The Uznach–Wattwil railway, also called the Rickenbahn (Ricken Railway) is a single-track standard-gauge line in Switzerland. It was opened on 1 October 1910 by the

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

. It is 14.37 kilometres long, including 8,603 kilometres in the

Ricken Tunnel The Ricken Tunnel (german: Rickentunnel) is an long rail tunnel under the Ricken Pass in eastern Switzerland. It is on the Swiss Federal Railway Uznach–Wattwil line, between Kaltbrunn station and Wattwil station. The tunnel, which accommoda ...

History

The construction of this line is directly related to the construction of the

Bodensee–Toggenburg railway The Bodensee–Toggenburg railway is a mainly single-track standard-gauge line connecting on Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) and the Toggenburg region in Eastern Switzerland. It was built by the Bodensee-Toggenburg-Bahn (BT), a former rai ...

by the ''Bodensee-Toggenburg-Bahn''. Its line included the St. Gallen–Wattwil section of the St. Gallen–Wattwil–Rapperswil project, which was promoted by the engineer "Lusser" and for which a concession was granted on 27 June 1890. As a result of the skilful tactics of the

canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern ...

, construction of the line was transferred to the Toggenburgerbahn, the builder of the

Wil–Ebnat-Kappel railway The Wil–Ebnat-Kappel railway is a single-track standard-gauge line that runs through the Toggenburg region of Switzerland. It was built by the Toggenburgerbahn (Toggenburg Railway; TB). Its 25 kilometre-long, standard gauge line from via ...

. However, it did not have to start construction, as its nationalisation was imminent and it was taken over by the

United Swiss Railways The United Swiss Railways (''Vereinigten Schweizerbahnen''; VSB or V.S.B.) was a former railway company in Switzerland. It was the smallest of the five main railways that were nationalised from 1902 to form the Swiss Federal Railways. Foundatio ...

(''Vereinigte Schweizerbahnen''; VSB). As a result, the new Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) was obliged to build the Ricken Railway at its own expense. Construction of the Ricken Tunnel began in January 1904 and the line was put into operation on 1 October 1910. After a railway accident in the Ricken Tunnel on 4 October 1926, in which 9 people died, the immediate electrification of the line was approved. Electric operations at 15 kV AC 16.7 Hz commenced between Rapperswil and Wattwil on 7 May 1927. File:Rickenbahn Wattwil.jpg, View from the north portal of the Ricken Tunnel towards Wattwil File:Rickenbahn Kaltbrunn.JPG, Construction of scaffolding over the Kaltbrunner Dorfbach File:Rickenbahn Eröffnung.jpg, Opening of Uznach station

Route

The line branches off in Uznach from the Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke railway, which was opened between and by the VSB on 15 February 1856. It then climbs to the east to Kaltbrunn station. After that, it continues to ascend to the northeast to the south portal of the Ricken Tunnel. This tunnel is laid out in a straight line with an even gradient of 1.575%. From the north portal, the line drops to Wattwil station. There is connection to the

, which was opened on 14 June 1870 and to the

to St. Gallen, which was opened on 3 October 1910. The only major structure that had to be built was the 8603 metre-long Ricken Tunnel. The track was built with one track and has remained unchanged to this day.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uznach-Wattwil railway Railway lines in Switzerland Railway lines opened in 1910 1910 establishments in Switzerland