Rapperswil railway station

Rapperswil railway station is an important junction station, where the Südostbahn's (SOB) Rapperswil to Pfäffikon railway line across the Seedamm meets with the Lake Zürich right bank line, the Wallisellen to Rapperswil via Uster line and the Rapperswil to Ziegelbrücke line.[1]

Rapperswil is served by services of two S-Bahn-style networks, the Zürich S-Bahn and the St. Gallen S-Bahn. Services S5, S7, S15 and S40 of the Zürich S-Bahn call at this railway station. Connections to or from Zürich HB via either the right bank line (S7) or Uster line (S5/15) are very frequent, and the ride takes only about 36 minutes. The S40 provides a local link to Pfäffikon and Einsiedeln.[9] Rapperswil is also the terminus of the hourly St. Gallen S-Bahn service S6 that operates south-east to Schwanden/Linthal via Ziegelbrücke. Rapperswil is also a calling point of the Voralpen Express, an InterRegio (IR) train operated by the SOB and providing an hourly direct link between St. Gallen and Lucerne.[10][11] During weekends, there is also a nighttime S-Bahn service (SN5) offered by ZVV.[12]

Summary of railway services:

• IR Voralpen-Express: hourly service to Luzern via Arth-Goldau, and to St. Gallen via Wattwil.
• St. Gallen S-Bahn:
  • S6: hourly service to Schwanden/Linthal via Blumenau, Uznach and Ziegelbrücke.
• Zürich S-Bahn:
  • S5: half-hourly service to Zug via Jona and Zürich HB, and to Pfäffikon SZ.
  • S7: half-hourly service to Winterthur via Kempraten, Meilen, Zürich HB and Balsberg (Zürich Airport).
  • S15: half-hourly service to Niederweningen via Jona and Zürich HB.
  • S40: half-hourly service to Einsiedeln via Pfäffikon SZ and Biberbrugg.
  • Nighttime S-Bahn (only during weekends):[13]
    • SN5: hourly service between Knonau and Pfäffikon SZ (via Zürich HB).

Rapperswil is also an important depot for the rolling stock of the Zürich S-Bahn. Due to the station's hub status, one of the few SBB-CFF-FFS firefighting and rescue trains (LRZ) is based in Rapperswil.

Buses provided by Verkehrsbetriebe Zürichsee und Oberland (VZO) (Lake Zurich and Oberland transport services) link the station to the upper northern shore of Lake Zürich and the Zürcher Oberland, and also operate the city's own Stadtbus Rapperswil-Jona.[14] Two bus services provided by Schneider link the railway station with Eschenbach and Wattwil and with Buech/St. Dyonis. Bus services depart from the forecourt of the railway station except line 991, which departs south of the railway station (Rapperswil Bahnhof Süd). The lines are as follows:

Rapperswil harbour is adjacent to the railway station, and lake shipping services of the Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG) connect with trains and buses, providing alternative, if rather slower, routes to Zürich and other lakeside towns on Lake Zürich. Most boats dock Ufenau island near Rapperswil harbour.

During summer, there is also a ferry across Obersee.[15] The ferry connects a pier adjacent to the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil (now part of OST), situated south of the railways station, with Lachen and Altendorf in the canton of Schwyz.