The International Rhine Regulation Railway (german: Internationale Rheinregulierungsbahn) was an
industrial railway
An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British ra ...
situated on both banks of the
Alpine Rhine
The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth at ...
river to the south of its outfall into
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Lak ...
. Large parts of the line have been preserved. As this stretch of the Rhine forms the international boundary between
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, the railway is located in both countries.
As its name suggests, the railway's original purpose was to assist in the engineering works needed to regulate the Rhine in this area - the so-called
Rhine Regulation The Regulation of the Rhine (german: Rheinregulierung) or Rhine Correction ('), refers to the canalisation of the Alpine Rhine on the border between Austria and Switzerland in the early 20th century. Its aim was to reduce the risk of flooding and to ...
. It is constructed to
750 mm gauge ( gauge) and is partially electrified at 750
V DC using overhead lines.
See also
*
List of heritage railways and funiculars in Switzerland
This is a list of heritage railways in Switzerland. For convenience, the list includes any pre-World War II railway in the large sense of the term (either adhesion railway, rack railway or funicular) currently operated with at least several origi ...
References
External links
Rhein-Shauen; Museum und Rheinbänle- the society that preserves the railway
750 mm gauge railways in Austria
750 mm gauge railways in Switzerland
Heritage railways in Austria
Heritage railways in Switzerland
Railway lines in Austria
Railway lines in Switzerland
750 V DC railway electrification
{{Switzerland-transport-stub