Winterthur-Grüze train station
| Winterthur-Grüze train station | |
|---|---|
 Grüze station with the unique platform roofs
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| Data | |
| Location in the network | Separation station |
| Platform tracks | 4th |
| abbreviation | WGR |
| opening | 1855 |
| Architectural data | |
| architect | Hans Hilfiker (1955) |
| location | |
| City / municipality | Winterthur |
| Place / district | Oberwinterthur |
| Canton | Zurich |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Coordinates | 698870 / 261 730 |
| Height ( SO ) | 452 m |
| Railway lines | |
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| List of train stations in Switzerland | |
The Winterthur Grüze railway station (452 m above sea level. M. ) is a Winterthur station in the industrial zone Grüze in the district Oberwinterthur . It was built as a separation station and is the largest cargo handling point in Winterthur. The platform roofs of the station are under monument protection and are unique in Switzerland.
The station currently has no direct connection to the city bus network . A corresponding development is being planned.
history
The station was built in 1855 and was first used on October 14th of the same year by the Sankt Gallisch-Appenzell Railway for the Winterthur - Wil route. In 1875 the Tösstalbahn (TTB) was opened, which also ended at Grüze station for the time being. This was thanks to power-political gimmicks, because the TTB, which was subsidized by the state at the time, was a thorn in the side of Alfred Escher's Swiss Northeast Railway and the United Swiss Railway, which was largely financed by the Rothschild bank . In 1875 it was finally possible to fight for the right to use the VSB's railroad tracks by legal action, but was then prevented from using it again at Winterthur main station. Only after a Federal Council decision was it allowed to drive into the main station for an annual fee of CHF 30,000. Because Winterthur-Grüze station was the terminal station of the TTB for so long, extensive track systems were built there.
After the connection of the Tösstalbahn, a large number of industrial companies emerged in the vicinity of the Grüze station, and the station was subsequently also used as a freight station. These included the Swiss nail factory , a stearin factory , the Geilinger metal structures and a petroleum warehouse. Today, the Grüze is still of particular importance for the nearby waste incineration plant as a freight station.
In 1882 the Tösstalbahn finally built its own track to the Winterthur main station. The route from Winterthur HB - Räterschen (the next station in the direction of Wil - St. Gallen) and the route into Tösstal (Winterthur HB - Winterthur-Grüze - Winterthur-Seen and further) were still separated, there was no connection between the tracks.
In 1898 the VSB initiated the joint operation of the Grüze station with the TTB. For this purpose, the track system was simplified again and the VSB built a new bus shelter which still exists today. In 1902 the VSB was nationalized, in 1918 the same happened with the TTB. The Winterthur − Wil railway line was electrified in 1926/27, and the TTB reception building was also fitted with a signal box extension. The SBB substation was built north of the station.
From 1949 to 1953, the Grüze – Räterschen section was expanded into a double track, making the whole route to St. Gallen a double track. The track system in the station was also changed again, among other things the tracks to Winterthur were connected with switches, and in 1953 a new electrical switchgear was put into operation.
Since the introduction of the Zurich S-Bahn in 1990, an hourly S-Bahn in the direction of Lakes and in the direction of Winterthur-Zurich has stopped at Grüze station. Grüze station has been a self-service station since November 2002 and the automated signal box is remote-controlled. With the timetable change in December 2018, another hourly direct S-Bahn connection was added from Zurich to Wil.
architecture
The station has been a separation station since the construction of the Tösstalbahn and forms the branch of the lines coming from the main station to Wil and the Tösstal. Tracks 4–7 are provided with platforms, two tracks in each direction. The remaining platform-free tracks are located on the side of the Tösstallinie except for one siding and are used for freight traffic. Since the station is located in the middle of the industrial area of the same name, a lot of goods were handled at this station in the past. Even today, the station is one of the main cargo handling points of the SBB in the canton of Zurich.
The platform roofs of the station, built in 1955, are unique in Switzerland and are under monument protection. They were developed from 1952 to 1955 as a prototype for new platform roofs by SBB architect Hans Hilfiker , who also designed the famous Swiss station clock. Characteristic of this roof is the central support tube with platform numbers at its ends, from which the roofs on both sides protrude . However, the new roofs were never mass-produced and so the Grüze station remained the only station of its kind in Switzerland. The fact that the roof never went into series production was also due to the construction costs being exceeded.
The station building is located to the southwest of all line tracks.
Expansion plans
In the next few years, some innovations are planned at the Grüze station.
Bus development
The Grüze train station is of central importance for the development of the Neuhegi urban development area . As part of this, improvements are also planned for the Grüze train station. For this purpose, the construction of a bus bridge over the train station is planned, with a stop directly above the tracks, so that passengers should be able to get directly from the platforms to the bus stop. A new bicycle underpass is also planned as part of the upgrading of the station. With the implementation of these expansion plans for the urban development area and the expansion of the S-Bahn service with the fourth partial expansion of the Zurich S-Bahn , the city council expects the number of passengers to multiply to 10,000–15,000 in ten to twenty years.
Grüze-Nord
In a study on rail development in Winterthur from 2013 in Winterthur and in a postulate in the city council, there was also talk of a Grüze-Nord train station. For this purpose, a platform would be built on the railway line to Oberwinterthur station and towards Thurgau. At the moment these plans have been postponed due to the capacities on the route between Winterthur and Weinfelden.
In May 2019 there will be renewed efforts to include the Grüze Nord stop in the next expansion phase in 2035.
Train traffic
S-Bahn lines
The station is served by 4 lines of the Zurich S-Bahn.
- S 12 Brugg - Altstetten - Zurich HB - Stadelhofen - Winterthur - Schaffhausen / Wil (only every hour; shifted every half hour from Winterthur to Schaffhausen )
- S 26 Winterthur - Bauma - Rüti ZH
- S 35 Winterthur - Wil
- S 11 Aarau - Lenzburg - Dietikon - Zürich HB - Stettbach - Winterthur - Seuzach / Sennhof-Kyburg (- Wila ) (only every hour; shifted every half hour from Winterthur to Seuzach )
Night trains
A night train in the direction of Wil von Thurbo passes the station. The Tösstal is served by night buses from Winterthur main station and therefore has no night train.
Security system
The initially manually operated turnouts were replaced by a mechanical signal box at the beginning of the 20th century.
This was replaced in 1953 by an Integra switch mechanism. The new interlocking system was one of the largest switch interlockings in Switzerland, the interlocking was composed of three systems. Routes were set for the trains, the points and signals were set by hand for the shunting runs. The two barrier systems (towards Wil - St. Gallen, and towards Winterthur Seen - Bauma) were hand-operated. In the beginning, barrier guards were at work, later the systems were integrated into the signal box (although you still had to give the opening or closing command).
In the area of industrial and freight tracks, the points are set on site and by hand. On November 17th, 2002 the electronic interlocking of the type ELEKTRA from Alcatel was put into operation.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The big bus bridge still has to go before the people In: Der Landbote from November 17, 2017
- ↑ Grüze station. (No longer available online.) City of Winterthur, Urban Development Department, archived from the original on March 26, 2014 ; accessed on March 26, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Answer to GGR postulate No. 2010/112. (PDF) (No longer available online.) City of Winterthur, October 24, 2012, archived from the original ; accessed on March 26, 2014 .
- ↑ Railway development in Winterthur: Rail-side extension of the public transport high-performance corridor based on the 4th TE S-Bahn Zurich, Management Summary. (PDF) (No longer available online.) SMA and Partner AG, September 16, 2013, archived from the original ; accessed on March 26, 2014 .
- ↑ Deborah Stoffel: Grüze Nord is back in the race . In: The Landbote . May 16, 2019 ( landbote.ch [accessed on May 21, 2019]).
- ^ SBB, Winterthur Grüze: new security system. Bär Bahnsicherung, archived from the original on November 2, 2007 ; accessed on March 26, 2014 .
