Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway
Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minimum radius | 25 metres (82 ft) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification |
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Maximum incline | 8.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway, also known as the Durchmesserlinie (diameter line), is a
S20, S21, S22 routes
St. Gallen S-Bahn services S20, S21 and S22 use the Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway line. Their routes and operations are as follows:[4][5]
S20 Trogen – St. Gallen – Teufen AR – Appenzell (peak-hour only; only calls at Niederteufen, Teufen AR and Bühler between St. Gallen and Gais)
S21 Trogen – St. Gallen – Teufen AR – Appenzell
S22 Trogen – St. Gallen – Teufen AR (peak-hour only)
- Trogen
- Gfend (stops only on request)
- Bendlehn (stops only on request)
- Speicher
- Schützengarten (stops only on request)
- Vögelinsegg (stops only on request)
- Rank (stops only on request)
- Schwarzer Bären (stops only on request)
- St. Gallen Noktersegg (stops only on request)
- St. Gallen Birnbäumen (stops only on request)
- St. Gallen Schülerhaus (stops only on request)
- St. Gallen Spisertor (stops only on request)
- St. Gallen Marktplatz (stops only on request)
- St. Gallen
- St. Gallen Güterbahnhof (stops only on request)
- St. Gallen Riethüsli (stops only on request)
- Liebegg (stops only on request)
- Lustmühle (stops only on request)
- Niederteufen (stops only on request)
- Sternen bei Teufen (stops only on request)
- Teufen AR Stofel (stops only on request)
- Teufen AR
- Steigbach (stops only on request)
- Bühler
- Strahlholz (stops only on request)
- Zweibrücken (stops only on request)
- Gais
- Sammelplatz (stops only on request)
- Hirschberg (stops only on request)
- Appenzell
History
St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell railway
The former St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell-Altstätten-Bahn (St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell-Altstätten Railway, ASt) opened the line from St. Gallen to Gais, popularly known as the Gaiserbahn, on 1 October 1889. The continuation from Gais to Appenzell followed on 1 July 1904. The route had seven rack sections using the Riggenbach-Klose system with a total length of 4.9 kilometres (3.0 mi).
Electrical operations at 1500 V DC commenced on 23 January 1931 and its name was changed to St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell-Bahn (SGA). The difficult line with tight bends demanded new design solutions to enable the BCFeh 4/4 electric railcars to operate over both adhesion and rack sections. Between 1978 and 1983, five of the six rack sections were replaced by new track allowing adhesion operations. All that remained was the nearly one kilometre-long rack section through the Ruckhalde landscape between St. Gallen and Riethüsli.[6]
Trogen Railway
The St. Gallen–Trogen railway (Trogenerbahn, TB) was opened on 10 July 1903. Originally, the line was electrified at 750 volts DC. The voltage was increased to 900 volts in 1921 and finally to 1000 volts in 1928 with the replacement of the converter group in Speicher by a fully automatic mercury vapour rectifier plant.[7][8] In the city of St. Gallen, the trains ran on the tracks of the St. Gallen Tramway, which was closed in 1957. Because of the intersections with the city trolleybuses, the contact wire voltage is still only 600 volts.[9]
Despite the modest length of its operations, the Trogen Railway has been preserved. The line, which originally ran almost completely on
Cross-city line
Since the 1970s, tunnels between St. Gallen and the suburb of Riethüsli have been planned to eliminate the last rack section between St. Gallen and Appenzell. All these projects failed on cost grounds. After the
The Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen cross-city line became a key strategic project of Appenzell Railways. The required work was subdivided into five sub-projects, of which the St. Gallen station–Riethüsli section, including the proposed Ruckhalde Tunnel, which was approximately 700-metre (2,296 ft 7 in)-long, was the most complex and largest. Apart from the construction of the new track, further work was necessary. Thus, the overhead line voltage was raised to 1500 V; previously it had been 1000 V on the Trogen Railway and 1500 V on the St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell Railway.[12] Teufen station received a third platform track, so that besides the crossings of the regular interval services, trains can reverse there in the peak. The siding to St. Gallen AB station was replaced by a crossover and the double track was extended from the Rathaus (town hall) to the St. Leonhard bridge. In order to simplify operation, the seven signal boxes between Niederteufen and Trogen have been replaced by two new systems, which contain components of the SiGrid interlocking architecture, developed by Siemens.[13] SiGrid connects the external facilities with the interlocking and supplies it with 750 Volt DC power.[14]
The cross-city line brings significant improvements to passengers: in addition to the 15-minute cycle between St. Gallen and Teufen, connections to Intercity trains to and from Zürich have been improved. The elimination of the technically complex and expensive to operate rack section in the Ruckhalde has made it possible to use the newly acquired Tango (class ABe 8/12) low-floor trains, which are more comfortable and quieter, but also more cost-effective. The Ruckhalde Tunnel route eliminated the need for six level crossings, which has significantly increased traffic safety in the Riethüsli district.[11]
The construction began in the spring of 2016. The cantons of
Siemens used an interruption of operations to operate a digital interlocking for the first time anywhere in the world in September 2018. The signal box was operated from a Siemens location in Wallisellen on a trial basis via a public data network.[18]
Route description
After the line has left the
At the village exit, the line returns to the edge of the canton road again. On the following downslope are the stops of Zweibrücken and Strahlholz. Before the village of
The line passes through the stops of Stofel, Sternen, Niederteufen and Lustmühle before reaching the St. Gallen quarter of Riethüsli. Until 2018, train crossings took place at the Liebegg crossing loop 300 metres (984 ft 3 in) south of Riethüsli halt. Since 2018, the line has run through the Ruckhalde Tunnel on a decline of 8.0%, losing about 70 metres (229 ft 8 in) in altitude, to the level of the once important SBB freight yard in St. Gallen. The tunnel replaced the last remaining rack section, which had impressive view of the western parts of the city, and the sharp Ruckhalde curve. The tunnel also made an approximately 300 metres (984 ft 3 in)-long section of overhead line that had been shared with the
The inner city section which has an overhead line voltage of only 600 volts instead of 1500 volts starts in the Nebenbahnhof and the cross-city line runs up to the Brühltor (Brühl gate) parallel to the St. Gallen Trolleybus line of the Verkehrsbetriebe der Stadt St. Gallen (St. Gallen city transport company, VBSG). This section is supplied by a common traction substation. Originally, the trains to Trogen ran in the city on the tracks of the St. Gallen Tramway, which was closed in 1957, but this rail infrastructure now belongs to the Appenzell Railway. After taking over the tram infrastructure from the city of St. Gallen in 1959, the Trogen Railway was required to remove the second track in Bahnhofstrasse (between the station forecourt and the Schibener Gate—Schibenertor). The second track in Bahnhofstrasse was not restored until 1978.
The cross-city line is built as a tramway to the road junction beyond Brühl Gate. It runs up to Schülerhaus station on a double-lane track in the right-hand traffic and on grooved rails on the surface of the street. The light-rail vehicles are equipped with turning signals and with a bell, in addition to the normal train whistle.
Later, the line follows the St. Gallen–Speicher–Trogen cantonal road. From Schülerhaus, it has its own track with normal flat bottomed rail. In this section, the line has the character of an interurban, with trains passing on the left at the crossings loops, as in usual on Swiss railways, unlike trams. Originally, the track was consistently built on the road on this section. From 1953, the track was moved to its own route with assistance provided under the Privatbahnhilfegesetz (Private Railway Assistance Act), later the Eisenbahngesetz (Railway Act).[19] The last part in the village of Speicher, including the station, was not moved from the road until 1997.[20]
The steep section between Schülerhaus and Notkersegg offers a good view of the city of St. Gallen. Passengers can see the Wenigerweiher (a former millpond) at the Schwarzer Bären crossing loop and
Operations
Until 2018
Before the opening of the Ruckhalde Tunnel, the St. Gallen–Appenzell line was operated as line S 22 of the St. Gallen S-Bahn. The trains ran every half hour and consisted of a BDeh 4/4 motor car, an intermediate car and a control car. Every second train had a low-floor control car. In the working day peak an express service ran from Appenzell to St. Gallen in the morning and returned in the evening peak, taking 39 minutes over the whole line rather than the usual 43 minutes. Two morning and several evening services were replaced by bus services.
The St. Gallen–Trogen line was operated as line S 21 during the day at half-hour intervals with four Be 4/8 services operated as two additional round trips during the peaks, creating a service every quarter of an hour. With the exception of Speicher, all intermediate stations are request stops. Scheduled train crossing occur in Schwarzer Bären station, but in the peak there are also crossings at Speicher and Spisertor. The Trogen line handled freight until mid-1991, largely with freight wagons attached to passenger trains, and until 2007, there were postal consignments in freight wagons.
Since the opening of the cross-city line
In the 2019 timetable, the previous service is basically maintained with an additional Appenzell–St. Gallen express service operating in the load direction between Appenzell and St. Gallen in the peak. The regular interval regional services run on the Appenzell–Trogen route as line S 21 and on the Teufen–Trogen route as line S 22. The services previously operated in the evening by bus are provided by trains.[21] The two minutes reduction in running time enabled by the Ruckhalde Tunnel required the extension of the Liebegg crossing loop to the Lustmühle halt. The other crossing loops on the Gais branch are located at St. Gallen freight yard, Niederteufen, Teufen and Gais.[11]
Since the opening of the Ruckhalde Tunnel, all traffic has been handled by eleven 2.40 metre-wide Tango articulated railcar (class ABe 8/12), which is determined by the structure gauge of the Trogen Railway. The rolling stock previously used on the St. Gallen–Appenzell route are 25 centimetres wider.[11] Major maintenance work will ensure that 2.65 metre-wide vehicles can be used for the next generation of rolling stock.[13]
Projects
A new section of double track at the St. Gallen freight yard and a crossing loop at Eggli between Zweibrücken and Strahlholz will allow further travel time reductions between St. Gallen and Appenzell[22] and improve the connections in Gais and Appenzell. The Gais workshop will be replaced by a new service center in Schwende, while only maintenance and minor repairs will be carried out in Speicher.[13]
References
Footnotes
- ^ "Güterbahnhof Nord" (in German). Appenzell Railways. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- ^ a b Wägli 2010.
- ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
- ^ "Trogen - St. Gallen – Appenzell (timetable)" (PDF). Bundesamt für Verkehr. 2023-09-15. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Liniennetzplan "S-Bahn St.Gallen" [Route Network of St. Gallen S- Bahn]" (PDF) (in German). ostwind.ch. December 2021.
- ^ Hardegger 1989.
- ^ Willen 1972, p. XLIV.
- ^ Brugger 1978, p. 23.
- ^ Aeschlimann & Waldburger 2003.
- ^ Willen 1972.
- ^ a b c d Baumgartner & Liniger 2014.
- ^ a b Baumgartner & Regli 2013, pp. 604–606.
- ^ a b c d Lüthard 2017, pp. 583–585.
- ^ Lüthard & Rellstab 2017, p. 585.
- ^ "Durchmesserlinie bringt Appenzellerland eine S-Bahn". FM1 Today (in German). 18 February 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Die Durchmesserlinie kann gebaut werden" (PDF) (Press release) (in German). Appenzeller Bahnen. 30 November 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Dossier Modernisierung Appenzeller Bahnen. Durchmesserlinie". Tüüfner Post (in German). 15 September 2018. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ "Weltweit erstes Stellwerk 'in the Cloud'" (PDF; 22 KB) (Press release) (in German). Siemens Switzerland. 4 September 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ Brugger 1978, pp. 41–68.
- ^ Aeschlimann & Waldburger 2003, p. 80.
- ^ "Draft 2019 timetable: Appenzell–Gais–St. Gallen–Speicher–Trogen" (PDF) (in German). Federal Office of Transport. 21 September 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
- ^ Rellstab 2018, pp. 275–278.
Sources
- Aeschlimann, Jürg; Waldburger, Hans (2003). Strassenbahn St. Gallen–Speicher–Trogen; Die Trogenerbahn (in German). Leissigen: Prellbock Druck & Verlag. ISBN 3-907579-24-0.
- Baumgartner, Thomas; Liniger, Alexander (April 2014). "Die Durchmesserlinie Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen" (PDF) (in German). Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau. Archived from the original (PDF, 1.1 MB) on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- Baumgartner, Thomas; Regli, Lukas (2013). "Die Bedeutung der Durchmesserlinie Appenzell – St. Gallen – Trogen für die Appenzeller Bahnen". ISSN 1022-7113.
- Brugger, Daniel (1978). 75 Jahre Trogenerbahn 1903–1978. Die Geschichte der Trogenerbahn 1903–1978 (in German). Speicher: Verlag Trogenerbahn.
- Hardegger, Josef (1989). 100 Jahre Gaiserbahn, 1889–1989 (in German). Herisau: Verlag Schläpfer. ISBN 3-85882-063-6.
- Lüthard, Jürg D. (2017). "Neue Infrastruktur und neue Züge für die Appenzeller Bahnen". Schweizer Eisenbahn-Revue (in German) (11).
- Lüthard, Jürg D.; Rellstab, Mathias (2017). ""SiGrid" und "SiNet"". Schweizer Eisenbahn-Revue (in German) (11).
- Rellstab, Mathias (2018). "Die neue Flotte der Appenzeller Bahnen rollt an". Schweizer Eisenbahn-Revue (in German) (5).
- Wägli, Hans G. (2010). Schienennetz Schweiz und Bahnprofil Schweiz CH+ (in German). AS Verlag. ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9.
- Willen, Peter (1972). Lokomotiven der Schweiz 2. Schmalspur Triebfahrzeuge (in German). Zürich: Orell Füssli Verlag.