Major project MehrSpur Zurich-Winterthur goes on public display
SBB is planning to expand the railway line between Zurich and Winterthur on behalf of the federal government. This will make it possible to eliminate this bottleneck in the Swiss rail network and to realise the necessary expansion of services in urban and long-distance rail transport. The project will be open to the public from 30 May to 28 June 2023.
On behalf of the federal government, SBB is planning a new double track through the Brüttener tunnel, the expansion of the Dietlikon, Bassersdorf, Wallisellen and Winterthur Töss stations as well as other construction measures on the railway infrastructure between Zurich and Winterthur. The planned infrastructure upgrades of the major Zurich-Winterthur MehrSpur project will eliminate the current bottleneck in the railway network. Thanks to the second double track through the Brüttener Tunnel, two long-distance lines will run every quarter of an hour between Zurich and Winterthur in future. On Zurich’s S-Bahn network, the quarter-hourly service will become the basic service.
The project will be open to the public in the municipalities concerned from 30 May to 28 June 2023. The documents can be viewed during the official opening hours of the municipal administrations. During the public display, SBB project managers will be on site at certain times to answer questions from residents in the project perimeter. Information and registration for the event on the SBB website “MehrSpur Zürich-Winterthur”.
Expansion enables 30 percent more capacity
The expansion of the Zurich-Winterthur railway line includes the following projects:
- Around nine-kilometre-long Brüttener tunnel between Dietlikon / Bassersdorf and Winterthur
- Expansion of the four stations Dietlikon, Bassersdorf, Wallisellen, Winterthur Töss
- Construction of two bridges and two short tunnels. These structures will connect the new tracks to the existing railway network and unbundle traffic: Trains can cross each other without obstructing oncoming traffic.
- The project also includes the planning and realisation of projects by the Canton of Zurich (bicycle connections), cities and municipalities, as well as investments by the federal government for the maintenance of the railway infrastructure.
With the large-scale project MehrSpur Zurich-Winterthur, the railway capacity between Zurich and Winterthur will be expanded by 30 percent: Every day, 900 trains will be able to transport around 156,000 passengers. This will make travelling faster, easier and more comfortable.
Around ten years construction time
If the project proceeds without appeal proceedings, from today’s perspective, construction can start in the mid-2020s and the service can go into operation in the mid-2030s. SBB will be able to draw up a definitive construction programme as soon as it has received the legally binding construction permit from the federal government and the construction work has been awarded.
Largest project in the federal government’s 2035 expansion plan
The costs for the planned extensions between Zurich and Winterthur amount to around 2.9 billion Swiss francs. This makes MehrSpur Zurich-Winterthur the largest project in the federal government’s 2035 expansion stage. Financing is provided by the federal government’s railway infrastructure fund, which is fed by contributions from the federal government and the cantons, among others.