Rapperswil railway station

Rapperswil
Building of the Rapperswil railway station, bus terminal to the left
Location	Untere Bahnhofstrasse CH-8640 Rapperswil
Coordinates	47°13′29.66″N 8°48′59.35″E / 47.2249056°N 8.8164861°E / 47.2249056; 8.8164861
Owned by	SBB-CFF-FFS
Line(s)	Lake Zürich right-bank line Wallisellen–Uster–Rapperswil line Rapperswil–Pfäffikon line Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke line
Platforms	6
Tracks	7
Connections	VZO bus routes
History
Opened	1859
Rebuilt	1895 and 2008
Services
Preceding station   Swiss rail network   Following station Pfäffikon SZ   InterRegio Voralpen Express   Schmerikon Jona   Zürich S-Bahn S5 service   Pfäffikon SZ Kempraten   Zürich S-Bahn S7 service   Terminus Jona   Zürich S-Bahn S15 service   Terminus Terminus   Zürich S-Bahn S40 service   Hurden Terminus   St. Gallen S-Bahn S6 service   Blumenau

Rapperswil is a railway station located in the city of Rapperswil in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. The station is situated on the north shore of Lake Zürich at the northern of the Seedamm which separates the Obersee (upper Lake Zürich) from the main body of the lake.

Because the Seedamm carries both rail and road connections from the south shore of the lake, and because Rapperswil is the meeting point of three separate line from the northern side of the lake, the station is a major nodal point on the local rail network. The first railway opened in 1859.

In early 1859 the first steam train ran from Rapperswil – as a hub of railway lines from Rapperswil to Rüti and from Rapperswil to Schmerikon. Turntables and cranes were used to move cargo to/from the vessels at the harbour situated at nearby Fischmarktplatz.

In 1875, the Lake Zürich left bank line (Linksufige Zürichseebahn) from Zürich Hauptbahnhof to Ziegelbrücke opened along the south shore of the lake. In railway terms, this was linked to Rapperswil in 1878, when the Gotthardbahn established the line across the Seedamm. The Rapperswil shore of Lake Zürich had to wait until 1895 for the opening of the Lake Zürich right bank line (Rechtsufrige Zürichseebahn).

The famous Orient Express stopped in Rapperswil on its way from Varna to Zürich, Basel, Paris and Calais.