Zurich airport line

Zurich Oerlikon – Zurich Airport – Effretikon
The airport line is the thick red line
Route number :	Wägli 750
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	15 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	22  ‰
Legend from Zurich HB 4.7 Zurich Oerlikon to Effretikon via Wallisellen – Dietlikon 5.4 from Wettingen 6.6 to Bülach 7.2 Opfikon Bridges over the Glatt Airport tunnel 1215 m 8.2 Riet, single track to Kloten 8.8 Kloten Balsberg 9.6 Zurich Airport Hagenholz tunnel 2837 m 10.0 11.3 Balls Überwerfung village Nest old route until 1980 14.8 Bassersdorf Brüttener Tunnel (planned) from Oerlikon via Wallisellen Hürlistein overpass 18.3 14.8 16.8 Effretikon to Winterthur

The Zurich airport line is a railway line operated by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), which connects Zurich Airport to the Swiss rail network. It runs as an upgraded and new line from Zurich Oerlikon to Effretikon and complements the Wettingen – Effretikon railway line opened in 1877 . The airport line opened on June 1, 1980.

The route was designed as a long-distance line and only has Zurich Airport as a train station . The two access routes west and east follow existing railway lines, the location and capacity of which have been adjusted. The actual new line consists of the Glattbrugg / Opfikon crossing, the airport tunnel with the underground Zurich Airport train station and the seamlessly connecting Hagenholz tunnel .

history

The history of the route is closely related to the development of Zurich Airport, which opened as an intercontinental airport in 1948. With the steadily growing number of passengers and the resulting traffic problems, ideas came up to develop the airport with a railway line. In preliminary studies it was found that only half of the passengers had the city and the greater Zurich area as their destination, the other half destinations outside the Zurich region. This made it clear that a purely local solution, in the form of a branch line from Zurich Airport, could only skim off a small proportion of the air passengers. In contrast, with a solution that enabled a fast train connection, almost all air passengers would be considered as possible rail passengers. A rail link that enables the express trains between Zurich and Winterthur to stop at the airport was considered the best because the express trains on the east-west axis run here, which more or less automatically cover a large part of the airport's catchment area. This axis already had direct trains that open up the Central Plateau and Eastern Switzerland, which together with Zurich form the main catchment area of ​​the airport. The other option of connecting to the Zurich – Bülach – Schaffhausen route was viewed as less favorable, as the express trains here tend to be oriented on the north-south axis. Eastern Switzerland as well as Olten-Bern would therefore only have been accessible with transfer connections, or new lines would have had to be introduced.

In August 1969, the SBB General Directorate commissioned District Directorate III to work out a project for the two-lane connection to the airport. This connection should be suitable to accommodate the express trains that previously ran from Zurich via Wallisellen to Winterthur.

This decision was made just in time so that the station could be completed together with the third expansion phase of the airport.

The opening took place a year earlier than originally planned. The official ceremony took place on May 29, 1980. Federal Councilor Leon Schlumpf had the honor of cutting the ribbon. Also on May 29, 1980, Queen Elizabeth II of England boarded a special train at Zurich Airport station, which is why she is the first passenger to use the new station and the new route. A plaque in Zurich Airport train station reminds of this.

Route description

The west approach line begins at the east end of Oerlikon station, includes the railway systems in Oberhauserried and ends before the Glattbrugg / Opfikon through-town, where the actual new line begins. In this area there are already the Zurich – Bülach and Wettingen – Effretikon railway lines and the Oerlikon Seebach connecting curve. Here, at the Seebach substation, a real traffic junction with overpass structures was built, which make it possible to better disentangle the various routes. The two previously single-track lines were expanded to double-track. The subsequent crossing of Glattbrugg and Opfikon was used to expand the previously single-lane line to Kloten in this area with two lanes and to create the Opfikon stop at it; the new line came to be parallel to the existing line. In the area of ​​the stop, the previous route was lowered and covered like the newly built airport route running parallel. The airport line then crosses under the railway line to Kloten and at the same time crosses the Glatt. After the ramp construction, the airport tunnel, which was built in the opencast mine, begins, which ends in the arched Zurich Airport train station. The Hagenholz tunnel, which connects seamlessly to the train station, was created using shield driving and leads in an S-shaped loop under the hill that gives it its name. At the Dorfnest service station, between Kloten and Bassersdorf, it reaches the Wettingen – Effretikon railway again . The former single-lane line towards Effretikon has been expanded to double-lane; this section was the approach route east. When the line was expanded, the Bassersdorf train station was relocated 500 meters to the edge of the village, which required a new line of around 2.5 kilometers. This route relocation made it possible to remove seven level crossings in the municipality of Bassersdorf. The railway line from Oerlikon via Wallisellen is reached at the Hürlistein service station. A third track was laid between the Hürlistein service station and Effretikon. The Effretikon train station was also renewed and the track systems adapted.

Construction stages

West approach route

Much of the construction work in this area is not only directly related to the airport line, but should have been carried out without it. The construction of the airport line was a good reason to implement all the planned expansions in the triangle Zurich Oerlikon, Zurich Seebach, Glattbrugg / Opfikon together. With the construction of the Limmattal marshalling yard and the Würenlos – Killwangen-Spreitenbach connecting curve, freight trains from Schaffhausen and eastern Switzerland will no longer use the Käferberg tunnel, but the Furttal route. The previously single-track railway line to Bülach – Schaffhausen should also be expanded to double-track to increase the line. Oerlikon station no longer met the needs and needed modernization. All of these points were added to the construction of an access route to the airport.

Oberhauserried

In Oberhauserried, the SNB - Wettingen – Effretikon line has crossed the BR - Oerlikon – Bülach line since 1877 , initially without any mutual connection. With the takeover of the SNB by the Schweizerische Nordostbahn (NOB), which also owned the BR, a route connection was built in 1881 that made it possible to travel from Zurich Oerlikon to Kloten. In return, the connecting curve ("bankruptcy curve") from Zurich Seebach to Kloten was closed in 1909. This was reactivated by the SBB in 1939. Here, between the north-east head of the Zurich Oerlikon train station and the junction of the Bülacher and Klotener route, the access route to the airport was also to be built. Since all of the old lines were built as single-track lines, there were expansion plans to increase capacity here even before the airport line project. This also with regard to the commissioning of the Limmattal marshalling yard, since the access of the freight trains from Germany (via Bülach) and Eastern Switzerland (via Kloten) was to be through the Furttal. Of course, these plans had to be adapted to the new circumstances. Other structures that had already been planned, such as the Zurich northern bypass , had to be taken into account. In addition, there was also the SBB Zurich Seebach substation between the two lines, which was not to be replaced, but expanded.

In the end, it was planned to have seven more or less parallel tracks at the level of the substation. To the northwest of the substation, these were the double-track line to Bülach, on the other side of the substation, first the track that leads into the connecting curve to Seebach, then the two double-track tracks on the route via Kloten and the two double-track tracks on the airport line.

Crossing Glattbrugg / Opfikon

On the left is the platform area of ​​Opfikon station on the route via Kloten. Right with the RABe 511 the airport line

The previous route via Kloten crosses the center of Glattbrugg without a stop or a train station. Because the Glattbrugg train station was in the immediate vicinity on the Bülacher line. The expansion of the route prompted the municipality to finance an unattended stop on the route to Kloten. A stop on the airport line was inconceivable at the time, as it was supposed to be a pure long-distance route, even if several S-Bahn lines use the airport line today. The four tracks of the two double-lane lines came to be in an approximately seven-meter-deep cut, as this was the only way to make the two level crossings of Giebeleichstrasse and Schaffhauserstrasse possible. This also led to the desire to cover this section of the route. The city of Opfikon then gave a loan of six million francs. This made it possible to build a bus stop and cover a distance of 300 meters. The stop was named after the political municipality of Opfikon .

Crossing the Glatt

The two smooth bridges

When crossing the Glatt there were several problems. It was desirable that the bridge on the route to the airport should cross the Glatt at a minimum height, because after that the ramp to the airport tunnel begins and the gradient to the tunnel must therefore be kept small. On the other hand, the route to Kloten crosses both the Glatt and the railway line to the airport. Here, too, the construction height must be kept as small as possible, as the height above the Glatt has a direct influence on the gradient of the route from the Opfikon cut. Both routes are also in a curve and intersect at an acute angle exactly above the smooth.

The available construction height of 90 cm resulted for the bridge of the airport line. It was designed as a ship axis plate bridge with three fields. The massive 0.9 meter thick base plate also has a curved floor plan with a radius of 530 meters. The span is 16-24-16 meters, with the angle between the bridge axis and the support axes being around 40 °. The two supports that stand on the banks of the Glatt at normal water levels have the same angular deviation. On both sides of the main opening, the riverside path along the Glatt is lowered so that pedestrians and cyclists can pass under the bridge. This free space also serves as a flood passage.

The Glatt Viaduct of the route to Kloten is located above the bridge of the airport line, which has been given a new route here and has been expanded to double lanes. The old bridge was roughly where a footbridge extends over the Glatt today. The eastern embankment and the overpass over Rohrstrasse have been preserved.

The viaduct over the Glatt ( Glatt viaduct) is a ten-span bridge construction, the end points of which are 277 meters apart. The fields have a span of 20-25-25-25-30-56-30-24-22-20 meters from east to west. It is designed as a prestressed concrete bridge with a single-cell hollow box and has a curved superstructure with a radius of 480 meters. The arrows 6 and 7 form the so-called river piers, and in between there is the main opening with a 56-meter-wide central field, the height of which is just 1.75 meters above the Glatt or airport line. The construction height above the river piers is 4.4 meters. The entire superstructure is mounted on the pillars with rubber pot bearings. All pillars have a rectangular cross-section and are supported by bored piles on the molasses underground. The two river piers are also more massive than the other piers, as they also have to absorb the braking and longitudinal forces of the entire bridge, while the bearings of the other piers only transmit wind and centrifugal forces.

New line

Most of the new line runs underground.

Airport tunnel

The tunnel was built in open-cast mining, the construction section being 1060 meters long. It begins after crossing the Glatt and the subsequent ramp.

See also airport tunnel (Zurich)

Zurich Airport train station

The platform area of ​​the Zurich Airport train station

The airport train station was built together with the third stage of expansion of the airport and is located under Terminal B and car park B. Like the airport tunnel, to which it is officially counted, it was built in open-cast mining.

See also Zurich Airport train station

Hagenholz tunnel

The east portal of the Hagenholz tunnel (2016)

The tunnel, which was built by mining, is seamlessly connected to the airport train station. Due to lack of space, it was driven from the west with an intermediate attack, while the eastern section could be driven directly except for a short section of the opencast mine. All three sections were created with shield driving , the excavation was carried out using the assisted partial cutting method (there was no rotating drill head).

See also Hagenholz tunnel

Throwing over the village nest

The village nest branch before the construction of the flyover (2016)

Throwing over the village nest

The Hagenholz tunnel is followed by an approximately 600 meter long open section. The former SNB line via Kloten is reached again at the Dorfnest service station. The single-lane route via Kloten was not connected without crossing. This deficiency has been remedied with the new Dorfnest flyover. The preparatory work began in November 2015, and the actual construction work began in 2016. A 200-meter-long bridge over the airport line was built in the area of ​​the tunnel mouth. The new route went into operation with the timetable change in December 2018.

East approach route, route relocation to Bassersdorf

Driving through Bassersdorf had long been a problem area for which solutions were sought. The two level crossings on Zürichstrasse and Baltenswilerstrasse near the train station were notorious. Since these were also located in the middle of the village, the construction of an underpass or overpass was hardly a sensible option. The relocation of the station to the southern edge of the village has now solved several problems. The route could easily be laid out with two lanes, and all seven level crossings in the municipality could be lifted. The route could also be stretched and the driving speed increased. The new construction away from the old route also enabled a more cost-effective construction method than a conversion during ongoing operations. The Bassersdorf route relocation was an independent project and was largely carried out at the expense of the Canton of Zurich, which contributed CHF 6.5 million. The new station building in Bassersdorf was designed by Max Vogt . The actual construction cost of the eastern approach route was 31.0 (24.0) million francs, the projected figure was 33.7 (26.7) million francs (in brackets, net construction costs charged to the airport line project).

Between the Dorfnest service station and the new Bassersdorf train station, the railway line runs over a bridge in the middle of fields. This is actually an underpass that was intended for an unrealized road project.

Data

• Operation of a provisional diversion route in Opfikon; March 1977 – December 1978
• Commissioning of the westernmost track (route via Kloten) in the Opfikon section; 7th December 1978
• Commissioning of the double lane Zurich Oerlikon – Glattbrugg; September 30, 1979
• Commissioning of the double lane Zurich Oerlikon – Opfikon – Ried (route via Kloten); September 30, 1979
• Commissioning of the route laying in Bassersdorf; March 16, 1980
• Commissioning of the Zurich Oerlikon – Airport – Dorfnest line; June 1, 1980
• Commissioning of the Dorfnest – Hürlistein line as a double-track line; June 1, 1980
• Commissioning of the third Hürlistein – Effretikon line; June 1, 1980
• Commissioning of the new Bassersdorf train station; March 16, 1980
• Commissioning of the Opfikon stop; June 1, 1980
• Commissioning of the Zurich Airport train station; June 1, 1980

literature

• Swiss engineer and architect (formerly Schweizer Bauzeitung ). 98th volume, anthology 1980, pp. 505-546 ( digitized journals of the ETH library )

Web links

Commons : Zurich Airport Line  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Swiss Railway Review . 2/1980, p. 44
2. ↑ Swiss Railway Review. 2/1980, p. 45
3. ↑ Otto Schuwerk, Peter Raster: Bridge structures on the airport line. In: Swiss engineer and architect (formerly Schweizer Bauzeitung ). 98th year, anthology 1980 ( digitized journals of the ETH library), pp. 533–537
4. ^ Peter Zwicky, Gion Letta: Piercing through Opfikon. In: Swiss engineer and architect (formerly Schweizer Bauzeitung ). 98th year, anthology 1980 ( digitized journals of the ETH library), pp. 525–527
5. ↑ Otto Schuwerk, Peter Raster: Bridge structures on the airport line. In: Swiss engineer and architect (formerly Schweizer Bauzeitung ). 98th year, anthology 1980 ( digitized journals of the ETH library), pp. 533–537
6. ↑ Jakob Hasenfratz: Airport tunnel . In: Swiss engineer and architect (formerly Schweizer Bauzeitung ). 98th year, anthology 1980 ( digitized journals of the ETH-Bibliothek), pp. 527-529
7. ↑ Ede Andrasky: Hagenholz tunnel. In: Swiss engineer and architect (formerly Schweizer Bauzeitung ). 98th year, anthology 1980 ( digitized journals of the ETH-Bibliothek), pp. 530–532
8. ↑ News in brief . In: Railway amateur . No. 1 . SVEA, 2016, ISSN  0013-2764 , p. 17 .
9. ↑ Bridge structure overpass village nest. SBB, accessed on February 29, 2020 .