Davos Platz – Filisur railway line

Davos-Filisur
Shuttle train with Ge 4/4 II on the Wiesen Viaduct
Timetable field :	915
Route length:	19.303 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	11 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	35  ‰
Legend from Landquart 49.978 Davos place 1540 m above sea level M. Landwasser (40 m) Connection of waste disposal 51.860 Davos Islen 1516 m above sea level M. Connection of the Davos gravel works Land water 53.291 Davos Frauenkirch 1505 m above sea level M. Connection to the armory Land water 56.318 Davos Glaris 1454 m above sea level M. Taverna (319 m) Rotschtobel (200 m) 60.144 Davos Monstein 1347 m above sea level M. Melting floor (50 m) Eistöbeli (240 m) Silberberg (964 m) Bromobenz I (113 m) Bromobenz (43 m) Bromobenz II (232 m) Bärentritt (969 m) Bear step (10 m) Meadows I (450 m) Lehnen Viaduct (39 m) Meadows II (96 m) 64.642 Davos meadows 1197 m above sea level M. Wiesen Viaduct (204 m) Matja (250 m) Cavja I (24 m) Cavja (131 m) Cavja II (66 m) Schönboden (235 m) Schönboden I (32 m) Schönboden II (32 m) Buel (52 m) Plant Garden I (30 m) Plant Garden II (37 m) Lehnen Viaduct (31 m) Albula Railway from Thusis 69.281 Filisur 1080 m above sea level M. Albula Railway to St. Moritz

The Davos Platz – Filisur railway is a meter-gauge Swiss narrow-gauge railway . It is operated by the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) and has been connecting the health resort of Davos with Filisur on the Albula Railway since 1909 . It thus represents the continuation of the Landquart – Davos Platz railway line . Apart from the stations, the line is a single-track line and has been electrified since 1919.

description

"Bear step" in the Zügen Gorge. An Allegra crosses the Brüggentobelbach

The route begins at Davos Platz train station and initially leads through the southern part of the Davos landscape. Outside of Davos Platz, the Landwasser is first crossed on a bridge. A short time later you first pass the siding to the waste handling facility and a little later the former Islen stop, before the route runs south on a long straight straight next to the river. The gravel works connection branches off in front of the Frauenkirch station , before the route changes over to another bridge to the western side of the river.

At the level of the Glaris mill , the Landwasser is crossed again on another bridge and shortly afterwards it is crossed under the Landwasserstrasse. After the Glaris station, the valley becomes increasingly narrow before the railway line reaches the wild Zügen Gorge shortly after Davos Monstein , which is passed with the help of various engineering structures. Immediately behind the Wiesen station , which is far below the actual village, the route runs over the 210-meter-long and 89-meter-high Wiesen Viaduct , and then covers the rest of the route to Filisur far above the deeply cut Landwasser Gorge on a slope.

A total of 14 tunnels with a total length of 4200 meters and 28 bridges will be passed between Davos Platz and Filisur, which is why the route is considered extremely interesting in terms of railway construction - not least because of the famous Wiesen Viaduct .

Immediately south of the Wiesen Viaduct there is also a Hippsche turning disc on the edge of the route , which is no longer used as a signal for rail operations.

A parliamentary initiative in 2008 to connect this line with the Arosa Railway is currently not considered a priority by the Graubünden government in view of the limited financial resources.

Station building

Davos Glaris train station

On the way to Filisur, a shuttle train passed the Hippsche Wendescheibe on the Wiesen Viaduct in 2008

The architectural style of the station buildings is largely uniform. These are two-storey, dark brown wooden buildings with an integrated goods shed on the north side, with the roof ridge running parallel to the tracks at the ends of the building usually protruding a little further over the gable . Another characteristic feature is the balcony above the service rooms, which is located on the short side of the building under the extended roof and is often decorated with flower boxes. The goods ramp on the other side is also protected from the weather by a roof that is extended to the side in the area of ​​the goods shed. The windows on the upper floor are framed by green shutters .

The station building in Davos Monstein, which does not have an attached goods shed and is therefore much smaller, almost rectangular, is slightly different from this uniform design. In addition, the gable here points to the tracks, so it is turned by 90 degrees compared to the other reception buildings along the route. Nevertheless, you can also find the dark wood color here in combination with the characteristic green shutters.

The station buildings of Frauenkirch, Monstein and Wiesen are to the west, the one in Glaris to the east of the tracks.

All intermediate stations are no longer manned by railway staff, but the waiting room on the ground floor is still accessible to passengers in all buildings during the day.

At the Davos Islen stop, which is no longer served, there is a much simpler shelter with a flat roof, which is now used for other purposes.

Vehicle use

A Regio leaves the Wiesen station in the direction of Filisur with the locomotive ahead

The route is mainly used by regional trains in regular intervals. Every hour between 6:05 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., the Regios need around 25 minutes in each direction. Through the use of multiple units or shuttle trains , which do not have to move the locomotive at the terminus, and due to a short turn in Filisur, there is usually no regional train crossing at the intermediate stations on the route. Locomotives of the class Ge 4/4 iii 641 to 652 and multiple units of the class Abe 8/12 3501 to 3515 are used.

In addition, the RhB offers seasonal non-stop trains that run from Davos via Filisur, the Albula Railway and the Bernina Railway to Tirano , Italy . The 2014 timetable includes a Bernina Express to Tirano in the morning and one coming from Tirano in the afternoon, which will cross regional trains at 10:09 a.m. in Davos Wiesen and at 6:38 p.m. in Davos Glaris.

There is also occasional freight traffic on the route. There are freight sidings along the route for waste collection in Davos Islen and for the gravel works and armory in Davos Frauenkirch.

literature

• Rhaetian Railway (Ed.): Rhaetian Railway today - tomorrow - yesterday . Publishing group (Desertina Verlag, Disentis; Verlag M & T-Helvetica, Chur; Terra Grischuna Verlag, Bottmingen) 1988, ISBN 3-907036-08-5 (Festschrift for the 100th anniversary of the railway)
• Hans-Bernhard Schönborn: The Rhaetian Railway, past and present , GeraMond 2009, ISBN 978-3-7654-7162-9
• Eisenbahn Journal, Die RhB, specials parts 1–4, 1995–2000, Hermann Merker Verlag GmbH Fürstenfeldbruck, ISBN 3-89610-038-6 .
• Hans Domenig: From Tingelzüglein to Hochgebirgsbahn , in: Terra Grischuna, 59th year, issue 1, Terra Grischuna Verlag, Chur 2000, ISSN  1011-5196 .
• Katharina Hess, Paul Emanuel Müller: About the wild Plessur , in: Terra Grischuna, 48th year, issue 1, Terra Grischuna Verlag, Chur 1990, ISSN  1011-5196 .

Web links

Commons : Davos Platz – Filisur railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the Rhaetian Railway
• Commissioned by Jenny for the preparation of a suitability and feasibility study for a Schanfigg - Davos rail tunnel

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jenny commissioned to work out a suitability and feasibility study for a Schanfigg - Davos rail tunnel from October 21, 2008.
2. ↑ Graphic timetable 2014 ( memento of November 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at www.fahrplanfelder.ch , accessed on November 6, 2014.