Sihltal railway line

Sihltal railway line (S4)
Train on the Sihltal line in the Sihl valley
Overview
Native name	Sihltalbahn S4
Type	Heavy rail line, carrying an S-Bahn service
System	Zürich S-Bahn, ZVV
Status	Operational
Locale	Zürich, Switzerland
Termini	Zürich Hauptbahnhof Langnau-Gattikon / Sihlwald
Stations	13 (+ Sihlbrugg to 2006)
Line number	S4
Website	http://www.szu.ch/home.html
Operation
Owner	SZU (Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn SZU AG)
Operator(s)	SZU
Rolling stock	Re 456 class + double-deck coaches
Technical
Number of tracks	Mixture of single and double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	15 kV  16 2⁄3 Hz AC supplied by overhead line
Route diagram km elev -1.2 Zürich Hbf(Platforms 1–2) 396 m Sihltunnel1296 m -0.2 Zürich Selnau 398 m 0.0 Zurich Selnauformer terminus 414 m Sihlbrücke Giesshübel (96 m) link line to Zurich Wiedikon Uetlibergbahn nach Uetliberg 1,1 Zürich Giesshübel 418 m Brücke Giesshübelstrasse62 m 1,8 Zürich Saalsporthalle-Sihlcity 422 m Sihlbrücke Brunau60 m 2,7 Zürich Brunau 423 m 4,1 Zürich Manegg 430 m Sihlbrücke Leimbach60 m 4,7 Zürich Leimbach 435 m 6,4 Sood-Oberleimbach 443 m 7,3 Adliswil 452 m 8,3 Sihlau 456 m 8,9 Gontenbach 9,5 Wildpark-Höfli 452 m 10,7 Langnau-Gattikon 468 m Sihlbrücke Langnau67 m Tunnel Gattikon340 m Sihlbrücke Sihlwald64 m 13,2 Sihlwald 488 m No passenger service since 2006 Line from Zürich Hbf via Thalwil 17,3 Sihlbrugg 514 m Line to Zug and Lucerne

The Sihltal railway line (German: Sihltalbahn) is a railway line (and a former railway company) in the Swiss canton of Zürich, which connects the city of Zürich with the communities of the Sihl Valley. Passenger service on the line now forms part of the Zürich S-Bahn, branded as that network's service S4, and is part of the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) zone-based fare network.

The line was opened in 1892 and electrified in 1924. Today it is owned by the Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn SZU AG, a company that also owns the Uetliberg line, and organizes the Zimmerberg Bus, and operates the Luftseilbahn Adliswil-Felsenegg (LAF).

The Sihltal line was built by the Sihltalbahn company (SITB), which opened a line from Bahnhof Selnau to Sihlwald in 1892. Bahnhof Selnau was already in existence as the terminus of the Uetliberg line, and the two lines ran in parallel as far as Giesshübel station. Later in the same year, a freight branch was constructed linking Giesshübel station with Wiedikon station on the Lake Zürich left bank line of the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB).

In 1897 the Sihltal line was extended to Sihlbrugg and a connection with the Zürich to Lucerne line of the NOB. In 1924 the line was electrified using alternating current. In 1932 the management of the Sihltal line took over the management of the Uetliberg line, but the two companies remained in existence until 1973, when they were merged to form the SZU.