Closing the gap, electrification and year-round operations The rescue of the Furka Oberalp Bahn The Visp-Zermatt-Bahn survived World War 1 unscathed. Totally different was the situation of the Brig-Furka-Disentis-Bahn (BFD), which was not yet completed as at the outbreak of the war. The BFD was able, by 1915, only to complete the section between Brig and Gletsch, and in 1923 had to file for bankruptcy. VZ Director Auguste Marguerat then took the initiative to preserve the line as a whole, including the section not yet built. A syndicate was formed, with the support of the Swiss Federation and the Cantons of Valais, Uri, Grisons and Vaud. On 4 April 1925, the railway facilities and rolling stock of the bankrupt line were purchased for 1.75 million francs. On 17 April 1925 came the founding of the Furka Oberalp Bahn AG (FO), with share capital of 3.3 million francs. As early as 4 July 1926, operations could commence on the whole FO line as far as Disentis. The FO was initially operated by the VZ, and only on 1 January 1961 spun off as a separate operation. Closing the gap Brig–Visp The entry into operation of the Furka Oberalp Bahn revealed a disadvantage, namely the gap between the end point of the VZ in Visp, and that of the FO in Brig. Additionally, since the opening of the Lötschbergbahn in 1913 passengers arriving from the direction of Bern had had to change trains in Brig as well as in Visp; a circumstance that was perceived as cumbersome. Even as at the start of the 20th century, numerous projects for a metre gauge railway line from Visp to Brig had already been proposed. Most of them also envisaged a continuation in the direction of Furka or Grimsel, but in the end the only continuation to be realised was the later Furka Oberalp Bahn, with its starting point in Brig. In 1919, the hotelier Alexander Seiler applied for a concession for a metre gauge tramway from Visp to Brig, which, if built, would serve to open up the small settlements between the two towns. That project was terminated after the SBB stated that it would insert two halting points into its standard gauge line. As the SBB did not follow up this announcement, the concession application was resubmitted in 1925. Shortly afterwards, a committee comprising the VZ, the FO and the Lonza Group works