Heitersberg Railway

The Heitersberg Railway (Heitersbergstrecke) is a Swiss railway line between the stations of Killwangen-Spreitenbach and Aarau on the east-west main line between Zürich und Bern. The main structure of the line is the 4,929 metre-long Heitersberg Tunnel, which has its west portal near Mellingen and its east portal near Killwangen.

Heitersberg Railway
Overview
Native nameHeitersbergstrecke
LocaleSwitzerland
TerminiKillwangen-Spreitenbach
Aarau
Line number650, 650.1
Technical
Line length25.4 km (15.8 mi)
Number of tracks2-4
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Route map
km
elev
from Zürich
16.1
 Killwangen-Spreitenbach
393 m
to Basel
Heitersberg flying junction
(right track only)
312 m
 Heitersberg Tunnel
(4929 m)
22.4
 Mellingen Heitersberg
397 m
 Fislisbach bridge
168 m
22.8
 Gruemet
from Wettingen
Reuss bridge, Mellingen (193 m)
 OV Strasse 5
(66 m)
25.9
 Mägenwil
416 m
27.7
from Brugg
27.7
 Othmarsingen
419 m
Gexi junction structure
Erlismoos bridge (125 m)
to/from Rotkreuz
Seetal railway to Luzern
31.9
 Lenzburg
406 m
32.4
to Suhr and Zofingen
35.6
from Brugg
35.6
 Rupperswil
374 m
 Rohr-Buchs (closed 1995)
41.5
 Aarau
383 m
to Olten
Source: Swiss railway atlas[1]

The line was built in the 1970s as part of the planned New Main Transversal (Neue Haupttransversale, NHT) project. It was opened on 1 June 1975[2] and handed over for scheduled operations on 22 May 1975.

Route

The Heitersberg route branches off from the Zürich–Baden–Aarau–Olten–Bern main line after Killwangen and runs through an almost five kilometre-long tunnel to Heitersberg (west portal at 47°25′43″N 8°16′47″E, east portal at 47°26′15″N 8°20′34″E), connecting in Mellingen with the line from Wettingen built by the Swiss National Railway (Schweizerische Nationalbahn) and in Othmarsingen with the Aargauische Südbahn (Aargau Southern Railway) from Brugg AG to Rotkreuz. Outside of Othmarsingen, there is a three-level crossing with a cantonal road and branches running towards Hendschiken and Lenzburg. West of Lenzburg a new line runs to Rupperswil and then it turns into a recently rebuilt four-track section to Aarau.

Thanks to the new direct line, including the tunnel, which allows speeds of 140 km/h, the running time between Zürich and Bern has been reduced by 20 minutes, partly as a result of the building of other structures such as the Grauholz Tunnel near Bern.

Ballastless track was tested in the Heitersberg tunnel from 1975 to 2014.[3]

Development projects

The development of the Heitersberg route is part of the Future development of rail infrastructure (Zukünftige Entwicklung der Bahninfrastruktur) program. The construction of the Chestenberg Tunnel between Rupperswil and Gruemet was proposed, but a direct 30 km-long tunnel between Aarau and Zürich is now favoured. The Eppenberg Tunnel has been under construction since 2015 as a continuation of the Heitersberg line towards Olten.

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References
  1. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz (Swiss railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2012. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
  2. Wägli, Hans G. (1998). Generalsekretariat SBB (ed.). Schienennetz Schweiz (in German). Zürich: AS-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-905111-21-7.
  3. "Gotthard Base Tunnel completes LVT installation". Railway Gazette International (in German). 171 (1): 40–43. 2015. ISSN 0373-5346.
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