Arosa Railway stations
The overview of the Arosa Railway stations describes all existing and former stations , stops and other service points on the Chur – Arosa railway line . All operating stations and stops are served by the line's scheduled regional trains. Some of them offer connections to other public transport.
history
As part of the construction of the Arosa Railway (1912–1914), the then stock corporation Chur – Arosa-Bahn (ChA) put out a competition for the construction of buildings along the railway line. A jury consisting of two independent architects and the chief engineer of railway construction, Gustav Bener, was appointed to assess the submitted proposals . Eight companies took part in this tender and submitted plans for the car depot in Chur , the five intermediate stations in Schanfigg and the station building in Arosa . Since the Chur terminus was on Bahnhofplatz by the existing SBB station building , no new building was necessary here. Otto Manz from Chur was awarded the works depot on the sand , Alfons Rocco from Aros was allowed to build the intermediate stations and the Zurich architects Meier and Arter received the high-rise buildings of the Aroser train station.
The station building of the Schanfigg intermediate stations
For the intermediate stations Lüen - Castiel , St. Peter - Molinis , Peist , Langwies and Litzirüti , architect Rocco had developed a new type of standard construction. If stations of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) usually have elongated structures, this is due to the practicality, because this construction method offers significant advantages for the handling of goods. Rocco directed his station buildings less towards a pronounced handling of goods, but rather placed a residential building with an attached small goods shed in the architectural focus. The five chalets he created not only stand out because of their eye-catching geranium decorations , they also blend in well with the surrounding landscape and the construction that is common in the valley, which is why they have received high recognition from the Swiss Homeland Security . Because the station buildings were well known, the Swiss Post issued a special postage stamp on August 1, 1947 for the Swiss National Day , depicting the Lüen-Castiel train station.
The intermediate stations, all of which have three floors and are no longer staffed, rest on a brick base. The building, a knitted structure , rises above this base and is covered with a slightly projecting gable roof. The facade of the residential part has a symmetrical shape with a central balcony. The roof has a noticeable size, especially since it is pulled further on the side of the attached goods shed as a towing roof . Its protrusion fulfills the function of a platform roof on the track side .
The waiting room , the station office and the goods shed were located on the three-part ground floor . The two upper floors of the building served as apartments for the station board , with the first housing the kitchen and living room. In the goods shed, Rocco built a small pantry that can be entered from the first floor. Three other rooms are on the second floor, and each of them has a window. The inscriptions attached to the main façade refer to the rural surroundings and contain appropriate sayings , partly framed by the year 1914 and supplemented by the respective height information. Depending on the location and the local conditions, the buildings were partly designed with mirror symmetry to one another. The stations all have modern ticket machines, standard station clocks mounted across the main facade and identical stone trough fountains with cast-iron drinking cups attached to a chain.
The costs for the intermediate stops were 24,000 Swiss francs each , the total insurance value in 1915 was 395,000 Swiss francs. The station addresses that still exist today in old German script were supplemented in the 1960s by illuminated white-blue plastic addresses, which were later also provided with the RhB logo. Since the intermediate stations were not operated, the buildings have been rented out as residential buildings, but are still owned by the RhB. In 2013, with a view to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Arosa Railway, the company invested two million francs in the refreshment of the station buildings. In addition to painting the facades, the renovation work also included repairing the pitched roofs, asphalt surfaces, waiting rooms, toilet facilities and electrical installations.
The stations had sidings right from the start, and operations were initially carried out using a graphical timetable, telephone and telegraph, but without signals. In the 1960s, the sidings were extended to 145 meters to increase capacity at all stations and crossings.
Current operating locations
Chur train station
| Chur train station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | Train station with SBB / RhB main network |
| Number of tracks: | 2, on Bahnhofplatz |
| IBNR : | 8509000 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Modification: | 2008 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 51 '12.3 " N , 9 ° 31' 47.2" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 584 m |
| Kilometre: | 0 |
| Operations building: | right |
At Chur train station , the departure point of the Arosabahn is located on Chur Bahnhofplatz , right next to the reception building of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) from 1858, which was converted in 2008. It is operationally integrated into the corresponding localities and has two tracks with covered side platforms. The platform roof of platform 1 is shared with the neighboring Chur city bus operators. The overall infrastructure also includes a park-and-ride underground car park and bicycle shelters. The station next door is also served by the lines of the SBB and the RhB and supplemented by all bus lines in city traffic.
The systems for the Arosabahn were opened with the start of rail operations on December 11, 1914. Until 2007, the Arosabahn tracks were in the middle of the station square. In 1927 these, including the sidings, were enlarged so that the trains could be put together before departure without having to block the passage of individual traffic. At the same time, the station square was paved with cobblestones . In 1938 the tracks were lengthened by seventy meters in the direction of the Engadinstrasse and connected with a special tram switch. In 1984/85 the track system was rebuilt. A major project to tunnel under the Arosa Railway at Chur station had to be abandoned in 1996 due to a lack of federal subsidies that had already been promised. In 2007, the double-track route on the Engadinstrasse was extended until shortly before the confluence with Grabenstrasse. There is a connecting track to the main RhB network.
Chur Altstadt stop
| Chur Altstadt stop | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | bus stop |
| Number of tracks: | 1 |
| IBNR : | 8509150 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Laying: | around 2002 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 50 '51.3 " N , 9 ° 31' 50.5" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 595 m |
| Kilometre: | 0.726 |
| Operations building: | right |
The Chur Altstadt stop (until December 8, 2018: Chur Stadt ) is located on Plessurquai opposite Lindenquai, directly adjacent to the historic old town. The stop has a simple open shelter with uncovered seating, a ticket machine and an electronic notice board. The track is on the right side of the street. Since the construction of a traffic roundabout on the Obertorbrücke in 2010, road traffic on the route to the Metzgerbrücke has only been permitted from Arosa, which makes train operations much easier. There are parking spaces for cars and bicycles at the Arcas and Lindenquai car parks . The city bus does not serve the stop, although line 9 (Bahnhof - Meiersboden ) runs right past it. The Swiss Post has its own "Stadt" stop a little further up on Jochstrasse on its Postbus line to Schanfigg.
Until the Praximerbrückli pedestrian passage was built in the 2000s, the Chur Stadt stop was around 80 meters further up the river, right next to the Metzgerbrücke at the entrance to the Arcas. This regularly led to a temporary blockage of car traffic. There was no waiting shelter, only a ticket machine and a validator . After the approval of an extensive loan for tunneling under the Arosa Railway in Chur in 1988 by the city's electorate, the former quay wall there was emblazoned in white for years with the critical slogan tunnel bunker – millionaire .
Service station Untersax
| Service station Untersax | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | Crossing point |
| Number of tracks: | 2 |
| Opening: | June 1926 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 50 '1.3 " N , 9 ° 34' 55.8" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 782 m |
| Kilometre: | 5.826 |
| Operations building: | Left |
The Untersax service station is located between the Saxer Nase tunnel and the Calfreisertobel viaduct. It is a pure crossing point. It was put into operation in June 1926 to improve timetable stability and to guarantee connections to the SBB in Chur. The service station has a small wooden service and shelter with two doors and a short stump track leading to the Calfreisertobel viaduct. A footpath connects the crossing point via the former Untersax settlement in the middle of the forest with the Maladerser district of Sax on Schanfiggerstrasse . Regardless, the service station was never used as a stop.
Lüen-Castiel train station
| Lüen-Castiel train station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | railway station |
| Number of tracks: | 2 |
| IBNR : | 8509152 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 49 '54.6 " N , 9 ° 36" 48.6 " E |
| Height above d. M .: | 938 m |
| Kilometre: | 8.727 |
| Operations building: | Left |
| Freight shed: | Left |
| Motto: | "Where there's a will, there's a way." |
The Lüen-Castiel station is the first of the aforementioned, typical Schanfigger intermediate stations and, next to the Litzirüti station, one of the two crossing points with a basic 60-minute cycle . It is around 50 meters above sea level below the small settlement of Lüen, with which it is connected via a narrow road. The second town, Castiel, served by this station is around 240 meters above the train station, which has already proven to be disadvantageous for the residents there when the railway opened. Therefore, Castiel from Chur was soon connected to postbus courses. The station to the left of the tracks has no connection to other public transport and parking is limited at the small station square. Shortly before Lüen-Castiel there is a 50 percent steep funicular railway on the right at kilometer 8.1 , which has its own temporary stop and leads down to Arosa Energie's Lüen power station . This is where the electricity for the Arosa Railway was produced until the contact wire voltage was changed in 1997. The Lüen-Castiel station, which has not been staffed since 1985, has a short stump track in addition to the two tracks .
St. Peter-Molinis station
| St. Peter-Molinis station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | railway station |
| Number of tracks: | 2 (formerly 3) |
| IBNR : | 8509153 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 49 '44.6 " N , 9 ° 39" 13.8 " E |
| Height above d. M .: | 1157 m |
| Kilometre: | 12.722 |
| Operations building: | right |
| Freight shed: | right |
| Motto: | "Do not fear the world, attack bravely." |
The St. Peter-Molinis train station marks the approximate half of the route of the Arosa Railway. It is also located almost exactly between the towns of St. Peter and Molinis above and below, respectively, on a narrow, recently widened connecting road. This crosses the tracks as a barrier-free level crossing secured with light and sound signals and continues as a public forest road, which is closed in winter, to the other side of the valley to Tschiertschen . Due to its remote location from the train station, St. Peter was also opened up over the course of time by public postbus courses from Chur. The station St. Peter-Molinis was for a long time the scheduled crossing station of the railway. In the course of the changeover of the contact wire voltage, the track systems were significantly lengthened and the former central track was removed in favor of a stump track on the edge of the station square. This is mainly used for loading wood. During the winter and summer seasons, there is also a public bus connection from the train station to the sports and leisure area Hochwang above St. Peter-Pagig on weekends . The station area offers a limited space for parking. Since 1985 the St. Peter-Molinis station has not been manned by railway personnel either.
Peist station
| Peist station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | railway station |
| Number of tracks: | 2 |
| IBNR : | 8509154 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 49 '46.7 " N , 9 ° 40' 18.4" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 1244 m |
| Kilometre: | 14.353 |
| Operations building: | Left |
| Freight shed: | Left |
| Motto: | "Time is running out, man, be ready." |
The Peist train station is about 90 meters below the village of the same name. It has also not been managed by a station director since 1985 and can only be reached from above through a narrow and winding access road. There is no direct connection to the post bus connection, which has existed from Chur to the Peist village square for around 30 years. On the slope behind the station building there is an artificial amphibian and plant biotope . An approximately 350-year-old ash tree with a trunk circumference of 9.25 meters on the station premises was freed of fungi and other biological infestation in autumn 2013 on behalf of the Rhaetian Railway. There are hardly any parking spaces available at Peist train station.
Langwies train station
| Langwies train station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | railway station |
| Number of tracks: | 3 |
| IBNR : | 8509155 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 49 '11.9 " N , 9 ° 42' 24.1" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 1317 m |
| Kilometre: | 17,900 |
| Operations building: | Left |
| Freight shed: | right |
| Motto: | “Time paves up and down, but it hurries; understand them and create. " |
Langwies train station is located on the southeast corner of the Lower Wis . The local agricultural milk center is right behind it. The settlement area of Langwies Platz extends down to the train station. This is one of the reasons why Langwies - like the entire upper Schanfigg - does not have an alternative post bus connection. The Bahnhofstrasse leading to the station crosses the railway line, visually and acoustically secured, and continues in the direction of Palätsch-Gründji. The Gründjitobel Viaduct is located there , surrounded by bizarre erosion formations . The artificially constructed planum of the Langwies train station served as an installation site for the adjacent Langwieser viaduct . A hiking trail leads via Dürrboden along the Plessur to Litzirüti. In addition to Arosa station, the Langwies station has the most extensive track systems on the Arosa Railway, which were completely renewed in 1971; In addition to three continuous tracks with two narrow platforms, it also has two stump tracks. Until recently, Langwies train station was the last manned train station between Chur and Arosa. Like most other Schanfigg train stations, it has a few parking spaces but no connection to any other public transport. The Langwies station, alongside the Arosa station, would be a possible starting point for a currently visionary railway connection between Schanfigg and the Davos landscape .
Litzirüti station
| Litzirüti station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | railway station |
| Number of tracks: | 2 |
| IBNR : | 8509156 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 47 '52.9 " N , 9 ° 42' 10.8" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 1452 m |
| Kilometre: | 20.685 |
| Operations building: | right |
| Freight shed: | Left |
| Motto: | "For progress and traffic, in honor of the Bündnerland." |
Litzirüti station is the last of the Schanfigg intermediate stations on the way to Arosa and, with Lüen-Castiel station, is one of the two scheduled intersections. It is located in the middle of the former Langwieser fraction Litzirüti, directly behind a hotel on Schanfiggerstrasse, which the train crosses shortly before entering the train station. It is the first time since the Chur city area that the railway line has reached the height of the cantonal road . The station has two tracks and a short stump track. There are practically no public parking spaces directly at the train station. Like most other Schanfigg train stations, Litzirüti has not been manned by train staff since 1985. The waiting room and the ward office were converted into a small restaurant some time ago, the so-called Bäsabeizli Litzirüti . This no longer exists since spring 2014. Due to the central location of the train station, the Litzirüti is not served by any other public transport. Litzirüti station was the loading and return station of the Arosa bobsleigh run until the mid-1930s . There are hiking trails in the direction of Arosa, Langwies and Molinis.
Haspelgrube service station
| Haspelgrube service station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | Crossing point |
| Number of tracks: | 2 |
| Opening: | 1937 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 47 '18.4 " N , 9 ° 41' 48.7" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 1582 m |
| Kilometre: | 22.923 |
| Operations building: | right |
The Haspelgrube service station is around 2.8 kilometers from the Arosa terminus between Ronggried and Rütland below the Arosa reservoir . It was set up in 1937 as a crossing point to improve operational flexibility and provided with a 140 meter long siding. This is how it still presents itself today. It is the youngest of all Arosabahn offices. The original small refuge is still standing and bears the year 1937. Right next to it, a larger service building made of exposed concrete was built later . The service station is located directly on the Blau Rüfi, a highly erosive area where the Plessur broke through a prehistoric landslide from the Chlein Furggahorn. At the upper end of the passing point, the Usserwaldweg (Alte Poststrasse) coming from Arosa crosses the railway at an unsecured crossing.
Arosa train station
| Arosa train station | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | railway station |
| Number of tracks: | 3 |
| IBNR : | 8509157 |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Modification: | 1964-68 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 47 ′ 3 " N , 9 ° 40 ′ 45.8" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 1739 m |
| Kilometre: | 25,681 |
| Operations building: | both sides |
Arosa train station is the terminus of the Arosa Railway. It is located at 1739 m between the eastern slope of the Tschuggen and the Obersee , not far from the Arosa post office and the former English Church . After the St. Moritz train station, it is the RhB's highest terminus. The stylish original reception building had to give way to a sober new building in the 1960s. There is also a goods shed, a goods loading station and a shed on the left side of the track. The station has three driving and various stump tracks as well as two platforms. It offers a connection to both lines of the local bus network as well as to the Weisshornbahn . Parking is available at the nearby Obersee car park. The barrier system below the Untersee on Iselstrasse and the concrete plant there with its own stump track as well as other railway facilities can be counted as part of the expanded infrastructure of Arosa station . In view of the 100th anniversary of the Arosabahn, the system was redesigned by December 2014 for over 24 million francs. The extensive modernization was a cooperation between the RhB, the canton of Graubünden, the municipality of Arosa and Arosa Bergbahnen AG.
Closed operating points
Sand depot and workshop
| Sand depot and workshop | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | Railway depot / workshop, crossing point |
| Number of tracks: | 2, and 6 stump tracks |
| Opening: | December 11, 1914 |
| Closure: | 1997 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 50 '40.9 " N , 9 ° 32' 18.4" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 601 m |
| Kilometre: | 1.415 |
| Operations building: | Left |
Due to a lack of space at Chur train station, the depot and the railway workshop had to be built in the sand at 1.4 km. The facility, planned and implemented by Otto Manz, fits in well with the peripheral urban area despite the impressive size of the building. Based on the rocky surroundings of the nearby Plessurlauf, stone is the dominant building material here, which also had a positive effect on the fire protection measures required for operation.
Initially, the Sand Depot had facilities that made it possible to carry out repairs in almost all areas of technology. Since the opening of the railway, the depot manager and around eight employees have been maintaining the railcars and carrying out internal orders. The merger with the RhB in 1942 brought about technical and economic changes, but the depot's independence was largely preserved until around 1970. After that, certain work was centralized in the RhB main workshop in Landquart . As a result, the tasks of the Sand depot concentrated on the maintenance of the ABe 4/4 railcars , which were stationed there at night. In the winter, three more railcars of the Bernina Railway were added, as well as nineteen railcars that had been specially converted for use for the contact wire voltage of the Arosabahn.
In 1984/85 the tracks in the sand were rebuilt and the siding was extended. With the changeover of the contact wire voltage to eleven kilovolt alternating current in 1997, the Sand depot, which was last called the Chur Sand railway service base , became superfluous and closed. Today it is used by a track construction company to accommodate its vehicles. Regardless of this, there is still an intersection, but it is not used as a stop.
Chur-Sassal stop
| Chur-Sassal stop | |
|---|---|
| Station type: | bus stop |
| Number of tracks: | 1 |
| Opening: | 1922 |
| Closure: | 2001 |
| Coordinates: | 46 ° 50 '17.8 " N , 9 ° 32' 42.3" E |
| Height above d. M .: | 620 m |
| Kilometre: | 2.239 |
| Operations building: | none |
The Chur-Sassal stop was built in 1922. Until Sassal was reunited from Maladers to the city of Chur in 1939, it was located directly in front of the city limits and mainly served to develop the Meiersboden area and the Brandacker area of Maladers. The latter is connected to the former bus stop via a steep, unpaved footpath. The trains stopped at Sassal on request in front of a residential building, immediately before the train left the Sandstrasse. From 1881 to 1966, a 17-meter-long, 4.8-meter-wide and 4-meter-high covered wooden bridge over the Plessur led to the Meiersboden at this point . With the exception of an uncovered bench and a timetable, there was no operational infrastructure. When the area was served by the Chur city bus, the stop was practically no longer used and closed in 2001. Today there is the stop of the same name for city bus line 9 and a set of traffic lights for road traffic.
literature
- Ueli Haldimann , Tibert Keller, Georg Jäger : Experience Chur-Arosa-Bahn - Foray through the Schanfigg , AS Verlag & Buchkonzept AG, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-906055-25-1 , pp. 80, 90.
- Hans-Bernhard Schönborn: The Rhaetian Railway . History and present. GeraMond , Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7654-7162-9 , pp. 122-125.
- Beat Moser, Peter Pfeiffer: Eisenbahn Journal, Die RhB, specials part 3. St. Moritz-Samedan-Zernez-Scuol-Tarasp, Pontresina-Samedan and Chur-Arosa . The electric locomotives of the RhB. Merker, Fürstenfeldbruck 1998, ISBN 3-89610-038-6 (2nd edition 2005: ISBN 978-3-89610-150-1 ), pp. 72-81.
- Hans Danuser : Arosa - as it was back then (1907–1928). Volume 2, self-published by Danuser, Arosa 1998, p. 96.
- Hans Hofmann: Chur – Arosa, from the construction and operation of the railway , second edition, Calanda Verlag H. Hofmann, Chur 1989/93, ISBN 3-905260-11-5 , pp. 68–72, 91–93, 110 f.
- Hans Danuser, Ruedi Homberger: Arosa und das Schanfigg , self-published by Danuser / Homberger, Arosa 1988, p. 131.
- Fritz Maron: Chur – Arosa-Bahn, in: Vom Bergbauerndorf zum Weltkurort Arosa , pp. 108-134, Verlag F. Schuler, Chur 1934, p. 123.
- Marcel Just, Christof Kübler, Matthias Noell (eds.): Arosa - Die Moderne in den Berge , gta Verlag, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-85676-214-8 , p. 14.
Web links
- Former tracks at the Chur station square
- Commissioned by Jenny for the preparation of a suitability and feasibility study for a Schanfigg - Davos rail tunnel
- Information about the architect Alfons Rocco
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Hofmann: Chur – Arosa, from the construction and operation of the railway , second edition, Calanda Verlag H. Hofmann, Chur 1989/93, ISBN 3-905260-11-5 , p. 68.
- ↑ Information from the Cantonal Library of Graubünden on the Lüen-Castiel reception building. Accessed on September 19, 2013.
- ↑ RhB stations on the Arosalinie get their anniversary dress. Accessed on September 19, 2013.
- ↑ Beauty treatment for record ash
- ↑ Jenny commissioned to work out a suitability and feasibility study for a Schanfigg - Davos rail tunnel from October 21, 2008.
- ↑ Southeastern Switzerland . October 5, 2012, pp. 1, 3.
- ^ Aroser newspaper . No. 40 of October 5, 2012, pp. 1-3.
- ↑ Aroser Zeitung of June 24, 2016, p. 23.