Appenzell Railways
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Native name
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Appenzeller Bahnen |
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| Industry | Public transport |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Website | http://www.appenzellerbahnen.ch/ |
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 and St. Gallen.
The origins of the Appenzeller Bahnen company lies in a number of formerly independent companies and railway lines:
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).
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.
Today, the company operates the following railway lines:
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. The St. Gallen–Trogen line is also of metre gauge and has its St. Gallen terminus immediately adjacent to that of the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell line, but it is electrified at 600/1000 V DC and there is currently no track connection. 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 (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauges. The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell, Altstaetten–Gais, Rheineck–Walzenhausen and Rorschach–Heiden lines all have rack railway sections, whilst the Gossau–Appenzell–Wasserauen and St. Gallen–Trogen lines are adhesion only.
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