Wipkingen Tunnel

Wipkingen Tunnel

Southern portal of the Wipkingen Tunnel, seen from Wipkingen station
Overview
Line	Zürich–Winterthur
Location	Zürich, Switzerland
Coordinates	47°23′54″N 8°31′57″E / 47.39833°N 8.53250°E / 47.39833; 8.53250
Status	Active
Operation
Opened	1856
Owner	Swiss Federal Railways
Operator	Swiss Federal Railways
Traffic	Rail
Character	Passenger and freight
Technical
Length	959 metres (3,146 ft) (before extension) 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) (after extension)
No. of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrified	Overhead catenary 11 kV AC 16 2/3 Hz

The Wipkingen Tunnel (German: Wipkingertunnel) is a railway tunnel in the Swiss city of Zürich. The tunnel runs from the northern end of Wipkingen station to a portal to the south of Oerlikon station. It carries twin standard gauge (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) tracks electrified at 11 kV AC 16 2/3 Hz using overhead catenary. Since 1902, the line has been part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).

The tunnel was opened in 1856 to complete the Schweizerische Nordostbahn (NOB) line from Zürich Hauptbahnhof to Winterthur via Wallisellen, which had opened from Oerlikon to Winterthur the previous year. In addition to the tunnel, a bridge, over the River Limmat, was constructed to the south of Wipkingen station, in order to access the throat of the Hautbahnhof station via a descending embankment. In the 1890s, the embankment was replaced by the Aussersihl Viaduct, which carried the Winterthur line over several streets and the railway yards and line to Baden. The footprint of the older embankment route is today occupied by Röntgenstrasse.

As built, the tunnel was 959 metres (3,146 ft) long, with a southern portal close to the Rosengartenstrasse. In the 1990s, the tunnel was extended to the south, by covering the existing railway cutting, so that the new southern portal was immediately to the north of Wipkingen station. As a result of the extension, the tunnel is now 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) in length.