Railway line Appenzell – St. Gallen – Trogen

Appenzell – St. Gallen – Trogen (diameter line)
ABe 8/12 between school house and Notkersegg, in the background the city of St. Gallen.
Timetable field :	855
Route length:	29.72 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	Appenzell – St. Gallen: 1500 volts = St. Gallen school house:  600 volts  = school house Trogen: 1500 volts  =
Maximum slope :	80  ‰
Minimum radius :	25 m
Legend AB from Gossau SG June 20 Appenzell end point S 21 785.6 m above sea level M. AB to Wasserauen Sitter Viaduct (296 m) Hirschberg (64 m) 18.40 Hirschberg 819.9 m above sea level M. 16.12 Assembly point culminating point 928.2 m above sea level M. Cantonal border Appenzell Innerrhoden - Appenzell Ausserrhoden AB from Altstätten SG 13.91 Gais depot and workshop 915.2 m above sea level M. 13.37 Zweibrücken 907.2 m above sea level M. Eggli (planned) 05/12 Beam wood 875.0 m above sea level M. 10.63 Buhler 824.7 m above sea level M. 9.25 Steigbach 811.7 m above sea level M. Goldibach (94 m) 7.16 Deep end point S 22 833.4 m above sea level M. 6.32 Stofel 836.2 m above sea level M. 5.77 Stars at Teufen 831.2 m above sea level M. 5.15 Low level 830.7 m above sea level M. 3.86 Lustmühle 770.7 m above sea level M. Error Profile -0.14 (since 2018) Canton border Appenzell Ausserrhoden - St. Gallen Liebegg 740.3 m above sea level M. 2.22 St. Gallen Riethüsli until 2018 748.6 m above sea level M. 2.01 St. Gallen Riethüsli since 2018 2.0   Beginning of the rack section (until 2018) Ruckhaldetunnel (since 2018) 725 m 1.0   End of rack section (until 2018) SBB from Winterthur and SOB from Wattwil St. Gallen freight yard (from the end of 2022) new route (from the end of 2022) St. Leonards Bridge Access to St. Gallen SGA (until 2018) Track change (since 2018) 0.00 0.00 St. Gallen AB 669.2 m above sea level M. St. Gallen 669.6 m above sea level M. 0.27 St. Gallen Town Hall 669.6 m above sea level M. SBB to Rorschach and SOB to Romanshorn 0.83 St. Gallen market square 667.8 m above sea level M. 1.13 St. Gallen Spisertor 667.8 m above sea level M. 1.75 St. Gallen student house 695.2 m above sea level M. 2.33 St. Gallen pear trees (since 2009) 2.60 St. Gallen Tivoli (until 1982) 754.0 m above sea level M. 3.13 St. Gallen Notkersegg 781.8 m above sea level M. Kurzegg (only downhill) 4.52 Black bear 855.0 m above sea level M. 5.31 Rank (until December 2018) 862.8 m above sea level M. Cantonal border St. Gallen - Appenzell Ausserrhoden 6.50 Vögelinsegg 938.2 m above sea level M. 6.75 Culminating point 956.1 m above sea level M. 7.25 Schützengarten 935.0 m above sea level M. 7.64 Storage depot and workshop 923.7 m above sea level M. 8.48 Bendlehn 927.6 m above sea level M. 9.27 Gfeld 917.4 m above sea level M. 9.80 Trogen end point S 21 S 22 915.3 m above sea level M.

The Appenzell – St. Gallen – Trogen , also known as the diameter line during the renovation , is a meter- gauge narrow - gauge railway in the cantons of Appenzell Inner- and Ausserrhoden and in the city ​​of St. Gallen , which was combined in 2018 from two different branches. The route is considered a tram on various sections, especially in St. Gallen and Teufen . The two branches were built from 1894 to 1904 by the Appenzeller Strassenbahn-Gesellschaft (ASt) and the Trogenerbahn (TB).

With a slope of up to 80 per thousand steepest adhesion line of Switzerland forms part of the meter gauge network of Appenzeller paths (AB), which on their traffic-forming lines are S-Bahn St. Gallen .

Emergence

Predecessor railways

St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell Railway

Appenzell tram train around 1910 in the Ruckhalde.

After electrification, the five BCFeh 4/4 dominated the image of the SGA for fifty years.

The former Appenzeller Tram Company (ASt) opened the line from St. Gallen to Gais on October 1, 1889 , which is popularly known as the Gaiserbahn . The continuation from Gais to Appenzell followed on July 1, 1904. The route had seven rack sections with the Riggenbach-Klose system with a total length of 4.9 kilometers.

On January 23, 1931, electrical operation was started with 1500 volts direct current and the name was changed to St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell-Bahn (SGA). The difficult route with the tight curves required new solutions for the construction of the BCFeh 4/4 electric multiple units for mixed adhesion and gear operation. Between 1978 and 1983, five of the six rack sections could be eliminated by realigning. For the time being, only the nearly one kilometer long rack section remained in the Ruckhalde between St. Gallen and Riethüsli .

→ Main article : St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell-Altstätten-Bahn

Trogenerbahn

Train of the Trogenerbahn shortly after the opening in Speicher

Crossing of two trains in June 1980 in Speicher

The Trogenerbahn (TB) line was opened on July 10, 1903. Originally, the line was electrified with 750 volts direct current. In 1921 the voltage was increased to 900 volts, with the replacement of the converter group in storage with a fully automatic mercury vapor rectifier system in 1928 to 1000 volts. In downtown St. Gallen, the trains run on the tracks of the St. Gallen tram, which was closed in 1957 . Because of the intersections with the city ​​trolleybus , the contact wire voltage is still only 600 volts today.

Despite the modest operating length, the Trogenerbahn was able to survive. The track, which originally ran entirely on the street, has been relocated to a large extent on its own route over the years. With a gradient of up to 76 per mille , the Trogenerbahn was the steepest, narrow-gauge adhesion railway in Switzerland until the Ruckhalde tunnel was opened .

→ Main article : Trogenerbahn

Diameter line

Photo montage with a tango train going to Appenzell from 2018 on the market square in St. Gallen

The five sub-projects for the realization of the diameter line

The Ruckhaldetunnel is the most important structure for the realization of the diameter line. The south portal of the Ruckhaldetunnel and the new Riethüsli stop

Since the 1970s, tunnels between St. Gallen and the Riethüsli district have been planned in order to remove the last rack section between St. Gallen and Appenzell . All of these projects failed due to cost reasons. After the Appenzeller Bahnen (AB) merged with the Trogenerbahn (TB), the Rorschach-Heiden-Bergbahn (RHB) and the Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen (RhW) in 2006 , the Appenzeller Bahnen decided to expand the offer between St. Gallen and depths to 15-minute intervals . This required a reduction in travel time between St. Gallen and Riethüsli, which was only possible by removing the rack section in the Ruckhalde: the “world record curve” in the Ruckhalde, where the narrowest cogwheel curve with a radius of only 30 meters and a gradient of 90 per thousand the world had existed, made it necessary to reduce the speed of the rack entry. In order to eliminate the uneconomical downtimes of the trains in the St. Gallen branch station , the trains on the Appenzell – St. Gallen with the Trogenerbahn by bound , although the two track branches have very different characteristics.

The Appenzell – St. Gallen – Trogen became a key strategic project for the Appenzeller Bahnen. The work required was divided into five sub-projects, of which the St. Gallen train station – Riethüsli section with the approximately 700-meter-long Ruckhalde tunnel was the largest and most complex. In addition to the construction of the new line, further work was necessary. The contact line voltage was adjusted to 1500 V; up to now it was on the Trogenerbahn 1000 V and on the Gaiserbahn 1500 V. The Teufen station received a third track so that, in addition to the regular crossings there, trains can turn around during rush hour . In the St. Gallen AB train station, a track change with a high level of traffic was built with siding and the double lane was extended from the town hall to St. Leonhardsbrücke. To simplify operation, the seven interlockings between Niederteufen and Trogen were replaced by two new systems that contain components of the SiGrid interlocking architecture newly developed by Siemens . SiGrid connects the outdoor facilities with the signal box and supplies them with 750 volts direct current .

The diameter line brings the passengers significant improvements: In addition to the 15-minute intervals between St. Gallen and Teufen, the connections to the intercity trains to and from Zurich will be improved. By eliminating the technically complex and expensive cogwheel route in the Ruckhalde, the newly acquired ABe 8/12 Tango trains can be used with more comfortable and quieter, but also more cost-effective, low - floor rolling stock. The tunnel section of the cross-city line makes six level crossings superfluous, which significantly increases traffic safety in the Riethüsli district.

Construction began in spring 2016. The cantons of St. Gallen , Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden and their municipalities contributed a total of 49 million to the total costs of around 90 million francs , the rest of which was financed by the federal government. Regardless of the diameter line, as part of the renovation of the St. Gallen Bahnhofplatz, which has been taking place since 2015, the square will be provided with a double lane throughout. The new line was opened with a public festival on October 6, 2018 and put into scheduled operation on October 7.

Siemens took advantage of the business interruption to operate a digital interlocking for the first time worldwide in September 2018 . The signal box was operated on a trial basis from the Siemens Wallisellen site via a public data network.
→ Main article digital signal box

Route description

The separation of rail and road has not yet been completed in Teufen.

Train with BDeh 4/4 in 2011 on the Sitter Viaduct near Appenzell

After the cross-city line has left the Innerrhod capital of Appenzell - which is also served by the trains on the Gossau – Wasserauen line of the former Appenzell Railway - it leads over the 296-meter-long Sitter Viaduct to the Hirschbergschleife, which offers a magnificent view of Appenzell and the Alpstein . Along the road, the train reaches the crossing station assembly point after an uphill gradient and after about three kilometers downhill it reaches the entrance of the Ausserrhoder village of Gais . The now own route leads in a narrow 180 ° curve into the Gais station, where the trains traveling over the Stoss to Altstätten wait and the depot and workshop buildings of the former SGA are located.

At the exit from the village, the cross-city line meets the canton road again . The Zweibrücken and Strahlholz stops are on the following slope. Before the village of Bühler , the train changes to the left side of the street. At the Steigbach stop, the trains cross Kantonsstrasse again. After the Goldibach bridge and a short ascent, the cross-city line at the Hotel “Linde” reaches the village of Teufen . Although the railway in Teufen runs largely on its own route, the innumerable junctions and the entrances to the individual houses require the greatest attention from road users. In the spacious station building from 1909, there are shops as well as other tenants such as the cantonal police .

BDe 4/8 23 in 2008 in the downtown area of ​​St. Gallen near the market square

St. Gallen secondary station before the opening of the Ruckhalde tunnel with a train to Trogen on the left of the reception building and to Appenzell on the right of the reception building.

Stofel, Sternen, Niederteufen and Lustmühle are further stops before you reach the St. Gallen district of Riethüsli . By 2018, the train crossings took place in the Liebegg service station, 300 meters from the Riethüsli stop . Since 2018, the Ruckhaldetunnel has been leading down to a gradient of 80 per thousand, around 70 meters in altitude, to the plateau of the once important SBB freight station in St. Gallen. The Ruckhalde tunnel replaced the last remaining rack section with the impressive view of the western parts of the city and the narrow Ruckhalde curve. The tunnel also made the approximately 300-meter-long joint suspension with the St. Gallen trolleybus superfluous. Due to the lower electrical voltage on the trolleybus, both modes of transport were electrically isolated from each other. The section with the leading to St. Leonhard bridge S-curve end 2021 by a new double track section along the SBB line St. Gallen-Winterthur replaced. After crossing under the St. Leonhardsbrücke, the trains reach the so-called St. Gallen secondary station , where a connecting wing allows covered access to the standard-gauge trains of SBB , SOB and Thurbo .

The inner city area begins in the secondary station, where the contact wire voltage is only 600 volts instead of 1500 volts and the diameter line to the Brühltor runs parallel to the St. Gallen trolleybus of the VBSG . This section of the route is fed from a common rectifier station . Originally the trains to Trogen in the city area ran on the tracks of the St. Gallen tram, which was discontinued in 1957 , today this rail infrastructure also belongs to the Appenzeller Bahnen. After the city of St. Gallen took over the track system in 1959, the Trogenerbahn had to dismantle the second track in Bahnhofstrasse between Bahnhofplatz and Schibenertor. The Bahnhofstrasse has only been open to traffic on two lanes again since 1978.

Terminal station Trogen with BDe 4/8 22

A Be 4/8 on the slope between Rank and Vögelinsegg

Even beyond the Brühltor traffic junction, the diameter line is a tram. It runs as far as the Schülerhaus station on a double-lane route in right-hand traffic and on grooved rails in the road surface. However, some of the roads used are only open to other traffic in one direction of travel. The vehicles are also equipped with indicators and - in addition to the typical railway signal whistle - with a bell.

In the further course the railway follows the cantonal road St. Gallen – Speicher – Trogen. From the school house, you have your own track body with Vignole rails . In this section, the route has the character of an overland tram , the train crossings at the passing points take place in left-hand traffic, which is usual on Swiss railways. Originally, the tracks were also integrated into the road throughout this section. From 1953, the tracks were relocated to a separate route with investment aid under the Private Railway Aid Act, and later under the Railway Act . The last section in the village of Speicher, including the train station, was only separated from the road in 1997.

The steep section between the school house and Notkersegg offers a good view of the city of St. Gallen. At the Schwarzer Bären intersection, travelers see the Less pond and, after the Rank stop, Lake Constance. Shortly after the culminating point at the Vögelinsegg battle memorial , the route changes from the left to the right side of the road and arrives at the Schützengarten stop and then at the Speicher station , where the depot and workshop of the former Trogenerbahn are located. After the Bendlehn stop, the railway and cantonal road cross the Sägibach, a side water of the Goldach , and after the Gfeld stop they reach the terminus in the former municipality of Trogen .

Route block system on the St. Gallen – Trogen section

Vögelinsegg, stop, the train driver can request the release of the signal

Exit signal in Trogen. The signal shows stop, the signal cannot be released.

With the block system on the St. Gallen – Trogen section, two trains are allowed to run in sequence in a block section , with the rear train having to run on sight . A busy signal indicates the status of the block section. The train sequence operation was used on major traffic days, such as the last time the Landsgemeinde held in Trogen in 1996, or on weekends with favorable snow conditions. Since the 1990s, the decreasing winter sports traffic could mostly be managed without extra services.

The process is as follows:

• Signal shows stop, without busy signal
  The driver can request the signal with a signal button in the driver's cab.
• The route is blocked, the signal changes to drive.
• After the train has passed, the signal is switched to a stop via a magnetic receiver on the track. The busy signal also lights up.
• Approximately 200 to 300 m after the signal there is another magnetic receiver - the busy signal goes out.
• The next train can now request the signal again, in which case the signal is driving with a busy signal so that the driver knows that he has to follow a priority on sight.

Signal aspect	driving concept	description
	Stop	The busy signal is dark, the driver can request the release of the signal. The horizontal cross is a painted no maneuvering signal .
		Release of the signal not possible. This can have the following reasons: A train ahead is not far enough away from the station. There are already two trains in the relevant section. A train from the opposite direction is on its way. Other reasons: in Speicher train station, for example, there is a level crossing behind the exit signal. The busy signal only goes out when the level crossing is secured.
	Free	Exit from platform 1, the route is free.
		Exit from platform 1, the line is busy. Drive on sight.

business

Until 2018

Crossing of two Be 4/8 in the Schwarzer Bären station (2012)

Before the opening of the Ruckhalde Tunnel, the St. Gallen – Appenzell line was integrated into the St. Gallen S-Bahn as line S 22 . The trains ran every half hour and consisted of a BDeh 4/4 , an intermediate car and a control car . Every second train carried a low-floor control car . In the weekday peak traffic from Appenzell to St. Gallen, an accelerated express train ran there in the morning and back in the evening, which covered the route in 39 instead of the usual 43 minutes. Two morning and several evening trains were replaced by bus routes.

The route St. Gallen Trogen as S 21 was the day in half-hour clock operated with two rounds, while the peak hour was that on a quarter-hour intervals with four Be 4/8 compacted. With the exception of storage, all intermediate stations are demand stops . Crossing is scheduled in the Schwarzer Bären stop, and in rush hour also in Speicher and at the Spisertor . Until mid-1991, the Trogenerbahn handled freight traffic largely as "follower traffic" with passenger trains, and until 2007 there was post transport in freight wagons.

Since the opening of the diameter line

ABe 8/12 “Tango” from 2018 between the meeting point and Hirschberg

In the timetable year 2019 the existing capacity is basically maintained, and with an additional express train Appenzell-St. Gallen added in load direction. The continuous regional trains Appenzell – Trogen are designated as S 21, the connections Teufen – Trogen as S 22. The previous evening bus connections are provided by trains. The two-minute reduction in travel time made possible by the Ruckhalde tunnel enables the train crossings to be relocated from the Liebegg service station to the Lustmühle station, which has been extended for this purpose. The other crossing points on the Gaiser branch are Güterbahnhof, Niederteufen, Teufen and Gais.

From the opening of the Ruckhalde tunnel, all traffic will be handled by eleven 2.40 meter wide Tango articulated multiple units ABe 8/12 , for which the clearance profile of the Trogenerbahn is decisive. The vehicles previously used on the St. Gallen – Appenzell route are 25 centimeters wider. In the case of major maintenance work, care is taken to ensure that vehicles with a width of 2.65 meters can be procured for the next generation change of rolling stock. With the new vehicles, passengers between St. Gallen and Trogen now have two car classes at their disposal for the first time .

Projects

A new double lane at the St. Gallen freight station and an Eggli intersection between Zweibrücken and Strahlholz will allow further reductions in travel times between St. Gallen and Appenzell and improve connections in Gais and Appenzell. The Gais workshop will be replaced by a new service center in Schwende , with only maintenance work and minor repairs being carried out in Speicher.

Trivia

An 88-meter-long section of the Riethalden cogwheel route was stored in 2018 in order to integrate it as a memorial in the residential development planned there.

Web links

Commons : St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell-Altstätten-Bahn SGA  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Trogenerbahn  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Hans Rudi Lüthy-Pavan: The Appenzell tram 1st part , on: www.strassenbahn-europa.at
• History of the Appenzeller Bahnen , on: Homepage of the Appenzeller Bahnen

Remarks

1. ↑ up to 2018: km 2.56; since 2018: km 2.42
2. ↑ up to 2018: km 2.33; since 2018: km 2.19

Individual evidence

1. ^ Freight station north. At www.modernisierung-ab.ch, accessed on August 15, 2018
2. ^ Josef Hardegger: 100 Years of the Gaiserbahn, 1889–1989 . Verlag Schläpfer, Herisau 1989, ISBN 3-85882-063-6 .
3. ^ ^{A b} Peter Willen: Locomotives of Switzerland 2nd narrow-gauge traction vehicles. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1972, p. XLIV.
4. ^ Daniel Brugger: 75 years Trogenerbahn 1903–1978. The history of the Trogenerbahn 1903–1978. Verlag Trogenerbahn, Speicher 1978, p. 23.
5. ↑ Jürg Aeschlimann, Hans Waldburger: Streetcar St. Gallen – Speicher – Trogen; The Trogenerbahn . Prellbock Druck & Verlag, Leissigen 2003, ISBN 3-907579-24-0 .
6. ^ Hans G. Wägli: Schienennetz Schweiz and Bahnprofil Schweiz CH +, in Schuber, AS Verlag Zürich, 2010 ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9
7. ↑ For the first time a train connects Ausserrhoden with Ausserrhoden , NZZ, October 5, 2018
8. ↑ ^{a b c d} Thomas Baumgartner, Alexander Liniger: The Appenzell – St. Gallen – Trogen. (PDF, 1.1 MB) (No longer available online.) Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau , April 2014, archived from the original on August 9, 2018 ; accessed on August 26, 2018 . 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.  
9. ^ ^{A b} Thomas Baumgartner, Lukas Regli: The importance of the Appenzell - St. Gallen - Trogen diameter line for the Appenzell Railways. In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 11/2013. Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , pp. 604-606.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} Jürg D. Lüthard: New infrastructure and new trains for the Appenzeller Bahnen. In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 11/2017. Pp. 583-585.
11. ↑ Jürg D. Lüthard, Mathias Rellstab: "SiGrid" and "SiNet". In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 11/2017. P. 585.
12. ↑ Diameter line brings Appenzellerland an S-Bahn. On: FM1 Today (Online) February 18, 2016
13. ↑ The diameter line can be built. Media release from Appenzeller Bahnen dated November 30, 2015
14. ↑ Dossier Modernization of the Appenzeller Bahnen. Diameter line. In: Tüüfner Post. The village newspaper of Teufen (online). Retrieved September 15, 2018.
15. ↑ The world's first interlocking “in the cloud”. Press release from Siemens Switzerland dated September 4, 2018 (PDF; 22 KB)
16. ^ Daniel Brugger: 75 years Trogenerbahn 1903–1978. The history of the Trogenerbahn 1903–1978. Verlag Trogenerbahn, Speicher 1978, pp. 41-68.
17. ↑ Jürg Aeschlimann, Hans Waldburger: St.Gallen – Speicher – Trogen tram. The Trogenerbahn. From the tram to the S12. Volume 313, Prellbock Druck & Verlag, Leissigen 2003, ISBN 3-907579-24-0 , p. 80.
18. ↑ ^{a b c} Roland Smiderkal: Special signaling for private railways
    These sections are largely based on the Roland Smiderkal website, which is licensed under Creative Commons . The author also points out that use on Wikipedia is expressly permitted under the license conditions there.
19. ↑ Jürg Aeschlimann, Hans Waldburger: St.Gallen – Speicher – Trogen tram. The Trogenerbahn. From the tram to the S12. Volume 313, Prellbock Druck & Verlag, Leissigen 2003, ISBN 3-907579-24-0 , p. 169.
20. ↑ Draft timetable 2019 Appenzell – Gais – St. Gallen – Speicher – Trogen from June 4, 2018. On www.fahrplanentwurf.ch, published by the Federal Office of Transport
21. ^ Mathias Rellstab: The new fleet of the Appenzeller Bahnen is rolling. In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 5/2018. Pp. 275-278.