Frauenfeld–Wil railway

The Frauenfeld–Wil railway is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway line[2] in Switzerland, which connects the town of Frauenfeld in the canton of Thurgau, to the town of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen, following the valley of the Murg river. The Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn (FWB) opened the line in 1887 and operated it until 2021, when that company merged into Appenzell Railways.[3] The line is included in Tarifverbund Ostwind, and operates as service S15 of the St. Gallen S-Bahn.

Frauenfeld–Wil railway (S15)
An old Frauenfeld–Wil train in Münchwilen
Overview
OwnerAppenzell Railways
LocaleSwitzerland
Termini
Service
TypeLight rail
Services1
History
Opened1887
electrification 1921
Technical
Line length17.44 km (10.84 mi)
Character841
Track gauge1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification1,200 V DC overhead line
Highest elevation570.8 m (1,873 ft)
Maximum incline46 ‰ or 4.6 %
Route diagram
km
elev
SBB line from St. Gallen
SBB line from Wattwil
0.00
 Wil
571 m
depot and workshop;
Rollbock yard
Thurbo line to Weinfelden
SBB to line to Winterthur
2.35
 Schweizerhof
531 m
3.89
 Münchwilen TG
516 m
4.66
 Münchwilen Pflegeheim
509 m
6.50
 Rosental
487 m
7.95
 Wängi GB
474 m
8.27
 Wängi
470 m
9.01
 Wiesengrund
465 m
9.81
 Jakobstal
460 m
11.49
 Matzingen
447 m
12.62
 Weberei Matzingen
440 m
13.92
 Murkart
431 m
15.13
 Lüdem
423 m
16.85
 Frauenfeld Marktplatz
417 m
SBB line from Winterthur
17.45
 Frauenfeld
405 m
SBB line to Weinfelden
Source: Swiss railway atlas[1]

Plans to build an interurban tramway between Frauenfeld and Wil were first made in the early 1850s. The rail line opened in 1887, and was electrified in 1921. Around 1.25 million passengers use the line every year.

Locals call the train "Wilerbähnli" or "Wiler Bähnli".[4]

Operation
S15
Red white striped train with coaches
FW ABe 4-8 near Frauenfeld Marktplatz
Overview
Service typeSt. Gallen S-Bahn service
Current operator(s)Appenzell Railways (AB)
Former operator(s)Frauenfeld-Wil Bahn (FWB)
Route
TerminiFrauenfeld
Wil SG
Stops10
Service frequencyEvery 30 minutes
Technical
Rolling stock

Trains run every 30 minutes as S15 service of St. Gallen S-Bahn, requiring 3 trains in operation at once, with trains crossing at the stations of Matzingen and Schweizerhof.

In 2011 the railway company ordered five new ABe4/8 low floor trains from Stadler Rail, to replace the old trains. However, there are plans for a 15 minutes interval in future and therefore some of the old trains will be retained. The first train was delivered in March 2013 and was tested for 3 months. It went into regular service on 26 June 2013.[5][6][7] FWB closed the station at Murkart in 2018 in order to maintain connections with long-distance trains at Frauenfeld.[8]

Route

S15 Frauenfeld – Wängi – Wil SG

S-Bahn St. Gallen network as of December 2021[9]

Freight traffic

Freight trains ran on the line from 1907 until the early 2000s. This included transporter wagons from 1977 onwards.[10]

References
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz [Swiss railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2012. pp. 4, 13. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
  2. Barrow, Keith. "Swiss metre-gauge emu on test". International Railway Journal. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Inc. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  3. "Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn fusioniert mit den Appenzeller Bahnen". St. Galler Tagblatt (in German). 17 June 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  4. "Das Wiler Bähnli macht es vor". St. Galler Tagblatt.
  5. "Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn buys five new Stadler vehicles" (PDF). Stadler Rail. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  6. "Neue Fahrzeugflotte" [New vehicle fleet] (in German). Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  7. "Worldwide Review". Tramways & Urban Transit. Light Rail Transit Association. September 2013. p. 399.
  8. Koch, Samuel (21 September 2017). "FRAUENFELD: Bald fährt das Wiler Bähnli vorbei". Tagblatt (in German). Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  9. https://www.ostwind.ch/assets/resources/Dateien/Download/zonenplaene/2022-sbb-rv-sg.pdf
  10. "Wilerbähnli". Felix's Homepage.

Further reading
  • Waldburger, Hans (1987). Die Frauenfeld–Wil-Bahn. Geschichte einer Regionalbahn 1887–1987 (in German). Luzern: Minirex AG. ISBN 3-907014-00-6.
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