The Lake Zurich left bank railway line (), is a railway line in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It serves the left (or west) bank of

Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

, connecting

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Ziegelbrücke Ziegelbrücke is a village situated on both sides of the Linth Channel in Switzerland. Ziegelbrücke is shared by the Municipalities of Switzerland, municipalities of Niederurnen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Glarus (canton), Glarus an ...

and

Näfels Näfels is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Näfels is part of the municipality of Glarus Nord. History Näfels is first mentioned in 1240 as ''Nevels''. ...

. The left-bank railway opened in 1875 and forms part of the Zurich–Chur main line. It is long, standard gauge, double track 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, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

. Between Zurich and

Thalwil Thalwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and town in the district of Horgen (district), Horgen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. The municipality includes two parts: Thalwil and Gatti ...

, the line originally shared its tracks with the Zurich–Lucerne main line, although many through trains on this stretch now use the

Zimmerberg Base Tunnel The Zimmerberg Base Tunnel (ZBT) is a railway tunnel under the Zimmerberg mountains in Switzerland. Phase I of the tunnel was opened to traffic during April 2003. The ZBT has been divided into two phases of work; as of 2024, only Phase I is ope ...

rather than the lakeside line.

Geography

History

The line was opened by 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 ...

in 1875. Prior to this, trains between Zurich and

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

travelled on the Wallisellen to Rapperswil via Uster line. The parallel line on the opposite bank of Lake Zürich did not open until 1894. Between 1875 and 1925, the line followed a routing through Zurich north of Wollishofen that differed from the current alignment and was largely at street level, with many

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

s. The line passed through a single tunnel, the original Ulmberg rail tunnel, and crossed the

Sihl river The Sihl is a Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the city of Zürich, after crossing the Zürich–Winterthur railway at . It has a length of , includ ...

on a bridge. Between 1925 and 1927, this stretch of line was relocated westwards and to a lower level, largely in the new Ulmberg and Enge tunnels, and the current

Wiedikon Wiedikon is a district in the Swiss city of Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake ...

and Enge stations date from this period. The original Ulmberg rail tunnel is still in use for road traffic, forming the western bore of the Ulmberg road tunnel, but most of the rest of the former route has been obscured by subsequent building.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Zurich left-bank railway line Railway lines in Switzerland Railway lines opened in 1875 1875 establishments in Switzerland Swiss Federal Railways lines 15 kV AC railway electrification