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Appenzell Railways

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Appenzell Railways
Native name
Appenzeller Bahnen (German)
Company typeAG/SA
ISINCH0026212446
IndustryPublic transport
Founded1 January 2006; 18 years ago (2006-01-01) (retroactive)
Headquarters
Herisau
,
Switzerland
Key people
Ernst Boos (CEO),
Thomas Baumgartner (director)
RevenueIncrease CHF41.9 million (2012)
Number of employees
216 (as of 2020)[1]
DivisionsPassenger
Websitehttp://www.appenzellerbahnen.ch/
Appenzell Railways (AB) network
Map showing AB railway lines (red) and bus route (blue) prior to the 2021 acquisition of the Frauenfeld–Wil railway
Overview
Dates of operation1875–present
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge,
1,200 mm (3 ft 11+1⁄4 in),
1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification1500 V / DC, 600 V / DC, 15 kV 16.7 Hz Overhead line[1]
Length93,592 km (58,155.4 mi)[1]

Appenzell Railways (German: Appenzeller Bahnen, AB) is a Swiss railway company with headquarters in Herisau. It operates a network of railways in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St. Gallen and Thurgau.

It was founded in 2006 through the merger of the former Appenzeller Bahnen (founded in 1988) with the Rorschach–Heiden railway, Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway and Trogenerbahn. In 2021, AB acquired the Frauenfeld-Wil railway.

History

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The origins of the Appenzeller Bahnen company lies in a number of formerly independent companies and railway lines:[2]

The Appenzellerbahn and Santisbahn merged in 1947, retaining the Appenzellerbahn (AB) identity. The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell-Bahn and Altstätten-Gais-Bahn merged in 1948, under the name St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell–Altstätten-Bahn (SGA).[2]

The Appenzeller Bahnen company was formed in 1988, with the merger of the Appenzellerbahn and the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell–Altstätten-Bahn. In 2006, the Appenzeller Bahnen company merged with the Rorschach–Heiden-Bergbahn, the Rheineck–Walzenhausen-Bergbahn and the Trogenerbahn companies. In legal terms, this merger took the form of the Appenzeller Bahnen company acquiring the other companies.[2]

In 2021 the company merged with Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn AG, owner of the Frauenfeld–Wil line. The two companies had shared operations for years.[4]

Operation

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Today, the company operates the following railway lines:[5][6]

The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell, Gossau–Appenzell–Wasserauen and Altstätten–Gais lines form a connected network of 1,000 mm or 3 ft 3+3⁄8 in metre gauge lines, all electrified at 1500 V DC. Until 2018, the St. Gallen–Trogen line was also of metre gauge, but ran independently.

From 2016 to 2018, the Appenzellerbahnen undertook a large construction project to connect the Appenzell-St. Gallen and St. Gallen-Trogen lines. The three points of incompatibility were electrification (the St. Gallen-Trogen line was 1000 V DC with a brief stretch at 600 V DC shared with the St. Gallen trolleybus system), different (but physically adjacent) termini in St. Gallen, and maximal grades (the rack railway approach to St. Gallen from Appenzell was too steep for adhesion-based St. Gallen-Trogen rolling stock). So the new project re-electrified the St. Gallen-Trogen line at 1500 V DC and constructed a new tunnel through St. Gallen. The old alignment through St. Gallen closed in April 2018, and the system began through-running in October of the same year.[7][8]

The Rheineck–Walzenhausen and Rorschach–Heiden lines are geographically separate from the rest of the network, and are of respectively 1,200 mm (3 ft 11+1⁄4 in) and standard (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauges. The Altstaetten–Gais, Rheineck–Walzenhausen and Rorschach–Heiden lines all have rack railway sections, whilst the Gossau–Appenzell–Wasserauen and Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen lines are adhesion only.[5][6] Frauenfeld-Wil was cooperating closely, but legally distinct from 2003. It is not connected by tracks. 2021 they were taken over.

The company also operates a bus service from Teufen, on the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell line, to Speicher, on the St. Gallen–Trogen line. Night bus services are operated over the routes of the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell and St. Gallen–Trogen lines.[5]

Services

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See also: Category:Appenzell Railways stations

As of December 2023, Appenzell Railways (AB) operates eight regional train services that run on its own railway network. Trains operate as S-Bahn services (numbered 15, 20‒26 with "S" prefix) for St. Gallen S-Bahn (some also for Bodensee S-Bahn). In addition, AB also operate bus line 190.[9]

# Route Notes
S15 Wil SG–Wängi–Frauenfeld Operates over the metre (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge Frauenfeld–Wil line
S20 Appenzell–Gais–Bühler–Teufen AR–St. Gallen–Speicher–Trogen Operates over the metre (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen line. Rush-hour service, calls between Gais and St. Gallen only at Bühler, Teufen AR and Niederteufen
S21 Appenzell–Gais–Bühler–Teufen AR–St. Gallen–Speicher–Trogen Operates over the metre (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen line
S22 Teufen AR–St. Gallen–Speicher–Trogen Operates over the metre (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen line. Only during rush hour
S23 Gossau SG–Herisau–Urnäsch–Appenzell–Wasserauen Operates over the metre (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge Gossau–Wasserauen line
S24 Altstätten Stadt–Stoss–Gais Operates over the metre (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge Altstätten–Gais line (part rack railway)
S25 Rorschach Hafen–Rorschach–Wienacht-Tobel–Heiden Operates over the standard gauge Rorschach–Heiden line (part rack railway)
S26 Rheineck–Ruderbach–Walzenhausen Operates over the 1,200 mm (3 ft 11+1⁄4 in) gauge Rheineck–Walzenhausen line (part rack railway)
190 Teufen AR–Speicher–Speicherschwendi–St. Gallen, Neudorf Bus service

Rolling stock

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Zahlen und Fakten [Numbers and facts]" (in German). Appenzeller bahnen. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Geschichte" [History] (in German). Appenzeller Bahnen. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Die verschwundene Bahnlinie [The lost railway line]" (in German). Tagblatt. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn fusioniert mit den Appenzeller Bahnen". St. Galler Tagblatt (in German). 17 June 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Unterwegs" [Route network] (in German). Appenzeller Bahnen. Retrieved 2 July 2014.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ a b Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Verlag Schweers + Wall GmbH. 2012. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
  7. ^ Thomas Baumgartner, Lukas Regli: Die Bedeutung der Durchmesserlinie Appenzell – St. Gallen – Trogen für die Appenzeller Bahnen (in German). In: Schweizer Eisenbahn-Revue. No. 11/2013. Minirex, ISSN 1022-7113, pp. 604–606.
  8. ^ "Appenzeller Bahnen's Durchmesserlinie project completed". Railway Gazette. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Teufen - Speicher - Speicherschwendi - St. Gallen" (PDF). Bundesamt für Verkehr. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
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