How fast are the trains in the Zürich Underground Railway?
Zurich Airport
Zürich Airport railway station is located underneath the "Airport Centre". The station has frequent Zürich S-Bahn services, plus direct InterRegio, InterCity, and Eurocity services, to many places including Basel, Bern, Biel/Bienne, Brig, Geneva, Konstanz, Lausanne, Lucerne, Munich, Romanshorn, St. Gallen, and Winterthur. There are some 13 trains per hour to Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Zürich's main city centre station, with a journey time of between 10 and 15 minutes. By changing trains at Hauptbahnhof, most other places in Switzerland can be reached in a few hours.
Frauenfeld
It has a town bus service with 5 bus lines which run every 15 minutes to every corner of the town. Frauenfeld railway station supports a regional train, part of the Zürich S-Bahn, from Weinfelden to Winterthur (S8 and S30) every 30 minutes, as well in the opposite direction and a fast train (InterCity and InterRegio) that travels to Zürich every 30 minutes, as well in the opposite direction to Weinfelden and further to Constance in Germany or Romanshorn. During busy times in the mornings and evenings these trains are supported by another train (called "S") which stops in the bigger towns (like IR/IC).
History of rail transport in Switzerland
In the late 1960s, the SFR developed a proposal for a new east-west trunkline (German: "Haupttransversale", NHT). This was considered by the "Swiss Transport Commission" (German: "Schweizerischen Gesamtverkehrskommission", GVK). In 1977, after almost six years work, the GVK submitted a 400-page report, which recommended the construction of a new railway between Geneva and Lake Constance and between Basel and Olten. On these routes, a total of 120 kilometres of new line would allow operation of trains at up to 200 kilometres per hour, similar to the French TGVs. A Federal Government committee supported SFR's proposal but considered that investment should be initially concentrated on the sections of route between Basel, Olten and Bern. This proposal was widely seen as too narrow in its benefits and in mid 1984 the SFR established an expert group under the name Rail 2000 to develop a broader approach. This group developed a plan to improve rail transport throughout Switzerland based on the approach of co-ordinated regular interval trains. The federal parliament voted to approve "Rail 2000" in May 1986. In particular, it granted CHF 5.4 billion for the Mattstetten–Rothrist new line between Olten and Bern and for a connection from near Herzogenbuchsee to Solothurn. This was endorsed by a referendum in 1987 with a majority of 57.0%.
Heitersberg Railway
The Heitersberg Railway ("Heitersbergstrecke") is a Swiss railway line between the stations of Killwangen-Spreitenbach and Aarau on the east-west main line between Zürich und Bern. The main structure of the line is the 4,929 metre-long Heitersberg Tunnel, which has its west portal near Mellingen and its east portal near Killwangen.
The line was built in the 1970s as part of the planned "New Main Transversal" ("Neue Haupttransversale", NHT) project. It was opened on 1 June 1975 and handed over for scheduled operations on 22 May 1975.
The Heitersberg route branches off from the Zürich–Baden–Aarau–Olten–Bern main line after Killwangen and runs through an almost five kilometre-long tunnel to Heitersberg (west portal at , east portal at ), connecting in Mellingen with the line from Wettingen built by the Swiss National Railway ("Schweizerische Nationalbahn") and in Othmarsingen with the Aargauische Südbahn (Aargau Southern Railway) from Brugg to Rotkreuz. Outside of Othmarsingen, there is a three-level crossing with a cantonal road and branches running towards Hendschiken and Lenzburg. West of Lenzburg a new line runs to Rupperswil and then it turns into a recently rebuilt four-track section to Aarau.
Thanks to the new direct line, including the tunnel, which allows speeds of 140 km/h, the running time between Zürich and Bern has been reduced by 20 minutes, partly as a result of the building of other structures such as the Grauholz Tunnel near Bern.
Ballastless track was tested in the Heitersberg tunnel from 1975 to 2014.
The development of the Heitersberg route is part of the Future development of rail infrastructure ("Zukünftige Entwicklung der Bahninfrastruktur") program. The construction of the "Chestenberg Tunnel" between Rupperswil and Gruemet was proposed, but a direct 30 km-long tunnel between Aarau and Zürich is now favoured. The Eppenberg Tunnel has been under construction since 2015 as a continuation of the Heitersberg line towards Olten.
Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn
Both railway lines are constructed to . They are unusual in that, whilst the "Sihltalbahn" is electrified using the standard Swiss mainline system of overhead lines at 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC, the "Uetlibergbahn" is electrified using overhead lines at 1200 V DC. In order to avoid conflict on the common section, the "Uetlibergbahn" uses an overhead line offset from the centre of the track, and its cars are equipped with specially designed pantographs to collect from this.
Rail 2000
After years of heavy investment in roads in the postwar years, the share of rail in the total passenger market in Switzerland had been significantly reduced by the end of the 1960s. At this time SFR decided that changes were necessary to increase rail patronage. More trains were operated in order to increase frequencies; this led to a 75% increase in passengers between 1971 and 1983 on the Bern–Zürich route. In the 1970s the Swiss government and SFR decided to make further improvements in rail services. In 1972, the SFR introduced a regular interval timetable (German: "Taktfahrplan"). Under this timetable trains arrive and leave each station at the same minute past every hour. Services at Zürich station were reorganised so that trains arrived on each line before the hour or half-hour and left after the hour or half-hour, making it easier to change to trains on other lines. This required the provision of additional platforms to allow every train to be in station simultaneously. The Rail 2000 project was intended to enhance the regular interval timetable.
Zürich Hardbrücke railway station
The station sits in the approach to Zürich Hauptbahnhof station, on the Zürich–Baden line near its junction with the Käferberg tunnel variant of the Zürich–Winterthur line, and to the north of the through tracks that carry long distance passenger and freight trains. It lies below the Hardbrücke, a road bridge that crosses the rail tracks and forms an important north-south connection within the city. The station has two side platforms and a central island platform served by four tracks, with the two inner tracks on the line to via the Käferberg Tunnel, and the two outer tracks on the line to . The line to Oerlikon is at a higher level, and thus the platforms are not all at the same level.
Glatt Valley
The Glatt Valley has excellent transport links: Zurich Airport is located in Kloten, Zurich Oerlikon railway station is one of the 15 most frequented railway stations in Switzerland. Stadtbahn Glattal is a modern rapid-transit system. It connects (Phase 1B, as of 2009) Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Zürich Airport, via Opfikon and Glattbrugg, by the Zürich tram line 10, in addition to the services of SBB-CFF-FFS (InterRegio and InterCity) and S-Bahn Zürich on the lines S2, S3, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S14, S15 and S16. Within the city of Zürich and in the surrounding municipalities, Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) provide additional bus line services.
Zürich Underground Railway
Zurich Airport would have been the northern terminus. Under the Butzenbüel and Holberg hills, the route would have led to the overground station Werft, where a short branch line from the train station Kloten would have terminated. Subsequently, the underground was to proceed parallel to the existing SBB line from Opfikon to just after the Eisfeldstrasse station. There, the northern portal of the tunnel section was to be located. Following Ohmstrasse and Schaffhauserstrasse, the intersection at Hirschwiesen would have been reached (in the area of the Milchbuck tram stop). Here, 30 metres below the surface, two station tubes connected by cross passages were to be built, the western one for trains on the trunk line and the eastern one for trains from and to Schwamendingen. The Schwamendingen branch line was to proceed partly underneath the Schöneich Tunnel of the planned motorway approach road A1L, and was to end at Hirschenplatz for the time being. From Hirschwiesen, the line would have reached Zürich Hauptbahnhof by means of a broadly shaped S-curve, crossing beneath the Milchbuck Tunnel, the Letten Tunnel and the Limmat.
Zürich Oerlikon railway station
The station is an important and busy one. It is served by lines S2, S6, S7, S8, S9, S14, S15, S16, S19, S21, and S24 of the Zürich S-Bahn. It is also called at by trains on the InterRegio (IR) lines from Zürich Airport to Basel SBB and Zürich Airport to Luzern, and the RegioExpress (RE) line from Zürich to Schaffhausen.
Chur–Rorschach railway
Since 13 December 2009, two of the three daily EuroCitys to and from Austria have been replaced by Railjet services. This saves a total of 40 minutes running time between Zürich and Vienna, due, among other things, to having faster turnarounds in Buchs. The third train, the former Transalpin service, was also replaced by a Railjet service in June 2010, but, unlike the first two, runs as two coupled sets. Nine day and night trains a day connect Zürich with Austria, all with stops in Sargans and Buchs. The section from Rorschach to St. Margrethen is served four times a day by a EuroCity service on the Zürich–Munich route.
Rheintal Express (REX) services now run between Chur and St. Gallen every hour. Between Sargans and Rorschach, line S4 St Gallen S-Bahn services operated by Südostbahn also run every hour on a circular route with stops at all stations. Between Altstätten and St. Gallen the line is served by lines S1 and S2 of the S-Bahn. Overall, this results in two trains per hour between St. Gallen and Altstätten and three between Heerbrugg and St. Gallen. On the Sargans–Chur section the good connections from Zürich on two InterCity services and a RegioExpress are supplemented by the S12 (Sargans–Chur) service.
Freight traffic is heavy between Sargans and Buchs, because this is the transit route to the Vorarlberg and to the rest of Austria. The trains from France (Mulhouse) and the Limmattal marshalling yard (west of Zürich) to the Hall in Tirol marshalling yard use the route through the Buchs border crossing. The crossing at St. Margrethen is only used by trains to and from the Wolfurt marshalling yard. The Buchs marshalling yard serves the whole Swiss Rhine valley.
Since 2004 DB Cargo has been operating freight trains from Stuttgart Kornwestheim via the electrified Lake Line and then via Rorschach and St. Margrethen to the Wolfurt marshalling yard to avoid the use of diesel locomotives on the Lake Constance Belt Railway and the Ulm–Friedrichshafen railway.
S25 (ZVV)
Trains run hourly, covering the distance from Zürich Hauptbahnhof to Ziegelbrücke in 43 minutes, to Glarus in 60 minutes, and to Linthal in 94 minutes. Despite being classified as an S-Bahn train, the S25 actually covers the distance between Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Ziegelbrücke in a shorter time than the parallel RegioExpress service to Chur. This mirrors the performance of its predecessor, the Glarner Sprinter named train, which was itself classified as a RegioExpress service.
High-speed rail in Europe
Switzerland has no high-speed trains of its own yet. French TGV (TGV Lyria) and German ICE lines extend into Switzerland, but given the dense rail traffic, short distances between Swiss cities (because of the country's small size) and the often difficult terrain, they do not attain speeds higher than 200 km/h (ICE3) or 160 km/h (TGV, ICE1, ICE2). The fastest Swiss trains are the ICN tilting trains, operated by the Swiss Federal Railways since May 2000. They can reach higher speeds than conventional trains on the curve-intensive Swiss network, however the top speed of 200 km/h can only be reached on high-speed lines. The former Cisalpino consortium owned by the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia used Pendolino tilting trains on two of its international lines. These trains are now operated by the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia.
IC 2000
The IC 2000 is a double-deck train in Switzerland and is run by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) as part of its InterCity service. Top speed is 200 km/h. The train set can be composed of up to 10 coaches and provides close to 1,000 seats, according to SBB. In 1997-2004, the consortium, made up of Bombardier Transportation Switzerland and Alstom delivered 341 coaches to SBB, of which about 320 coaches are still in use as of December 2009.
Shinkansen
Development of the Shinkansen by the privatised regional JR companies has continued, with new train models developed, each generally with its own distinctive appearance (such as the 500 series introduced by JR West). Since 2014, shinkansen trains run regularly at speeds up to , placing them alongside the French TGV and German ICE as the second fastest trains in the world.
Swiss Federal Railways
SBB also operates international EuroCity and EuroNight trains while within Switzerland, while Deutsche Bahn operates InterCityExpress services to, from, and (a few services) within the country serving Swiss cities such as Interlaken, Bern, Basel, Zürich, and Chur. Under the name TGV Lyria the French railway company SNCF operates TGV connections to Switzerland. Lyria SAS, a company established under French law, is a subsidiary of the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF – French National Railway Company) which owns 74%, and the Chemins de Fer Fédéraux Suisses (CFF – Swiss Federal Railways) which owns 26%. TGV Lyria serves several Swiss cities including Geneva, Lausanne, Basel, Zürich, Bern, and Interlaken. It also provides services to certain locations including Brig in the Valais especially during the winter season to provide a connection for tourists mainly visiting the south-eastern Swiss Alps. These connections are marketed under the name of "TGV Lyria des Neiges".
Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway
Both long-distance and regional services operate on the line. Intercity-Express trains reach the tracks' 300 km/h speed-limit. InterCity and RegionalExpress trains travel at a maximum speed of 200 km/h. The Allersberg-Express, a RegionalBahn shuttle service, is operated between Allersberg and Nuremberg. The line was officially inaugurated on May 13, 2006. Limited operation with a twice-hourly long-distance service started on 28 May 2006. The line has been in full operation since December 2006. Compared to the former track via Augsburg, it cut off , or about 30 minutes journey time on long-distance and an hour on regional trains.
Zürich Underground Railway
The committee's final report was submitted on 18 May 1966. According to this report, railbound transportation that is independent of roads was to bear the brunt of public transport, whereby a distinction was made between large, medium and fine distributors. The existing SBB railway network was designated as the large distributor which would serve the second suburban belt (from a radius of ten to twelve kilometres from the city centre). In the "metropolitan area" within this radius, a conventional underground railway would take on the task of a high-speed medium distributor, as buses and trams were deemed unsuitable. Instead, they were to serve as fine distributors and feeders for the underground railway. The tram network was to be adapted to the new circumstances which required the abolition of lines in the city centre and the construction of new lines in the city's outer boroughs. Interchanges between underground railway and suburban trains were planned on the border of the metropolitan area, from where suburban trains were to run without intermediate stops to the city centre.
München-Nürnberg-Express
The München-Nürnberg-Express (literally: "Munich-Nuremberg Express") is a RegionalExpress train service in the southern German state of Bavaria, connecting the two main cities of the state, Munich and Nuremberg. With its maximum speed of 200 km/h (125 mph), the train is currently () the fastest regional train service in Germany. The train was formerly known under the project name FRESH, expanding to FRanken-Express über die Schnellfahrstrecke in die LandesHauptstadt ("FRanconia Express via the High speed line to the state Capital").
Zürich Underground Railway
In the 1970s "U-Bahn" project, the first line would have led from Dietikon via Schlieren, Zürich main station, Oerlikon and Opfikon to Zürich airport, including two short branch lines to Schwamendingen and Kloten. The two most important development axes of the agglomeration, Limmattal and Glatttal, would have been joined onto the network. The line would have been 27.5 km long, 14.8 km of which would have been underground. At a later point in time the construction of two more lines was planned. In spite of initial optimism the project was rejected in a referendum by the voters in the Canton of Zürich. Some parts of the lines, which had been built as preliminary work for the Underground that was never realised, are used today as the Milchbuck-Schwamendingen tram tunnel and as the terminus of the Sihltal-Zürich-Uetliberg-Bahn.
Limmattal light rail line
When fully open, light rail trains will run every 15 minutes between Zürich-Altstetten and Killwangen-Spreitenbach stations, with the ability to later increase the frequency to every 7.5 minutes. The line will be double-track throughout, and over 90% segregated from road traffic. The stretch of the line between Farbhof and Schlieren will also be used by an extension of Zürich tram route 2, running every 7.5 minutes and replacing the existing Zürich trolleybus route 31 over that stretch. The Limmattal and Bremgarten–Dietikon lines will also share a short section of track on the existing alignment of the latter in the centre of Dietikon.
Konstanz station
13 times a day InterRegio trains run from Biel to Konstanz, which also stop at Zurich Hauptbahnhof and Zürich airport. Until the new 2008 timetable, these trains were composed of ICN tilting electrical multiple units.Konstanz is served hourly by Regional-Express trains on the Black Forest Railway. Until the timetable change in 2015, Interregio-Express and RE trains alternated from Kreuzlingen or Konstanz to Karlsruhe. This was changed with the timetable change, so that there is now a continuous RE hourly to Karlsruhe. The SBB and its subsidiaries SBB GmbH, which has its head office in Konstanz, serves Konstanz with the "Seehas" regional service every half hour. Its subsidiary Thurbo connects Constance and Kreuzlingen every half hour with the S 14, which runs once a hour via Kreuzlingen to Weinfelden. In the long term, a half-hourly service is to be established.
Western FastRail
It was proposed that two 26 km underground tunnels will link Sydney (possibly Wynyard station or a new nearby station to be built as part of MetroPitt) with Parramatta, with high-speed trains traversing across the distance in eleven minutes at speeds of up to 160 km/h. The line will continue above-ground to Blacktown in six minutes, and onwards to Penrith in a further eleven minutes. Currently on existing Sydney Trains lines these journeys take up to three times as long.
Trams in Zürich
Zürich's tram network is built to metre gauge ( gauge). There are of track, equating to a network length of and a total route length of . The tracks are electrified using overhead line at 600 V DC, utilising a supply system shared with the city's trolleybus network.
Nuremberg–Würzburg railway
The line is double track throughout. The section between Nürnberg and Fürth was electrified on 15 May 1939 and Fürth to Wurzburg was electrified on 3 October 1954. The 19th century line had a minimum railway curve radius of 2,000 Bavarian feet (about 600 m) causing numerous speed limits of 100 km/h. Thus, today (as of 2015) the stations of Neustadt (Aisch) Rottendorf (Einfahrkurve) and Kitzingen can only be passed at 100 km/h.
Zabergäu Railway
The narrow-gauge Zabergäu Railway did not meet modern requirements after World War II and, as early as 1954, the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railway) introduced a parallel bus service with corresponding reductions to the passenger train timetable. On 20 June 1959, there was a serious accident when a railway bus was hit by a train operated by the Franconia Railway on the level crossing at Lauffen am Neckar. The bus, which was full of passengers, was dragged for 400 m along the track and 45 people lost their lives. In the wake of the Lauffen bus crash, the villages and local businesses along the route set up the ‘Zabergäu Action Group’. The latter succeeded in having the railway timetable re-established, the track re-laid with standard gauge and the line modernised. The conversion work was carried out in phases between 3 May 1964 and 25 July 1965. These improvements included the removal of many level crossings and resulted in the maximum speed of 25 km/h being increased to 60 km/h. This achieved a reduction in the journey time between the two terminuses from 69 minutes to 35 minutes.
Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway
Notwithstanding 10,700 complaints and 360 lawsuits, the line was opened fully in 1991, though the Würzburg–Fulda part was used by InterCity trains as early as 1988. The standard speed on the line is 250 km/h (155 mph); 280 km/h may be reached by trains running late.
Rail transport in Switzerland
Three quarters of the Swiss rail network is at standard gauge, comprising , administered mostly by three companies. Important railway stations are the Zürich HB (466,800 passengers per day on a working day), Bern (210,000 ppd), Basel SBB (114,200 ppd), Lausanne (108,900 ppd), Winterthur (108,000 ppd), Luzern (96,200 ppd), Zürich Oerlikon (85,700 ppd), Zürich Stadelhofen (83,300 ppd), Olten (81,300 ppd), and Geneva (73,700 ppd).
High-speed rail in Austria
The Brenner Base Tunnel under construction will allow speeds of up to 250 km/h. The first part of the New Lower Inn Valley Railway was opened in December 2012 as part of an upgrade of the line connecting the future Brenner Base Tunnel and southern Germany, which is being upgraded from two tracks to four and to a maximum design speed of 250 km/h. The section is also part of the Berlin-Palermo railway axis.
Oerlikon (Zürich)
Zürich Oerlikon railway station is, as an important junction of the Zürich S-Bahn network, a bottleneck for public traffic. Oerlikon is a nodal point where the lines S2, S5, S6, S7, S8, S14 and S16 of the Zürich S-Bahn, the Stadtbahn Glattal and Zürich trams in the Glatt Valley interconnect. Train connections to Oerlikon from Zürich Hauptbahnhof are very frequent, and the ride takes only about six minutes. The Zürich Oerlikon railway station has been expanded and modernized by December 2015. This was one of the key deliverables in the Zürich Cross-City Link Project, one of the biggest constructions on the Swiss railway systems in order to significantly increase its S-bahn service capacity for the anticipated increase in demand for public transportation.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof
In the 1940s, the line between Zürich and Geneva served as a "parade route". The first lightweight steel express train had entered service on this route in 1937. By 11 June 1960, the SBB network was largely electrified. In the following year, the SBB introduced its first four-system electric trains under the Trans Europ Express banner, and thereby increased the Zürich Hauptbahnhof's international importance.
S5 (ZVV)
Prior to the timetable revision of late 2015, the section of the S5 between Zürich and Pfäffikon operated much as today. However west of Zürich, the trains operated to Oberglatt, where alternate trains continued to either Niederweningen or Rafz. The core of the line ran to a frequency of every half hour, thus providing hourly services to Niederweningen and Rafz. The section between Oberglatt and Niederweningen was also served by an hourly shuttle service numbered S55, that connecting at Oberglatt with the S5 trains that run to and from Rafz.
Zürich Altstetten railway station
For most of the day, line S3 provides 2 train per hour (tph) to Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Wetzikon and 2 tph to Dietikon with 1 tph continuing to Lenzburg and Aarau. Line S5 provides 2 tph to Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Uster and 2 tph to Affoltern am Albis and Zug. Line S12 provides 2 tph to Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Winterthur and 2 tph to Dietikon, Baden and Brugg. Line S15 provides 2 tph to Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Hinwil and 2 tph to Affoltern am Albis. Line S19 provides 2 tph to Zürich and Effretikon and 2 tph to Dietikon, with some peak hour trains extended to Koblenz. Additionally there is a single InterRegio train per hour between Zurich Airport and Basel SBB that calls at Altstetten in both directions.
Bilevel rail car
Since 1982, SNCF has been running double-deck RER trains. And since 1996, SNCF runs double-deck TGV cars on heavily used high-speed services, such as on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille line. Many suburban rail, regional rail and high-speed services are operated by double-deck DMUs, EMUs, coaches and TGV. The TGV Duplex are the fastest double-decker trains in the world with a commercial top speed of 320 km/h. Specially tuned trainset 4402 also holds the world speed record for conventional trains, reaching 574.8 km/h in 2007. The French loading gauge dictates that the double-deck cars have a maximum height of .
Zürich Underground Railway
Zürich's transportation projects were typical for the seemingly boundless growth euphoria of the 1960s. For example, there was a vision of turning the Stauffacher/Sihlporte area into a modern business centre of gigantic proportions – a kind of "Manhattan on the Sihl" – making Zurich a truly global city. Initially, there was no real opposition. Except for the communist Swiss Party of Labour at local level and the Social Democratic Party at cantonal level, all political parties supported the construction of the underground railway and the S-Bahn system. An opinion poll conducted in December 1971 showed that 81% of Zurich's population was in favour of both projects. Opposition against the seemingly unstoppable growth of traffic first arose in 1970, when plans for rebuilding the Heimplatz in a car-friendly manner did not make it through a local referendum. Protests continued in 1971, with heavy resistance against the Zürich express road Y, a project for connecting three motorways in the city centre. After the Club of Rome had presented its report "The Limits to Growth" at the 1972 St. Gallen Symposium, an anti-growth stance also started to form amongst the general public.
Swiss Northern Railway
The line opened on 7 August 1847 and was the first line located entirely on Swiss territory. Shortly after 11:30 am, the arrival of the first official train in Zurich was announced with gun salute. He brought the invited guests and members of the Aargau authorities from Baden to Zurich. The locomotive No. 1 «Limmat» required only 23 minutes, which would correspond to an average speed of 42 km / h. After celebrations and sightseeing of the train station infrastructure the train left Zurich for Baden at 13:00 with 140 invited guests; scheduled operations started two days later. Every day there were four trips in each direction. The 20 km journey took 45 minutes with the trains stopping at Altstetten, Schlieren and Dietikon. Soon after the opening, the line began to be called the "Spanisch-Brötli bahn" ("Spanish bun railway") because the Zürich gentry sent their servants by train to Baden to buy these buns in order to impress their clients at Sunday morning teas. Previously their servants had to set out from Baden at midnight on foot with the buns. The buns were apparently derived from buns made in Milan during the 17th century when it was under Spanish control. Under the laws of the canton they could only be made in Baden.
Zürich Airport railway station
The station is situated on the airport railway line between Oerlikon and Effretikon, which forms one variant of the Zürich to Winterthur main line. The station, which is entirely underground, has two island platforms providing four platforms, each with a length of . The platforms are linked to the "Airport Centre", which contains the station ticket office, by escalators and lifts. The "Airport Centre" also contains several floors of retail and catering facilities, as well as access, via check-in and security, to the "Airside Center" and gate lounges.
Furttal
The Furttal is part of the S-Bahn Zürich on the line S6 (Baden –) Otelfingen – Regensdorf – Zürich HB – Uetikon, and their interconnection to the services of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS), and around the city of Zürich provided by Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ), the public transport operator in the city of Zurich and its suburbs. In September 2014 a study was published for the construction of a new rail tunnel and underground station serving the ETH Hönggerberg "Science City". The new tunnel would run directly between Hardbrücke and Regensdorf stations, as opposed to the indirect route via the existing Käferberg Tunnel and Oerlikon station that is currently used by service S6.
Sydney Trains
Sydney Trains is the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid suburban-commuter rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 178 stations over eight lines. It has metro-equivalent train frequencies of every three minutes or better in the underground core, 5–10 minutes at most major stations all day and 15 minutes at most minor stations all day. During weekend services trains are less frequent with headways of upwards of a half-hour on outer stations with frequencies of less than 10 minutes in the underground core.
Skymetro
The Zurich Airport Skymetro is an underground airport people mover at Zurich Airport in Switzerland. The long system connects the airport's main "Airside Center" with its mid-field "Terminal E", passing underneath Runway 10/28. The line opened in September 2003, and was constructed by the Otis Elevator Company.
The Underground (roller coaster)
The Underground is a wooden roller coaster manufactured by Custom Coasters International. This attraction is located next to the Frantic Freeway. This attraction features two small lift hills to suspend riders. This ride's lifts are unique as no drops are present. This attraction is largely considered a dark ride instead of a roller coaster because it does not feature what a conventional roller coaster has to offer. The official description of this attraction is "Tour the old mine and try to solve the mystery of Bad Bob." The attraction features 7 cars per train. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train.
Zürich–Winterthur railway
The line contains several different route and only the section from Effretikon to Winterthur has no alternative route. Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Oerlikon are connected by three tunnels. Two of them from the above-ground "old" terminus to Oerlikon. In 2014, with the commissioning of the Weinberg Tunnel, trains have run from the newly built underground station to Oerlikon. There are three connections from Oerlikon to Effretikon: via Wallisellen, Kloten and the Airport. The Zürichberg line, which runs from the Hauptbahnhof via Stadelhofen to Effretikon, is, with a few exceptions, only used by S-Bahn trains.
This was the first connection between Zürich HB and Oerlikon. It was opened on 26 June 1856 and still ran at that time over a ramp to the Limmat Bridge. This ran along the route now occupied by the street of Röntgenstrasse, which explains its sweeping course. Because this ramp was too steep for the locomotives of the period, it built the Aussersihl Viaduct ("Aussersihler Viadukt") from the station approach; this has a more moderate slope due to its curved route. When it was built, it was the longest railway bridge in Switzerland at 834 metres. After running over a short section on the old line, it reaches the bridge over the Sihlquai and the Limmat. The two bridges together are also called the Wipkingen Viaduct ("Wipkinger Viadukt"). After the bridge, the line passes through Zürich Wipkingen station and then immediately runs through Wipkingen Tunnel, after which it continues for some distance in an open cutting, where it merges with the Käferberg line and finally reaches Zürich Oerlikon station. Although it was planned from the beginning as a double-track line, two-track operations only started on 30 May 1860. It has been electrified since 1925 and electrical operations started on 6 August of that year. The section is used by some long-distance trains and line S24.
The Käferberg line, named after the Käferberg Tunnel, is the second connection between Oerlikon and Oerlikon and the Hauptbahnhof. It was opened on 1 June 1969 as a direct connection between Oerlikon and Altstetten for freight trains. On 23 May 1982, double track was opened on the Hardturm Viaduct ("Hardturmviadukt") connecting the Hauptbahnhof to Hardbrücke station, which initially had only had two platform edges on the ramp to the Hardturm viaduct. With the construction of the S-Bahn line between the Hauptbahnhof and Altstetten, two more platforms were added. Since the commissioning of the Zurich S-Bahn in 1990, S-Bahn services in the Limmat valley have also stopped at Hardbrücke. The Käferberg line is used by the trains of lines S5, S6, S7 and S16.
Zürich Underground Railway
In 1946, Kurt Wiesinger, professor of engineering at the ETH Zürich, put forward plans for a highspeed train that would have covered the distance between Zürich main station and Oerlikon in two minutes. Architect Wolfgang Nägeli presented a more realistic project in the Schweizerische Bauzeitung in 1947. Several tramlines were to be relocated underground in the city centre. He proposed building a tunnel underneath the Bahnhofsstrasse between Bürkliplatz and the Platzspitz park, along with lines branching off from Paradeplatz to Sihlstrasse and from the main station to Weinbergstrasse. This first draft comprised 2.7 kilometres of tunnels, as well as 0.2 kilometres of ramps and bridges. He calculated the costs would be between 35 and 40 million Swiss Francs. In a second step, he planned a second stage from Weinbergstraße to Beckenhof covering 1.1 kilometres of distance (plus 0.7 kilometres for ramps) and costing another 14 to 18 million Swiss Francs.
Zürich
Public transport is extremely popular in Zürich, and its inhabitants use public transport in large numbers. About 70% of the visitors to the city use the tram or bus, and about half of the journeys within the municipality take place on public transport. Within Zürich and throughout the canton of Zürich, the ZVV network of public transport has traffic density ratings among the highest worldwide. When adding frequency, which in Zürich can be as often as seven minutes, it does become the densest across all dimensions. Three means of mass-transit exist: the S-Bahn (local trains), trams, and buses (both diesel and electric, also called trolley buses). In addition, the public transport network includes boats on the lake and river, funicular railways and even the Luftseilbahn Adliswil-Felsenegg (LAF), a cable car between Adliswil and Felsenegg. Tickets purchased for a trip are valid on all means of public transportation (train, tram, bus, boat). The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) operates passenger vessels on the Limmat and the Lake Zürich, connecting surrounding towns between Zürich and Rapperswil.
Zürich is a mixed hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Zürich Hauptbahnhof ("Zürich HB") is the largest and busiest station in Switzerland and is an important railway hub in Europe. There are between 350,000 and 500,000 commuters daily making use of this central network node – a significant figure in comparison to Zürich's population. With regard to the number of trains daily entering and leaving a single railway station, Zürich HB is the world's most frequently served railway station, with 2915 trains every day. Among the 16 railway stations (and 10 additional train stops) within Zürich's city borders, there are five other major passenger railway stations. Three of them belong to the ten most frequented railway stations in Switzerland: Stadelhofen, Oerlikon, Altstetten, Hardbrücke, and Enge. The railway network is mainly operated by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), but Zürich is also served by major EuroCity trains from the neighbouring countries and is a destination for both French/Swiss (TGV Lyria) and German (ICE) high-speed trains, as well as by Austrian RailJet.
Intercity-Express
A new ICE service from Munich to Zurich via Lindau is planned to start after 2020 when the electrification and modernization works in the 150 km section between Geltendorf and Lindau will be completed. The journey times will be then cut by 45min to less than 3 hours and 30 minutes and the line between Munich and Zurich is expected to be served by up to eight trains per day running at speeds up to 160 km/h.
Zürich Oerlikon railway station
Zürich Oerlikon railway station () is a railway station located at Oerlikon in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is a major nodal point and junction for both the Zürich S-Bahn network and the Swiss railway network as a whole. Trains on 11 lines of the S-Bahn serve the station, as do frequent inter-regional trains. Inter-city passenger and freight traffic also passes through the station without stopping. Serving approximately 85,000 daily passengers, Zürich Oerlikon is the seventh busiest railway station in Switzerland.
Zürich–Baden railway
The Zürich–Baden railway is a major railway line in Switzerland connecting the cities of Zürich and Baden. It forms part of the major east-west route between Zürich and Olten. The line generally follows the south bank of the Limmat from Zürich to Baden. A new line, the Heitersberg Railway, opened in 1975, branches off in Killwangen-Spreitenbach and follows a more southerly route through the Heitersberg Tunnel towards Olten. The Zürich–Baden railway is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz and much of it has four tracks.
Zürich Underground Railway
All the parties represented in the city parliament supported the project. However, it was rejected in the town referendum with 58,393 to 34,307 votes on 1 April 1962 (63% No). An ‘unholy alliance’ of two groups with completely different motivations was responsible for this outcome. A non-partisan committee had fundamentally spoken against putting the tram below surface and criticized the traffic planners' indignation to restrict motorized private transport. However, a second group, which especially promoted the drivers' needs, demanded the abolition of the tram and requested the construction of an adequate underground network. 15 open coaches of type , also known as ‘carps’ and designed for potential use in tunnel sections with high platforms, had been delivered to the VBZ in 1959/60. As a consequence of the underground rejection, no further production series of this type of tramway cars was ordered.
Zürich S-Bahn
In the longer term, a vision for 2030 includes the development of two types of S-Bahn services and trains. Inner services will operate every 15 minutes, and will be provided by single-deck trains, so that passengers can embark and disembark quickly. Outer express services will operate every half-hour, stopping at all stations in the outer area but only at principal stations in the inner area, and will be formed of double-deck stock in order to provide more seating for longer journeys.
Alleo
From 10 June 2007, the Frankfurt-Main-Paris route was served for the time being with one train pair per day; two more operated only between Saarbrücken and Paris. From December 2007, the operation with five train pairs daily was fully recorded throughout the route. Modified ICE-3 trains and the French TGV POS, which has been tested on German routes since November 2005, are used for international traffic. On the German side the trains stop in Mannheim, Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken. The maximum operating speeds in France are 320 km/h, between Mannheim and Saarbrücken only 160 km/h. One of the reasons is the lack of the safety system (LZB) required for faster driving in Germany on this upgraded route; In view of the ETCS system under development, the Federal Minister of Transport has banned retrofitting the route with LZB. There are also railroad crossings to be removed, especially between Neustadt an der Weinstraße and Kaiserslautern. The track allows in places only a maximum speed of 80 km/h because of the many curves. At the same time, traffic on the Stuttgart - Paris route was recorded with four daily pairs of trains. From December 2007, a train pair was tied to Munich. Only the TGV POS was used there.
Trams in Zürich
Despite the planning and new rolling stock, a referendum in 1962 rejected the "Tiefbahn". However the proponents of going underground instead proposed a full scale metro, the Zürich U-Bahn system. This would have been standard gauge and electrified using a third rail, and hence incompatible with the tram system. The lines would have extended further into the suburbs and provided faster transit times than the tramways, which would have been curtailed so as not to compete with the U-Bahn. However this would have been at the expense of a coarser grained network, with much longer distances between U-Bahn stations than between the tram stops they replaced.
High-speed rail in Europe
The Western Railway between the capital Vienna and Salzburg is being upgraded. Most new sections have a continuous maximum design speed of 250 km/h. German and Austrian ICE trains operate at a maximum speed of 230 km/h, as do Austrian locomotive-hauled trains (called railjet) which were launched in 2008.
Trams in Zürich
Trams have been a consistent part of Zürich's streetscape since the 1880s, when the first horse tram ran. Electrified from the 1890s, they have seen off challenges including proposals to replace them by trolleybuses and by a metro or U-Bahn. With a relatively static city network from the 1930s to the late 1970s, the city's trams have been expanding again since then. Recent expansions have taken the network into the suburbs beyond the city boundary, covering areas it retreated from in the first part of the 20th century. Further extensions have been approved, both to the city tram network itself, and by the introduction of a new light rail system in the Limmat Valley that will interwork with the city trams.
History of rail transport in Switzerland
After years of heavy investment in roads in the postwar years, the share of rail in the total passenger market in Switzerland had been significantly reduced by the end of the 1960s. At this time, Swiss Federal Railways decided that changes were necessary to increase rail patronage. More trains were operated in order to increase frequencies; this led to a 75% increase in passengers between 1971 and 1983 on the Bern–Zürich route. In the 1970s, the Swiss government and SFR decided to make further improvements in rail services. In 1972, the SFR introduce a regular interval timetable (German: "Taktfahrplan"). Under this timetable, trains arrive and leave each station at the same minute past every hour. Services at Zurich station were reorganised so that trains arrived on each line before the hour or half-hour and left after the hour or half-hour, making it easier to change to trains on other lines.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof
Zürich Hauptbahnhof (often shortened to Zürich HB) ("Zürich Main Station" or "Zürich Central Station") is the largest railway station in Switzerland. Zürich is a major railway hub, with services to and from across Switzerland and neighbouring European countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria and France. The station was originally constructed as the terminus of the Spanisch Brötli Bahn, the first railway built completely within Switzerland. Serving up to 2,915 trains per day, Zürich HB is one of the busiest railway stations in the world.
Transport in Germany
The fastest high-speed train operated by Deutsche Bahn, the InterCityExpress or ICE connects major German and neighbouring international centres such as Zurich, Vienna, Copenhagen, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. The rail network throughout Germany is extensive and provides excellent service in most areas. On regular lines, at least one train every two hours will call even in the smallest of villages during the day. Nearly all larger metropolitan areas are served by S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Straßenbahn and/or bus networks.
High-speed rail in Austria
The West railway between the capital Vienna and Salzburg is being upgraded. Most new sections have a continuous maximum design speed of 250 km/h. German and Austrian ICE trains operate at a maximum speed of 230 km/h, as do Austrian locomotive-hauled trains (called railjet) which were launched in 2008.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof
Due to its central location in Switzerland and in Europe, the station was quickly able to establish itself as an important railway junction. Most trains running through several European countries operated through Switzerland. In addition, a majority of Swiss mainline trains travelled to or from Zürich. For the clock-face timetable introduced to Switzerland in 1982, Zürich is the "pacemaker". Delays and other disruptions at Zürich Hauptbahnhof sometimes affect the whole of Switzerland.
NRLA
This enables a high-speed link through the Alps with a top speed of , reducing travel time between Zurich and Milan from four to – currently – three-and-a-half hours.
Uetliberg railway line
The passenger services on the line now forms part of the Zürich S-Bahn, branded as the S10. Standard Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) zonal fare tariffs apply to the line. On working days, trains run every 30 minutes from Hauptbahnhof to Uetliberg, with a more frequent shuttle service between Hauptbahnhof and Triemli. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, trains run the full length of the line every 20 minutes. A journey over the full length of the line takes 20 minutes.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof
From the opening of the station, the railways of northern Switzerland developed rapidly, and by 1853 the Swiss Northern Railway had been merged into the Swiss Northeastern Railway ("Schweizerische Nordostbahn"; NOB). Also in 1853, the tracks in the station were regauged to the standard gauge () that is still used by all lines in the station. In 1856, the NOB completed its line from the station to Winterthur via the Wipkingen Tunnel and Oerlikon. In 1858, the NOB completed its line from Baden via Brugg to Aarau, where it connected with the Swiss Central Railway ("Schweizerische Centralbahn"; SCB), thus providing connections to Basel, Solothurn and Lausanne.
Tram 2000
The Forchbahn, a metre gauge suburban light railway in the suburbs of Zürich that shares tracks with the VBZ urban tram system, also took delivery of its first Tram 2000 vehicles in 1976. These units are slightly wider than their VBZ counterparts, and are non-articulated vehicles operated in permanently coupled pairs with a cab at each end of the pair. They have a Swiss type designation of Be 8/8 and 11 such units were delivered from 1976 to 1986. In parallel with these units, four unpowered driving trailers, of type Bt, were delivered in 1981 and 1982.
Australian railway signalling
Projected traffic density warranted the introduction of additional signal indications. One of these was a small green light under the two main red lights of a Stop signal, indicating Low Speed. The Low Speed indication was provided in the Underground City Railway from its opening on 28 February 1932. The standard speed restriction imposed by train stops with the Low Speed indication was originally 17 mph. However, at some locations, the maximum permissible speed is as low as 5 mph, subject to local conditions. In the Underground City and Eastern Suburbs railway lines, a speed restriction of 30 mph also applies to the Caution indication. The train stops can be seen dropping as the signals step-up to Medium. Closely spaced 'multi home signals', similar to those used on the London Underground, are also a feature of the Underground City and Eastern Suburbs lines. Speed control by intermediate train stops, based on Mr Byles' system, was introduced on the London Underground following the accident at Moorgate on 28 February 1975, in which 43 people were killed. These are spread out along the platform at major stations, mostly on the City Circle. When the signal at the end of platform is at stop, they will only drop when the train reaches a predetermined speed, which is lower as the train gets closer to the end of the platform. The last trip will only drop when the train is at around 5 km/h.
Glacier Express
The Glacier Express (GEX) is an express train connecting railway stations of the two major mountain resorts of Zermatt and St. Moritz in the center of the Swiss Alps. The train is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train, but rather, in the sense that it provides a one-seat ride for an eight-hours-long journey, and omits stops made by local trains. The Glacier Express is known as the slowest express train in the world. As St. Moritz and Zermatt are home to two well-known mountains, the Glacier Express is also said to travel from Matterhorn to Piz Bernina.
Olten–Bern railway
On 12 December 2004, a new high-speed rail line was opened between Mattstetten and Rothrist as part of the comprehensive Rail 2000 project. It is almost long, with one branch to Solothurn and the Jura foot railway line to Neuchâtel, Yverdon and Geneva. The line has a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour and reduced the travel time between major Swiss hubs of Bern, Basel and Zurich to under an hour allowing the regular interval timetable (German: "Taktfahrplan") to be put into effect, where both express and stopping trains on all lines arrive and leave on the hour at Bern and Zurich stations, allowing a great number of convenient connections. The line was the longest new line built in Switzerland since 1926. Construction began in April 1996 and was planned to be completed date in 2005. On 30 April 2004, the last piece of rail was put into place at the Bern-Solothurn canton border at Inkwil on the connection to Solothurn.
Zürich Airport railway station
The station is served by approximately 300 trains per day, formed of a mixture of EuroCity (EC) InterCity (IC) and InterRegio (IR) trains, serving cities throughout Switzerland, as well as Zürich S-Bahn trains on lines S2, S16 and S24. Most trains also serve Zürich Hauptbahnhof, the city's main railway station, with, for most of the day, some 13 trains per hour (tph) taking between 10 and 15 minutes for the journey.
Weinberg Tunnel
The Weinberg Tunnel () is a railway tunnel in the Swiss city of Zürich. The tunnel runs from the western approaches to Zürich Hauptbahnhof railway station, east under the station and city centre before turning north and surfacing on the southern approach to Zürich Oerlikon railway station, and allows trains running between east and west to pass through Zürich without reversal. It includes a new set of underground platforms at Zürich Hauptbahnhof, and carries twin standard gauge () tracks electrified at 15 kV AC 16 2/3 Hz using overhead catenary.
Zürich Underground Railway
A delegation consisting of members of several authorities was organised to realize the concepts proposed in the transportation plan. The city and the canton financed its work with two million francs each, whereas the Swiss Federal Railway contributed 250,000 francs for both the project costs and the costs for the planning of its own facilities. On 24 January 1967 the delegation met for the first time. Among its members were city president Sigmund Widmer, city councillors Ernst Bieri and Adolf Maurer, cantonal councillors Alois Günthard, Rudolf Meier and Hans Künzi, the directors general of the Swiss Federal Railway Otto Wichser and Karl Wellinger, as well as the Swiss Federal Railway district director Max Strauss. Künzi held office as president, Widmer and Weilinger as vice-presidents. Their tasks were diverse: clarification of legal issues, formulation of financing proposals, resolution of matters relating to management and construction, completion of the ongoing transportation plans for the wider region of Zurich, operational concepts and the planned expansion of the regional rail traffic, as well as public information. For this purpose, the delegation established eight task groups.
Zürich Underground Railway
In 1864, one year after the opening of the Metropolitan Railway in London, the "Zürcherische Freitagszeitung" (Zürich Friday Journal) published the visionary idea of a partly underground steam railway that was to go from the main station, along the Fröschengraben and end at Lake Zürich. However, the moat was filled up and became the Bahnhofstrasse instead. At the beginning of the 1930s, the development of the Zürich tramway network was by and large completed and newly built districts became accessible by bus and trolleybus lines. City architect Herbert Steiner, who had developed the Zürich building and zoning regulations in 1948, predicted that 550,000 people would be living in the city. He deemed the disentanglement of traffic streams and the massive expansion of public transport essential in order to realize the ideal of a garden city. However, in his opinion the city was and would always be too small for an underground railway. Architect Armin Meili and geographer Hans Carol held similar views, but due to the imminent post-war economic boom (Golden Age of Capitalism) and mass motorization, their voices remained almost unheard.
Zürich Underground Railway
The publication of the reports caused an intense debate over transport policy. While the expansion of the street network was uncontroversial, the public transport proposals provoked long-lasting discussions. The city council preferred the moderate project suggested by Leibbrand/Kremer. The city parliament, on the other hand, preferred the wide-ranging project suggested by Pirath/Feuchtinger. In 1956, professor Walther Lambert was hired as an additional consultant for network design and operational management. In March 1957, a technical committee was appointed as well. Finally, city council and city parliament reached an agreement to work out an underground project of their own. This task was handed over to a working group, which was led by city councilor Walter Thomann and the director of the VBZ, Werner Latscha. In addition to Kurt Leibbrand, the working group also included representatives of several underground construction and engineering companies. In January 1961, the city council presented a project which consisted of tunnel sections with a total length of 12.3 km. The costs (excluding land acquisition) were estimated at around 329 million Swiss francs. In December of the same year, the city council added a further stipulation: The underground network was to have a length of 21.15 km at a cost of 544 million Swiss francs. As an extension to the original project, sections to Oerlikon and Schwamendingen had been added, as well as smaller modifications in the city centre.
Swissmetro
The trains would have significantly lowered the travel time between major cities in Switzerland. For example, the time between Bern and Zurich could be reduced from the present 60 minutes by intercity train to a mere 12 minutes.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof
The new line runs from the Altstetten railway station, crosses the Zürich HB station throat on a bridge, and leads into the underground Löwenstrasse station. From there, it goes through the new, approximately long Weinberg Tunnel in a long left-hand curve under the existing Zürich HB–Stadelhofen line. It then ends at the level of the portals of the existing "Wipkinger Tunnels" in Oerlikon, where it connects with the northbound lines, including the line to Zürich Airport and Winterthur.
Zürich Underground Railway
In December 2015 two members of local government from the Green Party formally demanded that the government produce a report on the possibilities for an underground network in the area of Zürich. They did not make concrete suggestions as to where exactly the tracks should run, but were adamant that the main station should not be included, in view of the enormous amount of traffic it was already carrying.
Trams in Zürich
All journeys on routes 6, 10 and 12 are operated by low-floor trams, whilst at least every other journey on lines 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14 and 17 are provided by such vehicles. Most, but not all, tram stops are configured to allow passengers in wheelchairs to board low-floor trams.
Zürich Underground Railway
At first, after the rejection of the premetro project, the authorities were puzzled because the result of the referendum did not allow them to draw clear conclusions. In 1963, the city council appointed architect and interior designer Hans Marti as head of the newly created office of urban planning. Even though Marti was in favour of underground rail transport, he was very critical of claims to restructure the city in order to make it an automotive city. He thought it was illusionary that the tram would disappear from the city in the coming decades. The municipal authorities became convinced that the traffic problems could be solved only by regional planning transcending the city's territory, in cooperation with the Canton of Zurich and the confederation of Switzerland. In 1963, the cantonal council of Zürich granted a loan of 935,000 francs to draft overall plans, which, along with several other issues, also made the development of the transport network a subject of discussion. The canton and the city of Zurich, as well as the Swiss Federal Railways formed a coordinating committee in order to develop the transportation plan, which was included in the overall plan.
Zürich S-Bahn
On 30 May 1959 some voters put two proposals to the Zürich City Council. The first would have allocated CHF 200,000 for a study on the construction of a two-line U-bahn (underground railway) with lines from Enge to Kloten and from Altstetten to Tiefenbrunnen; but it was opposed by the majority of the City Council and failed. The second motion proposed the establishment of a company to build and operate a Zürich U-Bahn. The city had already considered such a proposal and opposed it, on the basis that Zürich was not big enough for an underground railway, and it would cost too much. In a referendum on 14 February 1960, 69.8% of voters voted "no" to the proposal.
Canton of Zürich
Railways in standard gauge run through all major valleys in the canton. The centre for transport is Zürich, where a great number of local railways connect to national and international rail links. The railway station of the city of Zürich, Zürich Hauptbahnhof, is one of the busiest in Europe, counting the number of arriving and departing trains. Zürich is well connected to other European cities using rail links. The major trains ICE, TGV and Cisalpino connect to Zürich.
Zürich S-Bahn
The Zürich S-Bahn () system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zürich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Thurgau and St. Gallen), with a few lines extending into or crossing the territory of southern Germany. The network is one of many commuter rail operations in German speaking countries to be described as an S-Bahn.
Zürich Stadelhofen railway station
Zürich Stadelhofen () is an important local railway station in the city of Zürich, on the Zürich-Rapperswil, Zürich-Winterthur, Zürich-Uster lines of the SBB CFF FFS (Swiss Federal Railways). It is also the terminus of the Forchbahn (FB) suburban railway and is served by several lines of the Zürich tram network.
Schweinfurt–Meiningen railway
Since 2004 rail services on the line between Schweinfurt and Meiningen have been operated by the Erfurter Bahn (EB) whose Lower Franconia Shuttle ("Unterfranken-Shuttle"), line EB 4, runs every two hours between Schweinfurt and Mellrichstadt from Monday to Friday and, on Saturday am and Sunday pm, almost hourly. In addition DB "Regionalexpress" trains run every two hours from Erfurt to Schweinfurt (RE 7) (on this section from Ritschenhausen). Since 2008 the DB has used tilting trains which attain speeds of up to 160 km/h. 
The Erfurter Bahn also operates the EB 5 "Regionalbahn" route (the Franconian Saale Valley railway or Fränkische Saaletalbahn) using the "Unterfranken-Shuttle" on the Schweinfurth–Eberhausen line and running it through to Bad Kissingen and Gemünden am Main. The „Unterfranken-Shuttle“ also calls at Schweinfurt-Mitte and Schweinfurt-Stadt via Schweinfurt Hauptbahnhof. The DB uses Class 612 DMUs exclusively whilst the Erfurter Bahn operates Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 multiples.
Electric Tilt Train
Using traction equipment based on the JR Shikoku 8000 series trains, the Tilt Train set an Australian train speed record of north of Bundaberg in May 1999, a record that still stands. This also makes it the fastest narrow-gauge train in the world.
In 2006 the electric sets underwent an $8.3 million refurbishment program at Mayne depot.
Zürich–Winterthur railway
The airport line between Oerlikon and Bassersdorf was inaugurated in 1980. It connects Zurich Airport to the Swiss rail system. Zürich Airport is located below Check-In 3. All long-distance trains between Zürich and Winterthur and S2 S16 and S24 services run on this line.
ICE 1
Starting 29 May 1995, ICE 1 trains were allowed to travel at their top speed of 280 km/h. This was used on ICE line 3 (Hamburg–Frankfurt–Basel) in conjunction with other measures to cut travel time by a total of 17 minutes. This significantly improved the trains' connections for Switzerland's synchronized timetable. In 1998, the top speed was again lowered to 250 km/h. Since mid-2006, single ICE 1 services on the Nuremberg-Munich high-speed rail line travel at 280 km/h. In 2008, the ICE 1 service ICE 783 uses its top speed on the Hanover–Würzburg line.
Zürich Hauptbahnhof
Underneath the Bahnhofplatz and the station is the large underground shopping centre called "ShopVille" of over 200 shops or other businesses. It benefits from the Swiss employment law rule that while generally labour on Sundays is not allowed, it is allowed in "centres of public transport". The huge underground "Rail City" is, therefore, usually bustling on Sundays even while the streets of Zurich are largely empty.
Zürich S-Bahn
The new "Gold Coast Express" service operated a regular schedule every half-hour, with the total journey time for the distance of reduced from the previous 60 to 40 minutes. The most striking feature of the improved railway was the three-car claret-coloured RABDe 12/12 electric multiple units. These had good acceleration and braking performance and immediately became known as "Mirages", after the jet fighters. The modern features of the Mirages included automatically closing doors, which allowed short stops at stations and a reduction in travel time.
Intercity-Express
The Intercity-Express (formerly InterCityExpress and commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Austria, Denmark, France, Switzerland, and Germany and surrounding countries. It is the highest service category of rail offered in Europe and is the flagship train of the German state railway, Deutsche Bahn. There are currently 259 trainsets in use. ICE trains are the highest category (Class A) trains in the fare system of the Deutsche Bahn. Their fares are not calculated on a fixed per-kilometre table as with other trains, but instead have fixed prices for station-to-station connections, levied on the grounds that the ICE trains have a higher comfort level than ordinary trains. Traveling at speeds up to 320 km per hour, they are tailored for business travellers or long-distance commuters and are marketed by Deutsche Bahn as an alternative to flights.
Transport in Switzerland
In response to the increasing need for transport capacity and the cost of ground surface infrastructures, an underground transportation system has been proposed and studied. The trains would use linear motor and magnetic levitation to reach speeds about 500 km per hour. The project is not likely to be realized in the near future, but a license for application has been deposited for a trial line between Geneva and Lausanne.
Stadler NExT
The Niederflur-Express-Triebzug (NExT, ) is an electric multiple unit light commuter train developed by Stadler Rail for the Swiss "Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn" (RBS) railway. With a top speed of 120 km/h, it is the fastest metre gauge train in Switzerland.
Passenger rail transport in China
'Z' trains, though their name in Chinese () technically implies a "non-stop" overnight train, some of these trains have several stops between the two stations. The majority have both soft sleepers and hard sleepers, while some Z trains have only soft sleepers. The top speed is 160 km/h. It uses the numbers Z1-Z9998 without regard to the number of railway bureaus entered.
Victoria line
The Victoria line runs faster trains than other Underground lines because of fewer stops, ATO running and modern design. Train speeds can reach up to . A popular way for locals in north London to visit the West End is to take the Northern line onto the Bank branch, change across platforms at Euston, and continue on the faster Victoria line trains. The original signalling has now been replaced with a more modern ATO system from Westinghouse Rail Systems incorporating 'Distance to Go Radio' and more than 400 track circuits. The track operator, London Underground Limited, claimed that this is the world's first ATO-on-ATO upgrade. The new system allowed a revised timetable to be introduced from February 2013, initially allowing up to 33 trains per hour instead of 27. This in combination with new, faster trains increased the line's capacity overall by 21%, equivalent to an extra 10,000 passengers per hour.
SBB-CFF-FFS RABDe 500
The RABDe 500 (often nicknamed ICN for Intercity-Neigezug, German for Intercity Tilting Train), is a Swiss passenger train which was introduced in 2000, in time for Expo.02 held in western Switzerland in 2002. Its maximum speed is , which can be reached on the Mattstetten–Rothrist new line; the RABDe 500 uses the branch to Solothurn only; the ICNs reach 200 km/h in the new Gotthard Base Tunnel. The train sets were a joint development by Bombardier, Swiss Federal Railways and Alstom, with an aerodynamic body designed by Pininfarina, bogies and tilting mechanism designed by the then SIG, Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft.
Zürich Underground Railway
On 30 May 1959, another committee handed in two civic appeals concerning the "realization of the Zürich underground on behalf of all voters". The first one addressed the city parliament (legislative authority) asking for the provision of 200 000 Swiss Francs that would be used for a report on two underground lines (Enge – Kloten and Altstetten – Tiefenbrunnen), with a total length of 19.7 kilometres. Since that type of appeal falls under the responsibility of the city council (executive authority), it was dismissed. The second one instructed the city council to solve traffic problems, in a way it would have enabled establishing an operating company for the Zürich underground on a public economical basis. As the city council had already commissioned a report for similar routes, it advised the voters to turn that request down. In the following election campaign there were several opinions saying that the plans were unrealistic and not properly thought through. According to them, Zürich didn't have the required size for an underground system and the costs ware too high. On election day, 14 February 1960, 69.8% (48'502: 20'944 votes) voted against the Zurich underground.
Rail 2000
In parallel with the Rail 2000 projects, the NRLA project is upgrading the two major railway lines through the Swiss Alps: the Gotthard railway (including the new Gotthard Base Tunnel and the Ceneri Base Tunnel) and Lötschberg line (including the new Lötschberg Base Tunnel). The upgrade of Gotthard will shorten the journey between German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino by an hour. The Lötschberg base tunnel was opened in 2007, making a trip from Zürich to the canton of Valais in less than two hours possible; it has shortened the journey between Bern and Brig and Italy by about a quarter of an hour.
Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car
The modern Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car has a top station opposite the one of the German Eibsee Cable Car system. It has a length of 3600 metres and an elevation gain of 1725 metres. The Tyrolean Zugspitze Cable Car runs over three aerial lift pylons. The double track ropes have a diameter of 62 mm each, and the hauling rope has a diameter of 38 mm. It runs on 2 x 500 kilowatts of power, generated in the valley station. The journey normally takes less than 10 minutes at a speed of 36 km/h. The tramway's two cabins can accommodate 100 persons each and have a transport capacity of 730 persons per hour each way.
Dietikon railway station
For most of the day, line S3 provides 2 train per hour (tph) to Zürich and Wetzikon and 1 tph to Lenzburg and Aarau. Line S12 provides 2 tph to Zürich and Winterthur and 2 tph to Baden and Brugg. Line S17 provides 2 tph to Wohlen, with an additional 2 tph as far as Bremgarten on weekdays only. Line S19 provides 2 tph to Zürich and Effretikon, with some peak hour trains extended in the opposite direction to Koblenz. Additionally there is a single InterRegio train per hour between Zurich Airport and Basel SBB that calls at Dietikon in both directions.
High-speed rail in Europe
To address transalpine freight and passenger bottlenecks on its roads and railways, Switzerland launched the Rail2000 and NRLA projects. The first stage of the Rail2000 project finished in 2005, included a new high-speed rail track between Bern and Olten with an operating speed of 200 km/h. The NRLA project has built faster north-south rail tracks across the Swiss Alps by constructing base tunnels several hundred metres below the level of the old tunnels. The 35 km Lötschberg Base Tunnel opened in 2007 where New Pendolino trains run at 250 km/h. The 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel (Top speed 250 km/h) was opened in 2016. The second stage of Rail2000 includes line upgrades in canton Valais (200 km/h) and between Biel/Bienne and Solothurn (200 km/h). The start of work is planned for 2012–2016.
Zürich Hardbrücke railway station
The station is a major node in the Zürich S-Bahn system, served by lines S3, S5, S6, S7, S9, S11, S12, S15 and S16. All trains from Hardbrücke station operate via low-level platforms 41-44 at Hauptbahnhof, continuing to Stadelhofen station through the Hirschengraben Tunnel. They provide, for most of the day, 16 trains per hour (tph) to or from these central Zürich stations.
Zürich S-Bahn
Following further work and the enactment of a new transport act, the regional public transport authorities presented a new proposal for a combined regional U-Bahn and S-Bahn system, with the latter being a railway network centred on a tunnel under the city centre, which would connect to existing suburban railway lines. From Zürich Airport, an U-Bahn line would run via Glattbrugg, Oerlikon, Hirschenwiesen, Central, Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Stauffacher and Altstetten to Dietikon. Much of the line would have run above ground. The second part of the proposal was the "Zürichberg network", a line from Zürich Hauptbahnhof via a new tunnel under the Zürichberg to Dietlikon to the northeast (not to be confused with Dietikon, which lies to the west of Zürich). The proposed construction of an underground station in Museumstrasse on the north side of the Hauptbahnhof was intended to ease the pressure on the Hauptbahnhof. On 20 May 1973 this proposal was rejected in a referendum, with the "no" vote as high as in the previous referendum. At the referendum, little opposition had been expressed against the proposed S-Bahn lines.
Lake Zürich left-bank railway
The left-bank railway opened in 1875 and forms part of the Zürich–Chur main line. It is long, standard gauge, double track and electrified at supplied by overhead line. Between Zürich and Thalwil, the line originally shared its tracks with the Zürich–Lucerne main line, although many through trains on this stretch now use the Zimmerberg Base Tunnel rather than the lakeside line.
London Post Office Railway
Postal Telegraph and Telephone (Switzerland) () opened the Post-U-Bahn (underground railway) in Zürich in 1938. It ran between Zürich Hauptbahnhof and the Sihlpost (), Zürich's main post office. The track gauge was 60 cm, and the small electric railcar, which could carry 250 kg of mail, collected power from wires between the tracks. Operations ceased on 11 October 1980 when a rubber-tired system replaced the train.
Jungfrau Railway
The Jungfrau Railway (, JB) is a metre gauge ( gauge) rack railway which runs from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch (), between the Bernese Highlands and the Valais in Switzerland. The railway runs almost entirely within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains and containing two stations in the middle of the tunnel, where passengers can disembark to observe the neighbouring mountains through windows built into the mountainside. The initial open-air section culminates at Eigergletscher (2,320 m), which makes it the second highest open-air railway in Switzerland. The line is electrified at 3-phase 1,125 volts 50 Hertz, and is one of four lines in the world using three-phase electric power.