St. Gallen–Trogen railway line
| St. Gallen–Trogen railway line (S21) | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Overview | |
| Native name | Trogenerbahn |
| System | St. Gallen S-Bahn |
| Status | Operational |
| Operation | |
| Owner | Appenzell Railways |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 9.8 kilometres (6.1 mi) |
| Number of tracks | Mixture of single and double track |
| Track gauge | Metre (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) |
| Electrification | 600 V DC/1000 V DC |
| Maximum incline | 7.6% |
The St. Gallen–Trogen railway line, or Trogenerbahn (TB), is a 9.8 kilometres (6.1 mi) long railway line in Switzerland. It links the city of St. Gallen,in the canton of St. Gallen, with Speicher and Trogen, both in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Passenger service on the line now forms part of the St. Gallen S-Bahn, branded as the S21.
The line was opened in 1903, and was built as a rural electric tramway. Whilst much of the line has been upgraded, this is still apparent in the long stretches of roadside track, and in its exit from St. Gallen over street track. With a gradient of 7.6%, it is the steepest narrow-gauge adhesion railway in Switzerland.
The line is owned and operated by the Appenzell Railways company, which also operates several other railway lines in the two Appenzell cantons.
The line was opened on the 10 July 1903 by the Trogenerbahn AG company, with its headquarters in Trogen. From its terminus at St. Gallen railway station to the Brühltor, the line used the tracks of the St. Gallen city tramway.
In 2006 the company was merged into the Appenzell Railways.
The line commences at St. Gallen railway station, where it shares a platform, but not tracks, with the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell railway line that is also owned and operated by the Appenzell Railways company. After leaving this platform, the Trogen line runs onto the street in front of the main station building. Now running on double track, it runs through the city streets for some 1.75 kilometres (1.09 mi), sharing its route for much of the way with routes of the city's trolleybus system that replaced the city tramway. There are three intermediate stops on this street section, at Marktplatz, Spisertor and Schülerhaus. Shortly after the latter stop, the track switches to a single-track alignment alongside the road to Trogen, an alignment it maintains all the way to its terminus, albeit with several intermediate passing loops.
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