The Canton of Bern attempted to make its own policy in relation to its railways. At the initiative of its Federal politician Jakob Stämpfli the Swiss East–West Railway (German: "Schweizerische Ostwestbahn", OWB) started building a line in 1857 - to compete with the Swiss Central Railway - between La Neuveville (on Lake Biel) and Zürich via Bern, Langnau im Emmental, Luzern and Zug, but without raising sufficient finance to guarantee its completion. In June 1861 it went bankrupt; the Canton of Bern took over the completed section from La Neuveville and Langnau and incorporated it as the Bern State Railway (German: "Bernische Staatsbahn", BSB), which continued building the line to Lucerne. The missing section from Langnau to Entlebuch and Lucerne was not completed until 1875. The concession for the Zürich–Lucerne line via Affoltern am Albis was taken over by the Zürich–Zug–Lucerne Railway (German: "Zürich–Zug–Luzern-Bahn", ZZL), a subsidiary of the NOB. Financial difficulties led to a series of mergers and increased foreign investment in the rail companies. French investment in Switzerland was also stimulated by an interest in Alpine crossings. Many of the original companies merged with the Swiss Northeastern Railway (German: "Schweizerische Nordostbahn") and with the United Swiss Railways (German: "Vereinigte Schweizerbahnen", VSB) in the east and with the Jura–Simplon Railway (French: "Compagnie du Jura–Simplon", JS) in the west. Despite the financial difficulties, by 1860 a continuous line extended from Geneva to Lake Constance, and by 1870 other main routes were completed. Steamers connected to the railways across several major lakes: Geneva, Neuchâtel, Thun, Lucerne, and Constance. Connections to the networks of neighboring countries occurred at Romanshorn (by ferries to Lindau and Friedrichshafen), at Basel by rail to the Baden Mainline and to the French Chemins de fer de l'Est, at Schaffhausen to the Baden Mainline and at Les Verrières to the line to Pontarlier and Paris. The Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) showed up problems of the private railway to cope with the need to move troops quickly, leading to the second Railway Act of 1872.