Frauenfeld–Wil railway

Frauenfeld–Wil railway

An old Frauenfeld–Wil train in Münchwilen
Overview
Type Light rail
Locale Switzerland
Termini Frauenfeld
Wil
Services 1
Operation
Opening 1887, electrification 1921
Character 841
Technical
Line length 17.44km
Track gauge Metre (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Electrification 1200 V DC Overhead line
Highest elevation 570.8m
Maximum incline 46 ‰
Route diagram

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Legend
 SBB from St. Gallen/Wattwil
0.00 Wil 571 m above the sea
Depot und Werkstätte; Rollbockanlage
Thurbo-MThB Weinfelden–Wil
SBB to Winterthur
2.35 Schweizerhof 531 m above the  sea
 3.89 Münchwilen 516 m above the  sea
 4.66 Münchwilen Pflegeheim 509 m above the  sea
 6.50 Rosental 487 m above the  sea
 7.95 Wängi GB 474 m above the  sea
 8.27 Wängi 470 m above the  sea
 9.01 Wiesengrund 465 m above the  sea
 9.81 Jakobstal 460 m above the  sea
 11.49 Matzingen 447 m above the  sea
 12.62 Weberei Matzingen 440 m above the  sea
 13.92 Murkart 431 m above the  sea
 15.13 Lüdem 423 m above the  sea
 16.85 Frauenfeld Marktplatz 417 m above the  sea
SBB from Winterthur
17.45 Frauenfeld 405 m above the  sea
 SBB to Weinfelden

The Frauenfeld–Wil railway (German: Frauenfeld–Wil-Bahn, FW) is a metre gauge (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in gauge) railway line[1] in Switzerland, which connects the town of Frauenfeld in the canton of Thurgau, to the town of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen, following the valley of the Murg river. The line is owned and operated by the Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn AG, forms part of the Tarifverbund Ostwind, and operates as service S15 of the St. Gallen S-Bahn.

Plans to build a tramway between Frauenfeld and Wil were first made in the early 1850s. The rail line opened in 1887, and was electrified in 1921. Around 1.25 million passengers use the line every year.

Locals call the train "Wilerbähnli" or "Wiler Bähnli".[2]

Operation

Trains run every 30 minutes, requiring 3 trains in operation at once, with trains crossing at the stations of Matzingen and Schweizerhof.

In 2011 the railway company ordered five new ABe4/8 low floor trains from Stadler Rail, to replace the old trains. However, there are plans for a 15 minutes interval in future and therefore some of the old trains will be retained. The first train was delivered in March 2013 and was tested for 3 months. It went into regular service on 26 June 2013.[3][4][5]

Stations

15 stations are served by the line.[6]

Station km Altitude
Frauenfeld 17.44 404.6
From Frauenfeld there are trains to Winterthur and Weinfelden.
Frauenfeld Marktplatz 16.85 417 since 1996
Lüdem 15.13 423
Murkart 13.92 431
Weberei Matzingen 12.62 440
Matzingen 11.49 447
Jakobstal 9.81 460
Wiesengrund 9.01 465
Wängi 8.27 470
Wängi GB (Service Station) 7.95 474
Rosental 6.5 487
Münchwilen Pflegeheim 4.66 509
Münchwilen TG 3.89 516
Schweizerhof (Service Station) 2.66 530
Wil 0.00 570.8
From Wil there are trains to Winterthur, Weinfelden, St. Gallen and Wattwil.

Freight Traffic

Freight trains ran on the line from 1907 until the early 2000s. This included transporter wagons from 1977 onwards.[7]

Literature

External links

References

  1. ↑ Barrow, Keith. "Swiss metre-gauge emu on test". International Railway Journal. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Inc. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Das Wiler Bähnli macht es vor - St. Galler Tagblatt Online
  3. ↑ "Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn buys five new Stadler vehicles". Stadler Rail. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  4. ↑ "Neue Fahrzeugflotte" [New vehicle fleet] (in German). Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  5. ↑ "Worldwide Review". Tramways & Urban Transit (Light Rail Transit Association). September 2013. p. 399.
  6. ↑ "Bahnstrecke Frauenfeld-Wil". schienenverkehr-schweiz.ch.
  7. ↑ Felix's Homepage - Wilerbähnli