About this journey

Glovelier station sits at the gauge-interchange point where the standard-gauge SBB Delémont–Delle line meets the 1,000 mm metre-gauge network of Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ). From here, the CJ line — the La Chaux-de-Fonds–Glovelier line — heads west and south into the Swiss Jura, climbing steadily through the folds of the mountain range toward one of its highest cities.

The railway was built by the Compagnie du Jura industriel to connect the watchmaking industry of the Neuchâtel Jura with the wider rail network, and La Chaux-de-Fonds station first opened on 2 July 1857. That industrial purpose has defined the corridor ever since: La Chaux-de-Fonds remains the most important centre of the watch-making industry in the Watch Valley. The city sits at 992 metres in the Jura Mountains, and its distinctive grid street plan — laid out after a fire in 1794 — is unique among Swiss cities. Together with Le Locle, it received UNESCO World Heritage status in 2009 for its watchmaking urban planning. At the terminus, La Chaux-de-Fonds station functions as a multi-line hub, where the metre-gauge CJ lines interchange with three standard-gauge SBB routes. The journey moves from a valley interchange on the Ajoie plain up to this high, grid-planned city near the French border.