Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke railway line

The line was built as an extension of the Wallisellen–Uster–Rapperswil railway (Glatthalbahn), which had been extended from Wetzikon to Rüti on 15 August 1858 after its acquisition by the VSB. The line was opened at the same time as the Murg–Sargans line. The intervening section between Weesen and Murg was not completed until 1 July 1859. The line shortened the distance between Zurich and Chur. Its importance as a long-distance line was reduced by the opening on 20 September 1875 by the Swiss Northeast Railway (Schweizerische Nordostbahn) of the Lake Zürich left-bank railway, which runs from Zürich to Näfels via Pfäffikon and Ziegelbrücke. As a result, the Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke line was never duplicated. It experienced increased use Between Rapperswil and Uznach with the opening of the Uznach–Wattwil railway on 1 October 1910.

The route between Rapperswil and Uznach was electrified in connection with a train accident in the Ricken tunnel on the Uznach–Wattwil railway on 4 October 1926 that led to the death nine people as a result of suffocation from carbon monoxide poisoning. Electrification of the line was completed on 7 May 1927 at 15 kV AC 16²/₃ Hz. Electrification of the line between Uznach and Ziegelbrücke (continuing to Linthal) followed on 15 May 1933.

The line follows the right bank of the Obersee at the upper end of Lake Zurich from Rapperswil to near Schmerikon. It continues to the east and turns to the southwest after Uznach station towards Benken and runs east around the Benken hillock and then to the south-southwest in a straight line via the Gastermatt to Schänis and on to Ziegelbrücke. The line has no major engineering structures.

Bollingen station between Wurmsbach Abbey and the village of Bollingen, near Stafel, was closed and replaced as stop for scheduled trains at the 2004 timetable change by the halt of Blumenau, which had been refurbished in the 1980s.

The whole line is served every hour by services on line S6 of the St. Gallen S-Bahn on the Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke–Schwanden route; these services continued to Linthal until December 2013. In Uznach, there is a connection to line S4 of the St. Gallen S-Bahn towards Wattwil and St. Gallen. The Rapperswil–Uznach section is used by the hourly Voralpen-Express services. These stop in Rapperswil, Schmerikon and Uznach.[2]

Freight trains have not generally used the line since 2006, when Uznach was closed for freight traffic. However, the line is regularly used for nocturnal diversions for work on the Pfäffikon–Lachen–Ziegelbrücke line.

The regional service between Rapperswil and Linthal was operated for decades after the electrification with fir green trains, which were hauled by Ae 3/6 I and Ae 4/7 locomotives. These were replaced in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Neuer Pendelzug (new push-pull trains, NPZ) RBDe 4/4 sets, which are nicknamed "Hummingbirds" because of their colourful paintwork. The rolling stock now consists only of NPZ "Domino 3" push-pull trains, which are coupled in the rush hour to form 6-car sets.

• Wägli, Hans G. (1998). Schienennetz Schweiz (in German). Zürich: AS Verlag. ISBN 3-905111-21-7.

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• 2021 timetable