![Nordbahn-Wagen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Nordbahn-Wagen.jpg)
The Swiss Northern Railway (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
: ''Schweizerische Nordbahn'', SNB), informally known as the ''Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn'', opened the first railway line within
Switzerland in 1847, the
Zürich–Baden line. This followed the extension of a French railway to Basel in 1844. The original line generally followed the south bank of the
Limmat from Zürich to near its confluence with the
Aar near
Brugg
, neighboring_municipalities = Gebenstorf, Habsburg, Hausen, Holderbank, Lupfig, Riniken, Rüfenach, Schinznach, Untersiggenthal, Villigen, Villnachern, Veltheim, Windisch
, twintowns = Rottweil (Germany)
, website ...
and then it generally followed the south bank of the Aar to Olten. It was absorbed into the
Swiss Northeastern Railway
The Swiss Northeastern Railway (''Schweizerische Nordostbahn''; NOB) was an early railway company in Switzerland. It also operated shipping on Lake Constance (''Bodensee'') and Lake Zürich. Until the merger of the Western Swiss Railways into the ...
(German: ''Schweizerische Nordostbahn'', NOB) in 1853 and extended from Baden to Brugg in 1858. The line was absorbed into the
Swiss Federal Railways on its establishment in 1902. It is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz and its eastern 16 km section from Zürich to
Killwangen
Killwangen is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
History
The town was first known as ''Chullewangen'' as early as 1227. The name is alemannish in origin. For nearly 600 years, Killwangen was depende ...
-
Spreitenbach
Spreitenbach ( High Alemannic: ''Spräitebach'') is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal'').
It lies southeast of the district center, directly on the ...
is now part of the
Zürich–Olten trunkline and has four tracks.
History
![Spanischbroetli4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Spanischbroetli4.jpg)
The section between Zürich and Baden was opened on 7 August 1847 by the Swiss Northeastern Railway. It was the first line built in Switzerland, except for the line built from
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...
to
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
by the French company ''Chemin de fer de Strasbourg à Bâle'', opened to a temporary station outside Basel's walls on 15 June 1844 and to the permanent station on 11 December 1845. The construction of railways in Switzerland was delayed compared to most of its neighbours, partly as a result of its mountainous geography. In addition the cantons were in a position to influence the routes chosen, particularly because of the need for compulsory purchase to build railways. In 1836 Friedrich Hünerwadel of Lenzburg pointed out to the government of the canton of
Aargau—through which the line had to pass—the importance of the route of a railway from Zurich to Basel for Aargau's commerce and industry.
In 1837, the Zürich Chamber of Commerce commissioned the engineer
Alois Negrelli
Nikolaus Alois Maria Vinzenz Negrelli, Ritter von Moldelbe (born Luigi Negrelli; 23 January 1799 – 1 October 1858) was a Tyrolean civil engineer and railroad pioneer mostly active in parts of the Austrian Empire, Switzerland, Germany and ...
to investigate the route of such a line. In October of the same year the Zurich-Basel railway company was founded. The chosen route would lead from Zürich to
Würenlos
Würenlos is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It lies north of the river Limmat, next to the canton of Zürich, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal'').
Geography
Würenlos has an are ...
via
Dietikon
Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area.
Geography
The i ...
along the south bank of the Limmat, then crossing the river to follow the north bank of the Limmat via
Wettingen
Wettingen is a residential community in the district of Baden in the Swiss canton of Aargau. With a population about 20,000, Wettingen is the second-largest municipality in the canton.
Geography
Wettingen is located on the right bank of the Li ...
,
Ennetbaden
Ennetbaden is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal'').
History
Ennetbaden is first mentioned about 1261-64 as ''Alio Badin''.
Geography
Ennetbaden ...
and
Obersiggenthal
Obersiggenthal is a municipality located in the Limmat Valley, within the district of Baden, in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland.
History
Obersiggenthal is first mentioned around 1303-08 as ''Sikental''.
Geography
Obersiggenthal has an area, ...
. In Untersiggenthal the line would turn to the north and have crossed the
Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.
Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descen ...
at
Döttingen. It would have then followed the south bank of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
to Basel. In April 1838 surveying of the route began, but angry residents obstructed their work. The
Züriputsch
The Züriputsch of 6 September 1839 was a putsch of the rural conservative population against the liberal rule of the city of Zürich on the eve of the formation of the Swiss federal state. The reason for the putsch was the appointment of th ...
of 1839 and a civil war-like constitutional dispute in the canton of Aargau further delayed the start of construction.
[
In addition the route of the line was controversial. Some called for a line through the ]Bözberg Pass
Bözberg is a municipality in the district of Brugg in canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It ceased to exist in 1873, when it was split into the two new municipalities Oberbözberg and Unterbözberg. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of ...
, which was the route of the Bözberg line opened in 1875. Although the Aargau parliament passed a law permitting compulsory purchase in November 1840, several shareholders lost their financial guarantees, and the company had to be dissolved in December 1841. In May 1843 representatives of the cantons of Aargau, Zurich and Basle met in the Baden City Hall, but they failed to come to any agreement.[
]
Construction
In May 1845 a new committee was formed under the leadership of the Zurich industrialist Martin Escher. The planned line would now keep to the south bank of the Limmat, which it would only cross at Turgi
Turgi is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, located in the Limmat Valley (German: ''Limmattal'').
In 2002, Turgi received the Wakker Prize for the preservation of its architectural heritage.
History
I ...
. Finally, it was planned to cross the Rhine between Koblenz and Waldshut (then in the state of Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
) to connect with the planned Baden Mainline
The Baden main line (german: Badische Hauptbahn) is a German railway line that was built between 1840 and 1863. It runs through Baden, from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Offenburg, Freiburg, Basle, Waldshut-Tiengen, Waldshut, Schaffhausen an ...
between Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
and Konstanz
Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
. With an assurance that Alois Negrelli would direct the engineering and that a branch line would be later built from Baden to Lenzburg and Aarau, the Aargau parliament approved the project in July 1845. The first stage of construction would be the section from Zurich to Baden.[ The was chosen,][Welti, Oskar (1946). ''Zürich–Baden, die Wiege der schweizerischen Eisenbahnen''. Zürich: Orell Füssli.]
Negrelli relocated the station in Baden to the north side of the town, requiring the construction of the 80-meter-long Schlossberg tunnel. Gustav Albert Wegmann designed the Zürich railway station, while Ferdinand Stadler designed the Baden station. At the end of 1845 the Nordbahn company was founded with a share capital of 20 million francs, in the spring of 1846 construction work started. The route for the most part was easy, although there were small landslides between Neuenhof and Baden. The greatest challenge was the construction of the Schlossberg tunnel, where prisoners were initially used for this work; later unskilled workers were also used there. There were three fatalities in a blasting accident and an additional six workers died of typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...
. The tunnel was broken through on 14 April 1847.[
]
Opening
The line opened on 7 August 1847 and was the first line located entirely on Swiss territory. Shortly after 11:30 am, the arrival of the first official train in Zurich was announced with gun salute. He brought the invited guests and members of the Aargau authorities from Baden to Zurich. The locomotive No. 1 «Limmat» required only 23 minutes, which would correspond to an average speed of 42 km / h. After celebrations and sightseeing of the train station infrastructure the train left Zurich for Baden at 13:00 with 140 invited guests; scheduled operations started two days later. Every day there were four trips in each direction. The 20 km journey took 45 minutes with the trains stopping at Altstetten
Altstetten may refer to:
* Altstetten, Erdweg, Bavaria, Germany
* Altstetten, Rennertshofen, Bavaria, Germany
*Altstetten (Zürich)
Altstetten is a quarter in district 9 of the city of Zürich in Switzerland. It was formerly a municipality in it ...
, Schlieren
Schlieren ( ; , ) are optical inhomogeneities in transparent media that are not necessarily visible to the human eye. Schlieren physics developed out of the need to produce high-quality lenses devoid of such inhomogeneities. These inhomogeneiti ...
and Dietikon. Soon after the opening, the line began to be called the "Spanisch-Brötli bahn" ("Spanish bun railway") because the Zürich gentry sent their servants by train to Baden to buy these buns in order to impress their clients at Sunday morning teas. Previously their servants had to set out from Baden at midnight on foot with the buns. The buns were apparently derived from buns made in Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
during the 17th century when it was under Spanish control. Under the laws of the canton they could only be made in Baden.
The railway had little commercial success. Its passenger numbers were reduced by the Sonderbund war
The Sonderbund War (german: Sonderbundskrieg, fr , Guerre du Sonderbund, it , Guerra del Sonderbund) of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic canton ...
and the Revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...
in neighboring countries. The Nordbahn dropped one of the daily services and indefinitely delayed the construction of further stages. Construction of the branch line from Baden to Lenzburg and Aarau was abandoned. Eventually, the company succeeded in coming to an agreement with the postal administration so that the coach service to Bern no longer ran on the Zurich–Baden section, but the coach service between Zurich and Basel continued to run beside the railway.[
]
Extension to Brugg and Olten
Only after the enactment of the Federal Railways Act of 1852—made possible by the new constitution of 1848—and the merger of the company with Alfred Escher's ''Bodensee und Rheinfallbahnen'' (" Lake Constance and Rhine Falls
, photo = File:SBB RABe 514 DTZ Rheinfall.jpg
, photo_width = 280
, photo_caption = Rhine Falls with Rheinfall Bridge and Laufen Castle
, location = On the border between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich next to Schaffhausen, i ...
Railway") to form the Schweizerische Nordostbahn ("Swiss Northeast Railway") in 1853 were construction plans resumed. The line to Brugg was opened in 1858, where it met the line from Olten built by the Schweizerische Centralbahn
The Swiss Central Railway (''Schweizerische Centralbahn''; SCB or S.C.B.) was one of the five major private railway companies of Switzerland. The SCB with a track length of 332 kilometres was integrated into the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 190 ...
.
References
{{reflist
Defunct railway companies of Switzerland