Polybahn
| Polybahn | |||||||||||||
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| Timetable field : | 2700 | ||||||||||||
| Route length: | 0.176 km | ||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 260 ‰ | ||||||||||||
| Rack system : |
until 1996: Brake rack system Abt, two-lamellar |
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| Top speed: | 2.5 m / s = 9 km / h | ||||||||||||
| Central poly terrace | |||||||||||||
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The Polybahn , also known as the Polybähnli or Student Express , is a meter-gauge funicular in the Swiss city of Zurich . It connects the Central with the Polyterrasse in front of the main building of the ETH Zurich . The name Polybahn is derived from the old name Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule der ETH, which was used until 1911 . The railway is owned by UBS-Polybahn AG , a subsidiary of Bank UBS , is operated by the Zurich Transport Authority (VBZ) and is part of the Zurich Transport Association (ZVV). With 1.7 million passengers per year, it is the funicular with the second largest number of passengers in public transport in Switzerland.
history
Zürichberg Railway
After the success of the Uetlibergbahn , which opened in 1875, the engineer HA Ruge and the businessman E. Stauder also wanted to open up the Zürichberg with a railway. The train was to lead in two sections from Central (then still Leonhardplatz) past the Polytechnic and the Cantonal Hospital to the Zürichberg.
First section
The lower section would have started at the northern edge of the central, had the street Auf der Mauer crossed with a 40 m long tunnel and reached today's mountain station of the Polybahn. A water ballast runway was planned from the start .
Second section
The second section would have led from the mountain station of the lower section through Tannenstrasse to Universitätsstrasse. This would have been crossed with an S-curve so that the Schmelzbergstrasse train and its extension would have reached a mountain station ⊙ below the former Schlössli restaurant . An intermediate station Beau-Séjour ⊙ would have been set up above the Hochstrasse.
In 1886 the Zürichbergbahn (ZB) was founded and the license for the mountain railway was granted. After the city had rejected the original project for the first section, the company was able to agree with the city on an above-ground line with a bridge over the Seilergraben. Today's Polybahn emerged from this section, the second section was no longer built because electrical engineering was so advanced that an electric tram was chosen to open up the Zürichberg - the concession to build the Central Zürichberg Railway was granted in 1893.
The second section should be designed as a cable tram similar to the San Francisco cable cars . The drive of the endlessly revolving rope would have been ensured by a steam engine . Nevertheless, the railway would only have been designed as a single track with a siding underneath the Beau-Séjour stop. Racks for the brakes would have been installed in the steep inclines on Schmelzberg and Mittelberg. The operation should take place with six passenger cars for 40 people each and up to three freight cars . Alternatively, a rack railway was also considered.
Polybahn
Construction of the first section of the Zürichbergbahn began in 1888, so that test drives could begin in September of the same year. The opening of the lift was delayed three months because adjustments to the cable guide and the brake were necessary. Operations could not start until January 8, 1889.
The water ballast railway used a track system with three running rails, with the middle rail being used by both cars up to the siding. The track width was 955 mm. The car's service brake acted on a cogwheel that ran in a two-lamellar rack according to the Abt system .
Eight years later, in 1897, the railway was switched to electric drive. In 1950 the Zürichbergbahn slipped into the red for the first time. After a few years with a high operating deficit, the Zurich Mountain Railway Company decided in the early 1970s not to renew the concession any further. The Pro Polybahn association, founded in 1972, tried to maintain the railway.
In 1976, the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBG) saved the railway at the last minute and founded SBG-Polybahn AG . The railway was refurbished in a short time and the Zurich public transport company (VBZ) committed itself as an operational company. In 1990 the Polybahn became a member of the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund .
In the meantime the problem of financing had not been resolved, especially since the old railway no longer met the new safety standards. After 107 years, the railway was completely renovated and converted to fully automatic operation. the track system was converted from three to two rails and thus received an Abt switch at the siding . The track width was changed from 955 mm to 1000 mm. The emergency braking system was converted from a rack to a clamp brake so that the racks could be omitted. The original, red wooden vehicles were replaced by new ones, despite resistance from the preservation authorities. On October 21, 1996, the facility was reopened under the name UBS Polybahn .
Technical specifications
| Tact | 2.5 min |
| Operating modes | Automat / lift operation |
| drive | Three-phase asynchronous motor with frequency converter |
| Gauge | 1000 mm |
| Wheelset | Asymmetrical with double flange wheel and roller wheel |
| length | 176 m |
| Height difference | 41 m |
| Medium slope | 23% |
| Soft | Abbot's switch |
| capacity | 50 people per car |
| Driving speed | V max. 2.5 m / s (= 9 km / h) |
| Travel time | 100 s |
| Delivery rate | 1200 people / h per direction |
Trivia
A short but important scene from the French feature film The Mole was shot in the valley station in 1981: Sébastien Grenier (played by Lino Ventura ) shoots his alleged opponent Jean-Paul Chance (played by Michel Piccoli ) in a Polybahn car .
literature
- B. Röthin: 100 years of Zurich Polybahn . In: Railway amateur . No. 3 , 1989, pp. 188-190 .
Web links
- Polybahn Zurich. UBS-Polybahn AG(site of the owner).
- UBS Polybahn. VBZ(side of the operator).
- 8000.01 Zurich Central Limmatquai 144 universities. In: standseilbahnen.ch. Markus Seitz, 2019.
- Monika Burri : The Polybahn. In: ETHistory. ETH
- Press Polybahn newspaper clips.
- The history of the Zürichbergbahn, better known as the "Polybähnli". In: HP magazine for historical securities. May 1997.
Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '35 " N , 8 ° 32' 38" E ; CH1903: 683 476 / 247880
Individual evidence
- ↑ Timetable field 2700. In: Official course book. Retrieved on December 23, 2019 (information on wheelchair access).
- ↑ a b UBS Polybahn. VBZ, accessed December 25, 2019 .
- ↑ 1904–1911: From polytechnic to university. ETH, accessed on December 25, 2019 .
- ↑ UBS-Polybahn AG (Ed.): Annual Report 2018 . S. 8 ( xn--polybahn-zrich-psb.ch [PDF]).
- ↑ The funiculars with the most passengers. In: standseilbahnen.ch. 2013, accessed December 25, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Thomas Vogel, Patrick Fehlmann, Thomas Wolf, Emil Honegger: Ingenieurbaufführer StrucTuricum: 51 remarkable buildings in Zurich . 2nd edition Vdf Hochschulverlag AG, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-7281-3563-6 , p. 180-183 ( google.ch ).
- ↑ a b c Zürichberg Railway: Project by Ruge & Cie. in Zurich . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . 1886, doi : 10.5169 / SEALS-13600 .
- ↑ Rest. Schlössli Zürichberg. In: Gang dur Alt-Züri - Who else is there? Retrieved December 25, 2019 .
- ↑ P. Schenker: The Centrale Zürichberg Railway . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . 1896, doi : 10.5169 / SEALS-82307 .
- ↑ The deviation from the often given meter gauge may be due to another measurement of the gauge: as with the Italian meter gauge, the distance between the rail profile centers was probably measured and not between the running edges .