St. Gallen–Winterthur railway line

(Redirected from Winterthur–Wil railway) Railway line in Switzerland

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

St. Gallen–Winterthur railway

Thur bridge at Schwarzenbach with a Stadler KISS running as the Rheintal-Express: Wil–St. Gallen–Chur

Overview

Line number

850

Locale

Switzerland

Termini

Technical

Line length

57.1 km (35.5 mi)

Track gauge

1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

Electrification

15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary

Maximum incline

1.6%

Route map

Legend

elev

SBB line from Rorschach S5 and

SOB line from Romanshorn S1

AB line from Trogen

80.46

St. Gallen

669.6 m

AB line to Appenzell

high point

676.5 m

SOB line to Herisau–Wattwil

84.05

St. Gallen Bruggen

651.6 m

Sitter Viaduct (190 m)

AB line from Herisau–Appenzell

until 1913

86.38

St. Gallen Winkeln

654.7 m

AB from Herisau–Appenzell

line since 1913

90.13

Gossau SG

637.9 m

SBB line to Sulgen S5

Glatt at Gossau (110 m)

93.22

siding

623.6 m

chainage adjustment -0.01

95.33

Flawil

610.7 m

Uze (122 m)

100.94

Uzwil

563.8 m

Bühler industrial railway

103.23

Algetshausen-Henau

1927–2013

555.4 m

106.72

Schwarzenbach

former station

540.1 m

Thur at Schwarzenbach (166 m)

chainage adjustment-0.21

SBB line from Wattwil

110.62

Wil terminus of S1 S12 S35

570.8 m

Thurbo line to Weinfelden

line to Frauenfeld

113.83

Sirnach

549.4 m

117.45

Eschlikon

566.8 m

120.95

Guntershausen

since 1927

546.2 m

122.90

Aadorf

527.6 m

126.15

Elgg

507.0 m

130.51

Schottikon since 1930

486.1 m

131.84

Räterschen

475.7 m

133.92

Winterthur Hegi

460.9 m

SBB line from Rüti ZH

S11 S26

135.29

Winterthur-Grüze

452.1 m

SBB line from Romanshorn

S23 S24 S30

136.48

Schwalmenacker

since 2015

445.9 m

SBB line from Schaffhausen

S12 S24

137.81

Winterthur

terminus of S26 S30 S35

438.9 m

SBB line to Koblenz

SBB line to Zürich

S11 S12 S23 S24

Source: Swiss railway atlas

This diagram:

The St. Gallen–Winterthur railway line is a standard gauge railway line between St. Gallen and Winterthur, connecting the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Thurgau and Zürich. The 57.1 km (35.5 mi) long line was opened between 1855 and 1856 in four stages by the former St. Gallen-Appenzell Railway (St. Gallisch-Appenzellische Eisenbahn, SGAE) and belongs to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). It is part of the West-East main line in Switzerland.

History

Construction and opening

The Canton of Thurgau initially refused to grant a concession for the line on its territory, as the route would not have favoured Thurgau. The Swiss Northeastern Railway (Die Schweizerische Nordostbahn) operated the competing Winterthur–Romanshorn railway through the Thurgau.

The Winterthur–Wil–Thur bridge section at Schwarzenbach was built by Julius Herz. The Winterthur–Wil section was opened on 14 October 1855. The journey time was 40 minutes.

The line between Wil and Flawil was hotly debated. The SGAE applied for a concession for the easily-built route south of Uzwil’s local hill, the Vogelsberg, from Schwarzenbach via the Bettenauer Weiher and Oberuzwil to Flawil. Commercial interests preferred a route north of the Vogelsberg so that Uzwil could have a station. So the line was built with a tight S-curve on the edge of the Vogelsberg, where Uzwil station was later built. As a result, this S-curve is today one of the slowest sections of the whole line and the tightest curve on a relatively high-speed line in Switzerland. The Wil–Flawil section was opened on 25 December 1855.

After the construction of the Glatt bridge at Egg between Flawil and Gossau was completed on 15 February 1856, the line reached Gossau and Winkeln. Finally, the line was extended to the town of St. Gallen on 24 March 1856. For this purpose, an iron lattice bridge designed by Karl Etzel was built over the Sitter, the original Sitter Viaduct.

Further development

A train coming from Winterthur derailed in Vonwil near St. Gallen on 31 December 1879. The two locomotives came to lie on the left and right of the railway track and the carriages were pushed into each other. The accident caused two deaths and several were injured, some seriously.

The route became part of the Swiss Federal Railways on 1 July 1902 when the national railways were nationalised. Starting in 1903, the SBB duplicated the line in stages and electrified it in 1927 at 15,000 Volt 16 ⅔ Hz. At the same time, the Algetshausen-Henau halt was opened and the Bühler industrial railway in Uzwil was handed over to the company.

The Winterthur Hegi halt was opened in December 2006 as part of the expansion of the Zürich S-Bahn. Algetshausen-Henau and Schwarzenbach stations were closed in 2013.

Operations

In long-distance national traffic, the line is part of the West-East axis between St. Gallen and Geneva operated by InterCity (IC) trains. It is also used by international EuroCity (EC) trains (München Hbf–Bregenz–Zürich HB). In regional traffic, the line is used by InterRegio (IR) trains between Chur and Wil via St. Gallen (replacing the former Rheintal-Express, REX). In local traffic, the line is served by S-Bahn services: the S1 (St. Gallen–Wil, until 2018 with additional services in the peak-hour as former line S11) and S5 (St. Margrethen–St. Gallen–Gossau–Weinfelden) of St. Gallen S-Bahn and the S35 (Winterthur–Wil) of Zürich S-Bahn.

As of the December 2023 timetable change, the following services use the railway line:

Long distance

EC: Zürich HB – Zürich Airport – Winterthur – St. Gallen – St. Margrethen – Bregenz – Lindau-Reutin – Memmingen – Buchloe – München Hbf
Geneva Airport – Geneva – Lausanne – Bern – Olten – Zürich HB – Zürich Airport – Winterthur – Wil – Uzwil – Flawil – Gossau – St. Gallen
Geneva Airport/Lausanne – Yverdon-les-Bains – Biel/Bienne – Olten – Zürich HB – Zürich Airport – Winterhur – St. Gallen (– Rorschach)

Regional

Chur – Landquart – Sargans – Buchs SG – Altstätten SG – St. Margrethen – Rorschach – St. Gallen – Gossau – Flawil – Uzwil – Wil – Winterthur – Zürich HB

S-Bahn St. Gallen

S1 Wil – Gossau – St. Gallen – Romanshorn – Kreuzlingen – Stein am Rhein – Diessenhofen – Schaffhausen
S5 St. Margrethen – Rorschach – St. Gallen – Gossau – Sulgen – Weinfelden

S-Bahn Zürich

S12 Brugg AG–Zürich HB–Zürich Stettbach– Winterthur–Schaffhausen/Wil SG
Operates non stop between Stettbach and Winterthur; the lines to Schaffhausen and Wil SG are operated alternately at hourly intervals.
S35 Winterthur–Wil SG

References

Footnotes

Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz [Swiss railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2012. pp. 13, 14. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
Heer 2006.
"Die engste Kurve im Bahnnetz". Homepage of the municipality of Uzwil (in German). Retrieved 7 November 2018.

Sources

Heer, Anton (2006). Rorschach-St.Gallen-Winterthur: zwischen 170-jähriger Eisenbahngeschichte und Zukunft (PDF; 14.2 MB). St. Gallen: Sabon-Verlag. ISBN 3-907928-55-5.
Wägli, Hans G. (1998). Generalsekretariat SBB (ed.). Schienennetz Schweiz (in German). Zürich: AS-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-905111-21-7.
Wägli, Hans G. (2004). Bahnprofil Schweiz 2005 (in German). Grafenried: Diplory Verlag.

External links

Media related to St. Gallen–Winterthur railway line at Wikimedia Commons

Categories: