S-Bahn St. Gallen

	S-Bahn St. Gallen
Network map of the S-Bahn in December 2015 Country Switzerland Transport / tariff association Ostwind tariff association Lines 20th operator AB , SBB , SOB , Thurbo
S-Bahn in Switzerland

St. Gallen station with S8 to Schaffhausen and S1 to Wil

The S-Bahn St. Gallen is the S-Bahn ausgestaltetes railway network in Eastern Switzerland with a central hub in St. Gallen train station . The St. Gallen S-Bahn was introduced in 2001 and is part of the Ostwind Tarifverbund (OTV) , which brings together all bus and train companies in Eastern Switzerland. By December 2013, the offer was significantly expanded under the project name S-Bahn St. Gallen 2013 . The aim here was to implement the 30-minute cycle at all major train stations in the canton of St. Gallen and the 15-minute cycle in the St. Gallen agglomeration . Similar to the Zurich S-Bahn , the offer is to be continuously expanded in smaller steps, so-called partial additions.

Introduction of the St. Gallen S-Bahn

Stadler GTW from Thurbo between Schwarzenbach and Algetshausen-Henau

history

The term S-Bahn St. Gallen was introduced in 2001 mainly for marketing purposes and brought only a few improvements. The existing rolling stock as well as the routes were taken over. The new Rorschach Stadt stop was introduced as the only infrastructure measure . In terms of the timetable, the offer in the St. Gallen Haggen - Heerbrugg area was concentrated . Overall, the number of passengers in rail traffic between the Rhine Valley and the city of St. Gallen increased by 40 percent.

The individual routes and their operation are divided between the four companies Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) , Südostbahn (SOB) , Thurbo and Appenzeller Bahnen (AB) , with Thurbo being a 90 percent subsidiary of SBB. When the S-Bahn St. Gallen was founded , five companies were involved in the Trogenerbahn (TB), which is now part of AB. All four railway companies involved are majority owned by various state institutions.

Modern articulated railcars of the Stadler GTW type have been used on the S5 since 2003 . These railcars were gradually introduced on the other Thurbo lines. SOB has been using the newly acquired Stadler FLIRT on the S4 since summer 2007 .

In 2006, the S9 on the Wil - Wattwil section was compressed to a half-hourly service, and in 2008 another moderate expansion took place on the lake line with the opening of the two new stops Arbon Seemoosriet and Steinach . With the level of supply reached in 2008, further expansion without significant investments in the infrastructure was practically no longer possible.

Route network until 2013

Stadler FLIRT of the SOB at Buchs SG

line route S 1 Wil – St. Gallen – Heerbrugg– Altstätten (Thurbo) S 2 Herisau -St. Gallen – Heerbrugg (Thurbo) S 3 St. Gallen Haggen – St. Gallen - Romanshorn - Kreuzlingen - Schaffhausen (SBB) S 4 St. Gallen – Herisau – Wattwil– Uznach (SOB) S 5 St. Gallen - Bischofszell - Weinfelden (Thurbo) S 6 St. Gallen – St. Gallen Haggen (SOB) S 7 Rorschach –Romanshorn– Weinfelden (Thurbo)

line route S 8 Kreuzlingen – Romanshorn – Rorschach, extended to Schaffhausen in the 2008 timetable year (Thurbo) S 9 Wil – Wattwil– Nesslau-Neu St. Johann (Thurbo) S 11 St. Gallen - Gais - Appenzell (AB) S 12 St. Gallen - Speicher - Trogen (TB)

The S9 ran every half hour on the Wil - Wattwil section and the S11 and S12 every half hour or more. All other lines ran every hour.

Project S-Bahn 2013

On November 9, 2007, the canton of St. Gallen signed a letter of intent with the railway companies SBB, SOB and Thurbo, which set itself the goal of greatly expanding the St. Gallen S-Bahn by 2013. Between 2005 and 2007, a plan for the further development of the S-Bahn was drawn up under the chairmanship of the Canton of St. Gallen. The aim of the expansion was to implement the half-hourly service in regional traffic for all major train stations in the canton and to implement the quarter-hourly service for the St. Gallen agglomeration.

Infrastructure measures

costs

Project	section	costs	carrier
HGV-A	St. Gallen - St. Margrethen	80 million CHF	Federation
	St. Margrethen - Sargans	70 million CHF
S-Bahn 2013		30 million CHF
		50 million CHF	Canton

This project required the timely implementation of nationwide Swiss federal-financed SBB projects. In particular, the HGV-A projects currently under construction are of immanent importance for the St. Gallen S-Bahn 2013. In particular, the continuous double-track expansion had to be carried out in the St. Gallen - St. Margrethen corridor and the expansion in the St. Margrethen - Sargans corridor the public facilities in Altstätten , Au and Sargans, the measures to increase the speed of travel in the Neugrüt - Rüthi area and the construction of an intersection in the Au train station to increase capacity will be completed by 2013. Finally, the new construction of the so-called Spange SOB, a 300 m long connecting line between the St. Gallen - St. Margrethen and St. Gallen - Romanshorn route, took a special position: It was built by SBB as part of HGV-A, but afterwards handed over to the SOB. A small part of the necessary investments are also included in the ZEB planning. The expansion of the public facilities in Salez-Sennwald should be mentioned here in particular.

In addition, there are various infrastructure measures in the context of the actual S-Bahn project itself. In line with current Swiss practice, railway projects of purely local or regional importance must mainly be borne by the cantons concerned. Of the total project costs of around 80 million francs, the majority of 50 million were borne by the canton of St. Gallen and the federal contribution of 30 million francs was also pre-financed by the canton. On September 26, 2010, a referendum took place on the canton's contribution - the cantonal council resolution was subject to the mandatory financial referendum - with 80.8 percent of the population clearly approving the expansion of the S-Bahn.

Specifically, the following infrastructure improvements were implemented as part of the S-Bahn expansion in the SBB network:

• Starting in 2012, the St. Gallen train station was expanded on the site of the existing sidings with a new fourth platform with an additional through and an additional head track to a total of six through tracks and a head track.
• On the St. Gallen – Winterthur railway line, train headways have been shortened in the Gossau – Schwarzenbach SG sub-area through new signals and signal control.
• The Rebstein - Marbach , Oberriet and Rüthi stations each received a new platform 170 m long and 55 cm high.
• At the Rebstein-Marbach and Oberriet train stations, a 500 m long track was also created to enable freight trains to cross.
• At Sevelen train station , in addition to some minor modifications, the 220 m long main platform was increased to a length of 170 m for barrier-free boarding to an edge height of 55 cm.
• At the Uznach train station, the existing main platform was extended to 270 m and several other minor modifications were carried out.

Further infrastructure measures were also carried out in the SOB network as part of the S-Bahn expansion:

• On the Herisau - Wattwil route, a two-kilometer stretch between the Ergeten Viaduct and the Weissenbach Viaduct has been expanded to double-track capacity to increase capacity. Part of the same project is the construction of a new signal box and the conversion of the public facilities in Schachen station.
• The Roggwil - Berg station was expanded into a complete crossing point in order to increase capacity. In addition, the public facilities were modernized and an electronic signal box was built in place of the existing one.

Network planning

The expansion of the infrastructure enabled a significant increase of around 30 percent in the access offer in the canton of St. Gallen. From St. Gallen in the direction of Sargans, the exact quarter of an hour with three S-Bahn trains every hour to St. Margrethen and its two to Altstätten cannot be fully implemented. On the Herisau - St. Gallen - Wittenbach axis, too, the exact quarter-hourly cycle is only implemented during rush hour with four S-Bahn trains per hour. Outside the rush hour, three S-Bahn trains run every hour in the direction of Herisau and two in the direction of Wittenbach.

In the south of the canton, in the Altstätten - Uznach area, the hourly service can be replaced by a half-hourly service, which corresponds to a doubling of the offer.

While most stations are served significantly better, the general expansion means a reduction in services for some smaller, poorly frequented stations. This applies in particular to Trübbach, Weite and Räfis-Burgerau between Buchs and Sargans and Algetshausen-Henau and Schwarzenbach between Uzwil and Wil. This reduction in rail traffic, which is due to a lack of capacity for additional trains, is to be compensated for by a targeted improvement in bus traffic.

In supraregional traffic, the expansion of the Rheintal-Express St. Gallen - Chur could be accelerated by eleven minutes, since various smaller towns are only served by the expanded S-Bahn services. In this way, significantly better connection times to long-distance traffic in Sargans, Landquart and St. Gallen can be achieved. In addition, the Rheintal-Express was extended to Wil in 2013 until it was closed in 2018 in order to expand national traffic on this route as well.

The Voralpenexpress St. Gallen - Lucerne also experienced a slight acceleration due to the number of stops that were saved . However, since no infrastructure-related acceleration is achieved here, the travel time gain of three minutes remains modest.

Line network plan since the timetable change in 2013, as of 2020

S-Bahn lines S 1 Wil – Uzwil – Gossau SG – St. Gallen THB S 2 Nesslau-Neu St. Johann-St. Gallen - Rorschach – St. Margrethen – Altstätten THB S 3 St. Gallen – Rorschach – St. Margrethen THB S 4 Sargans – Altstätten – St. Margrethen – Rorschach - St. Gallen - Wattwil - Uznach - Ziegelbrücke - Sargans SOB S 5 Weinfelden– Sulgen – Gossau SG –St. Gallen THB S 6 Rapperswil – Schmerikon – Uznach – Ziegelbrücke - Glarus – Schwanden SBB S 7 Weinfelden – Romanshorn - Rorschach THB S 8 St. Gallen – Romanshorn - Kreuzlingen – Schaffhausen THB S 9 Wil – Wattwil THB S 10 Wil – Weinfelden –Romanshorn THB S 11 historical: Wil – Uzwil – Gossau SG – St. Gallen S 12 Sargans – Chur THB S 14 Weinfelden – Kreuzlingen – Constance THB S 15 Wil – Wängi – Frauenfeld FWB S 21 Appenzell – Gais – Teufen – St. Gallen – Trogen FROM P. 22 historical: Teufen – St. Gallen – Trogen FROM S 23 Gossau SG – Herisau – Urnäsch – Appenzell – Wasserauen FROM P. 24 Old Town – Gais FROM P. 25 Rorschach Hafen – Rorschach – Heiden FROM P 26 Rheineck – Walzenhausen FROM P. 55 historical: Weinfelden – Sulgen – Gossau SG – St. Gallen THB P 81 Herisau – St. Gallen SOB P. 82 St. Gallen – Wittenbach

RegioExpress in the S-Bahn network REX historical: Rheintal-Express Wil – St. Gallen – Buchs SG – Sargans – Chur SBB UAE Voralpen-Express St. Gallen – Wattwil – Uznach – Rapperswil (–Luzern) SOB RE Herisau – St. Gallen – Romanshorn – Kreuzlingen Harbor-Constance THB Other railway lines in the S-Bahn network Long-distance transport 75 (Winterthur–) Weinfelden – Konstanz SBB Long-distance transport 8th (Winterthur–) Weinfelden – Romanshorn SBB Long-distance transport 1 5 37 (Winterthur–) Wil – St. Gallen – St. Margrethen (–Bregenz) SBB Long-distance transport 13 (Winterthur–) Wil – St. Gallen – St. Margrethen – Chur SBB Long-distance transport 3 (Zurich–) Ziegelbrücke – Sargans – Chur / Buchs SG (–Feldkirch) SBB ÖBB Zurich S-Bahn S 25 (Zurich–) Ziegelbrücke – Glarus – Linthal SBB March shuttle S 27 Ziegelbrücke – Siebnen-Wangen SOB Remarks ↑ a b 2013–2018 Nesslau-Neu St. Johann and St. Gallen were served by the S8. ↑ runs as a ring train in both directions ↑ Until 2018 only Wil-Weinfelden, since then extended to Romanshorn ↑ a b c d until timetable change 2018/2019 ↑ a b c d only in rush hour ↑ a b S21 served the St. Gallen – Trogen route until the 2018/19 timetable change, S22 the St. Gallen – Gais – Appenzell route ↑ a b S81 2013–2018 only during rush hour and on to Wittenbach, since then S81 all day and S82 during rush hour ↑ Rheintal-Express dissolved on timetable change 2018/19 (replacement: IR13) ↑ Newly introduced in 2015; extended to 2018 from St. Gallen to Herisau. ↑ Since timetable change 2018/19 ↑ March-Shuttle , introduced in summer 2014 due to the discontinuation of the S2 stops ( S-Bahn Zurich ); belongs neither to the Zurich S-Bahn nor to the St. Gallen S-Bahn; since timetable year 2018 only during peak hours

Rolling stock

Thurbo-GTW and Flirt of the Südostbahn are used on the standard gauge network of the St. Gallen S-Bahn.

The growth in rail supply of around 30 percent should be supported by increased efficiency in the use of rolling stock with significantly lower growth in rolling stock. For example, due to the shortened travel time, the extension of the Rheintal-Express to Wil can only be implemented at the expense of idle times, i.e. without additional rolling stock. The shortening of the Voralpenexpress, which now ends in St. Gallen instead of Romanshorn - this route is only served by smaller S-Bahn trains - should also enable more efficient use of rolling stock. New rolling stock was needed in particular for the new S4 ring line, which is used by Stadler FLIRT of the SOB, as well as for the Rheintal-Express, which is used by Stadler Dosto . Since the greatest possible efficiency is also taken into account when purchasing new equipment, a joint vehicle reserve was introduced for this type with the Zurich S-Bahn, which has been using Stadler Dosto since the end of 2011. By maximizing the availability of trains with the lowest possible infrastructure investments combined with the greatest possible efficiency, the costs per train-kilometer should be reduced from around CHF 16.50 today to around CHF 13.50.

Future development and relationship to other railway projects in Eastern Switzerland

Regional traffic

Analogous to the gradual expansion of the Zurich S-Bahn introduced in 1990 in so-called partial additions, the St. Gallen S-Bahn is to be further developed. A first partial addition is therefore already planned for the period from 2016 to 2020.

Photo montage with an Appenzeller Bahnen train going to Appenzell in the future on the market square in St. Gallen

The S-Bahn 2013 did not bring any improvements for the Appenzeller Bahn, whose lines St. Gallen - Teufen - Appenzell and St. Gallen - Speicher - Trogen are also part of the S-Bahn St. Gallen. In order to overcome the sometimes high gradients in the Appenzellerland, when the line to Appenzell was built, gear technology was used in many places, which significantly limits the speed and choice of vehicle. These have therefore increasingly been converted into normal adhesion routes, so that today there is only one last gear section between St. Gallen and Teufen. This was replaced by the 725 m long Ruckhalde tunnel as part of the Appenzellerbahn diameter line project . This, together with some modifications at the St. Gallen train station and the standardization of the power supply on both routes, enabled the lines to Appenzell and Trogen to be connected. The financing of CHF 90 million was approved by all involved by April 2014. The new rolling stock, Stadler Tango , is expected to cost a further CHF 60 million. Construction began in April 2016 and the construction time is expected to be just under three years.

It is planned to extend the S3, presumably every hour, to Bregenz. Thus, for the first time, there would be a continuous rail connection between St. Gallen and Bregenz, apart from the Eurocity Zurich - Munich, which only runs sporadically. In practice, the 2014 timetable only enabled a lean connection in St. Margrethen; the actual connection was postponed for an indefinite period of time, but it should be possible to introduce it at the latest with the creation of the Goldach - Rorschach Stadt 2018 double-track section.

The trinational S-Bahn FL.A.CH is currently being implemented between Buchs in Switzerland and Feldkirch in Austria by 2016. In a second stage, this is to be extended with a double-lane expansion between Buchs and Sargans to Sargans, Landquart or Chur. This means that the smaller train stations between Buchs and Sargans, which have only been served by buses since 2013, can again be served by trains. The double-track expansion is part of the SBB expansion step in 2025 and is to be implemented by 2022 according to current planning.

As of December 2015, a regional express connection St. Gallen - Romanshorn - Kreuzlingen Hafen - Konstanz will be introduced, which will shorten the journey time every two hours by around 40 percent to 33 minutes. From 2018 this connection is to be run every hour. Financing is provided through the HGV-A project. This also indirectly replaces the missing UAE connection to Romanshorn.

Long-distance transport

SBB is also planning further improvements in long-distance transport. As of December 2015, St. Gallen will become a full knot. For this purpose, among other things, the driving position of the existing IC and ICN to Zurich will be adjusted, the EC to Munich will be integrated into the national driving positions and another, accelerated train to Zurich will be offered, which runs without stopping on the St. Gallen - Winterthur route. By 2019, four long-distance trains are to run between Zurich and St. Gallen every hour . The prerequisite for this expansion is additional capacities on the fully used Zurich - Winterthur route . For the expansion in 2015, the diameter line in Zurich and the Hürlistein overpass should be mentioned, for the expansion in 2018 the fourth track Hürlistein - Effretikon and the double lane Kloten-Dorfnest.

The canton of St. Gallen is also planning to convert the Rheintalexpress (REX) Wil - St. Gallen - Sargans (- Chur) into a long-distance transport license in the medium term, but this will only be possible due to the need to cover costs in long-distance transport if the profitability has been improved accordingly. It is also planned to run both the UAE and the REX every half hour in the long term.

Local transport

According to the agglomeration plan of the agglomeration St. Gallen - Arbon / Rorschach, a so-called Stadtbahn Nord is to be built in addition to the S-Bahn, which would lead from St. Gallen-Winkeln to St. Gallen-Neudorf. The distances between stations and the speed should be higher than with the existing trolleybus lines, but lower than with the S-Bahn. Realization is only planned after 2024. The costs are estimated at CHF 300 to 400 million.

See also

• Swiss railway projects: Eastern Switzerland region

Web links

• St.Gallen S-Bahn website
• Project S-Bahn St. Gallen
• S-Bahn in the canton of St. Gallen: major improvements by 2013. Schweizweit.net
• Ostwind tariff association
• Report on the expansion by 2013. In: Tagblatt
• Programs are presented jointly to sg.ch

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Cantonal Council of St. Gallen, Cantonal Council resolution on the S-Bahn St. Gallen 2013 (PDF)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 25, 2011.  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Office for Public Transport of the Canton of St. Gallen, S-Bahn St. Gallen 2013 ( Memento of the original dated June 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed October 9, 2012. 
3. ↑ SBB, HGV connection: Connections in Eastern Switzerland ( Memento of the original of December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 25, 2011. 
4. ↑ SOB, Projekt Spange SOB, Galgentobel (PDF)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 25, 2011.  
5. ↑ ^{a b} SBB, S-Bahn St. Gallen 2013 ( memento of the original dated November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 25, 2011. 
6. ↑ Office for Public Transport of the Canton of St. Gallen, S-Bahn 2013: The Project ( Memento of the original from March 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed September 17, 2011. 
7. ↑ ^{a b} SOB, new construction of double track Schachen West (PDF; 279 kB)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 25, 2011.  
8. ↑ SOB, Roggwil-Berg: Crossing station / replacement signal box (PDF; 414 kB)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 25, 2011.  
9. ↑ ^{a b} Office for Public Transport of the Canton of St. Gallen, S-Bahn 2013: The timetable ( memento of the original from September 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed November 6, 2011. 
10. ↑ S-Bahn-St.-Gallen 2015, route network map (PDF) accessed on May 15, 2017.
11. ↑ Appenzeller Bahnen, diameter line , accessed on November 6, 2011.
12. ↑ St. Gallen: advance of the Ruckhalde tunnel stalled. Schweizerische Bauzeitung , May 9, 2017, accessed on October 9, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Appenzeller Bahnen, joy about the approval of the Landsgemeinde to the DML (PDF) accessed on December 7, 2014.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Appenzeller Bahnen, New Tango Trains for the Appenzell-St.Gallen-Trogen Diameter Line (DML) (PDF) accessed on December 7, 2014.
15. ↑ Groundbreaking ceremony for Ruckhalden tunnel, St. Galler Nachrichten April 4, 2016, accessed on October 24, 2016.
16. ^ ORF, rail travel in neighboring countries will be made easier , accessed on May 3, 2012.
17. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Canton of St. Gallen, Cantonal Council resolution on the program to promote public transport in the years 2014 to 2018 (PDF)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 7, 2014.  
18. ↑ Office for Public Transport of the Canton of St. Gallen, S-Bahn FLACH ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed October 9, 2012. 
19. ↑ Liechtenstein Civil Engineering Office, S-Bahn FL.A.CH ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed November 6, 2011. 
20. ↑ SBB, first expansion step in 2025, amounting to CHF 6.4 billion ( memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed December 7, 2014. 
21. ↑ Thurgauer Zeitung, From St.Gallen to Konstanz in 33 minutes , accessed on December 7, 2014.
22. ↑ SBB, More Train between Zurich and Winterthur: Bottleneck in the Swiss Rail Network ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 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. (PDF; 373 kB), accessed on November 6, 2011. 
23. ↑ Canton of St. Gallen, S-Bahn St.Gallen, future prospects ( memento of the original from December 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 7, 2014. 
24. ↑ Office for Spatial Development of the Canton of St. Gallen, Agglomeration Program St. Gallen / Arbon-Rorschach: Settlement and Traffic - Measures (PDF)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 6, 2011.