolfenschiessen is a municipality in the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-Coat of arms:The municipality's coat of arms is Azure, a Wolf rampant Argent pierced by an Arrow in bend sinister Or. This is an example of canting where the name of the municipality is translated or represented on the...
  
  
• Dörfli
• Grafenort
• Obermatt ZB
• Grünenwald
• Engelberg
  Engelberg
  Engelberg is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Engelberg has a population of . , 21.0% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.It is the leading mountain resort in central Switzerland...