Sursee–Triengen railway

The Sursee–Triengen-Bahn (ST) is a small railway company in Switzerland. It owns a railway line of only 8.9 km between Sursee, where it connects to the SBB-CFF-FFS network, and Triengen. The line was opened on 23 November 1912 with steam traction. Unlike most other railways in Switzerland, it was never electrified but a small diesel locomotive was purchased in 1965.

Sursee-Triengen-Bahn
Steam train between Sursee and Triengen, 7 May 1988
Operation
Opened	23 November 1912
Technical
Line length	8.9 km (5.53 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track with passing loops
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	250 m (820 ft)
Maximum incline	15 ‰ or 1.5 %

Sursee-Triengen-Bahn Infrastructure
Main line from Luzern 0,0 Sursee Main line to Zofingen–Olten 0,7 Industrial siding Münchrüti 3,8 Geuensee 5,8 Büron-Bad Knutwil 8,9 Triengen-Winikon

Steam locomotives

Traffic had started with two small steam locomotives E 2/2 1 and 2 and in 1917 a steam motor coach joined them. This unique FZm 1/2 11 had mail and baggage compartments. 1961-1963 these three vehicles reached the end of their lives and were replaced by used SBB E 3/3 "Tigerli". The first two of them (3 ex 8477 and 4 ex 8488) had soon to be replaced by two others (5 ex 8479 and 8522). 1960-64 a leased tramway-type ("Glaskasten") Ed 2/2 from VHB was in use. E 3/3 5 and 8522 were kept as replacements for the new diesel.

Sursee-Stadt Station

When the line was opened in 1912, SB built a passenger Station North of the Old town Center, called Sursee-Stadt. The Station was connected to the SBB Olten-Lucerne Railway over a wide curve through the Kleinfeld into the northern End of Sursee SBB where the Trains from Triengen terminated. The Station Sursee-Stadt was served until the construction of the N2 to Lucerne in 1978. The motorway connection Sursee called for the construction of a Northern Ringroad Ringstrasse Nord through the Bifang. At this point the Tracks were ripped up and relocated to an even wider curve bypassing the now Built up Kleinfeld and joining the existing Tracks in the Schwyzermatt. The Industriestrasse still follows a part of the exact curve, where the old Tracks used to lay between Sursee-SBB and Sursee-Stadt. On the Triengen Side of the Station, all remnants of the old Tracks have been removed. The Track used to lay where the Suhrentalstrasse to Geuensee now stands. The Station Building was preserved and now functions as a Restaurant called Bahnhöfli.

Planned extension

There had been many plans and long discussions about a through going Suhre valley railway. This would have been the existing, 10.18 kilometres (6.33 mi) long 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) metre gauge Aarau–Schöftland line of the Wynental and Suhrental railway (WSB), a new meter gauge line Schöftland–Triengen and a third rail in the track of the Sursee–Triengen railway, including electrification. Electric meter gauge trains would have made the journey from Aarau to Sursee. Freight traffic could have continued on standard gauge to Triengen, similar to Wohlen–Bremgarten of the BDWM. But it wasn't the time to build new secondary railways then and furthermore Triengen and Schöftland are situated in different cantons. On 25 September 1971 regular passenger traffic of the ST ended and a new bus service Sursee–Triengen–Schöftland connected with the modernized WSB line.

Current operation

Freight traffic continued and in 1976 a second diesel of SBB Tm IV type arrived. When the nostalgia-boom reached Switzerland, ST gave its steam 8522 engine to the Dampfbahn Bern which gave it an overhaul and used it for some time. Having kept the old passenger coaches, ST began to offer steam train runs. Remarkable thing is that 8522 is one of the two locomotives that were "partly electrified" during World War 2. An electric boiler heating should replace rare coal. But when the war was over and supply restarted, pantograph and electric heater were removed .[1]

After the 1999 reform of railway law, SBB Cargo decided to bring freight cars to their destinations in open access. It took over Tm IV 2 from ST. So, the ST of today is an infrastructure and steam train company.

Future

A study about the feasibility of reinstating passenger traffic and a possible extension to Schöftland commissioned by the Sursee-Triengen company with ETH Zurich [2] was published in May 2009. The municipality Triengen opposes passenger rail traffic, as access to settlements seems to be better by road transport. Furthermore, the municipality would have to cover part of the potential higher deficit.[3]

Sources and links

• Daniel Zumbühl, 75 Jahre Sursee–Triengen-Bahn, (offizielle Festschrift). E.B.Leutwiler Verlag, Zürich, 1987, ISBN 3-906681-05-X
• official homepage of the company
• References:

1. The Railway Magazine, August 2009, page 38: Kettles on wheels!
2. Weidmann Ulrich, Rieder Markus, Patrick Frank, Silko Höppner (2009):Wiedereinführung des Personenverkehr auf der Sursee-Triengen-Bahn und einer allfälligen Verlängerung Vorstudie, Institut für Verkehrsplanung und Transportsysteme (IVT), ETH Zurich, Zürich (German, pdf, 3.87 MB)
3. Gemeinde Triengen, 27. April 09 : Aus dem Gemeinderat Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine found on Triengen Online under the heading Neuigkeiten on 12 July 2009 (German).