Turgi–Koblenz railway line

Turgi–Koblenz–Waldshut

Overview

Locale

Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany

Technical

Line length

16.65 km (10.35 mi)

Track gauge

1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge

Electrification

15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary

Maximum incline

1.2%

Route map

Operating points and lines

from Zürich

27.43

Turgi

341,7 m

to Brugg (–Aarau)

Limmat (78 m)

30.76

Siggenthal-Würenlingen

350,8 m

32.74

ZWILAG siding

33.65

KKW Beznau siding

37.36

DöttingenDöttingen-Klingnau until 2002

325.4 m

38.33

Klingnau

to Laufenburg–Stein-Säckingen (–Basel)

41.13

Koblenz

320.3 m

to Eglisau (–Winterthur)

Koblenz Tunnel (181m)

to Eglisau (–Winterthur)

42,70/1,37

Rhine Bridge (190 m)

to Schaffhausen

-0.39

Waldshut

340.2 m

Upper Rhine Railway to Basel Bad

The Turgi–Koblenz–Waldshut railway line was opened on 18 August 1859 by the Swiss Northeastern Railway (German: Schweizerische Nordostbahn, NOB). It runs from Turgi in Switzerland via Koblenz to Waldshut in Germany. The Turgi–Koblenz–Waldshut line was the first rail link between Germany and Switzerland. It provides a connection from the Baden–Brugg line in Turgi to the Upper Rhine Railway in Waldshut.

Two branch lines were later built to Koblenz station: on 1 August 1876 the Winterthur–Bülach–Koblenz railway line opened via Eglisau and Bülach to Winterthur, and on 1 August 1892 the line opened to Stein-Säckingen, connecting to Basel.

The story begins two years before the opening of the Swiss Northern Railway. In 1845 a delegation travelled from Zürich to Baden to promote a concession for a railway from Basel to Waldshut. This would allow a connection towards Zürich. The line would cross the Aar river in Döttingen. It was proposed that the line would form an access route to a railway through the Splügen Pass or the Lukmanier Pass. In Zurich, however, a railway through the Gotthard Pass was favoured. Yet in 1847 a project to build a Lukmanier railway was approved, under an agreement "for the purpose of establishing a Lukmanier Railway Company". A bridge at Koblenz was well placed for such a railway. But after 1861, the NOB also supported the Gotthard project, while the Splügen project was filed away.

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Wikipedia