Appenzell Railways

Appenzell Railways
Native name
Appenzeller Bahnen
Industry Public transport
Founded 1988
Website http://www.appenzellerbahnen.ch/

Appenzell Railways (German: Appenzeller Bahnen, AB) is a Swiss railway company with headquarters in Herisau. It operates a network of railways in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen.

History

The origins of the Appenzeller Bahnen company lies in a number of formerly independent companies and railway lines:[1]

The Appenzellerbahn and Santisbahn merged in 1947, retaining the Appenzellerbahn (AB) identity. The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell-Bahn and Altstätten-Gais-Bahn merged in 1948, under the name St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell–Altstätten-Bahn (SGA).[1]

The Appenzeller Bahnen company was formed in 1988, with the merger of the Appenzellerbahn and the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell–Altstätten-Bahn. In 2006, the Appenzeller Bahnen company merged with the Rorschach–Heiden-Bergbahn, the Rheineck–Walzenhausen-Bergbahn and the Trogenerbahn companies. In legal terms, this merger took the form of the Appenzeller Bahnen company acquiring the other companies.[1]

Operation

Map of Appenzell Railways lines

Today, the company operates the following railway lines:[2][3]

The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell, Gossau–Appenzell–Wasserauen and Altstätten–Gais lines form a connected network of metre gauge (3 ft 3 38 in gauge) lines, all electrified at 1500 V DC. The St. Gallen–Trogen line is also of metre gauge and has its St. Gallen terminus immediately adjacent to that of the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell line, but it is electrified at 600/1000 V DC and there is currently no track connection. The Rheineck–Walzenhausen and Rorschach–Heiden lines are geographically separate from the rest of the network, and are of respectively 1,200 mm (3 ft 11 14 in) and standard (4 ft 8 12 in) gauges. The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell, Altstaetten–Gais, Rheineck–Walzenhausen and Rorschach–Heiden lines all have rack railway sections, whilst the Gossau–Appenzell–Wasserauen and St. Gallen–Trogen lines are adhesion only.[2][3]

The company also operates a bus service from Teufen, on the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell line, to Speicher, on the St. Gallen–Trogen line. Night bus services are operated over the routes of the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell and St. Gallen–Trogen lines.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Geschichte" [History] (in German). Appenzeller Bahnen. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
  2. 1 2 3 "Unterwegs" [Route network] (in German). Appenzeller Bahnen. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
  3. 1 2 Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Verlag Schweers + Wall GmbH. 2012. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.

External links


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