The Rheinfall Railway (german: Rheinfallbahn) is a railway line in Switzerland. The line links

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria ...

in the canton of Zurich with

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

in the

canton of Schaffhausen The canton of Schaffhausen, also canton of Schaffouse (german: Kanton Schaffhausen; rm, Chantun Schaffusa; french: Canton de Schaffhouse; it, Canton Sciaffusa) is the northernmost canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the ca ...

. The Rheinfall Railway was constructed by the independent ''Rheinfallbahn-Gesellschaft''. Towards its northern end, the Rheinfall Railway crosses the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

on a viaduct adjacent to the famous

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 ...

, from which it takes its name.

History

The ''Rheinfallbahn-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1853 by the Schaffhausen industrialist Heinrich Moser. Construction of the line commenced in 1855, and it was opened on 16 April 1857. The section of line between Andelfingen and Schaffhausen proved particularly difficult and costly to build, including as it needed major bridges across the rivers

and Thur, together with a tunnel under Laufen Castle. 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 ...

(NOB) acquired the ''Rheinfallbahn-Gesellschaft'' on 4 November 1856 prior to the line's opening, providing connections to Zurich and beyond. In 1902, the NOB became part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), who retain ownership of the line. Until 1897, the Rheinfall railway provided the main railway route between Schaffhausen and the rest of Switzerland. However in that year the Eglisau to Neuhausen line opened, providing a shorter route to Zurich via

Bülach , neighboring_municipalities= Bachenbülach, Eglisau, Embrach, Glattfelden, Hochfelden, Höri, Rorbas, Winkel , twintowns = Santeramo in Colle (Italy) Bülach () is an historic town and a municipality in Switzerland in the cant ...

that is now used by all long distance trains. The line was electrified on 11 April 1943. In 2007 its 150th anniversary was celebrated by the operation of historic steam trains over the line.

Operation

Today the Rheinfall Railway is served by two lines of the Zurich S-Bahn. The S16 provides an hourly through service between Zurich and Schaffhausen, with only limited stops on the Rheinfall railway section of its route. The S33 links Winterthur and Schaffhausen twice an hour, stopping at all intermediate stations. The northernmost section of the line, between Neuhausen and Schaffhausen, also carries all the traffic using the Eglisau to Neuhausen railway line, including most long distance trains between Schaffhausen and the rest of Switzerland, together with Zurich S-Bahn line S22 from

to Schaffhausen, until the December 2015. Since the timetable change of 2015 the S9 from

Uster Uster (High Alemannic: ''Uschter'') is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich. It is the third largest town in the canton of Zürich, with almost 35,000 inhabitants, and is one of the twenty largest towns i ...

to Schaffhausen, took over the part of S22, between Bülach and Schaffhausen. The line is predominantly single track with passing loops at stations, although there are double track sections between Hettlingen and Henggart, in the Marthalen area, and between Neuhausen and Schaffhausen. It is long, standard gauge and electrified at supplied by

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...

. The S-Bahn service over the single-track railway south of Neuhausen leaves little room for other trains, and most freight and long-distance passenger services use alternative routes.

References

Bibliography

External links

*{{commonscat-inline, Rheinfall Railway
Video of 150th anniversary
from YouTube
Railway lines in Switzerland Defunct railway companies of Switzerland