From December 15, 2024, long-distance trains will run every half hour between Sargans and St. Gallen. To this end, SBB is expanding the rail infrastructure in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. Construction work is progressing as planned. On October 25, 2024, the extended night closures between Sargans and Buchs SG will end, and with them the timetable restrictions.
From the timetable change in 2025, long-distance trains will run every half hour between St. Gallen and Sargans. To this end, SBB has been expanding the rail infrastructure in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley since autumn 2022. This construction work has led to timetable restrictions over the past year and a half, including a total closure of the line between Buchs SG and Altstätten SG for eight months.
Until October 25, 2024, the railway line between Sargans and Buchs SG will be closed from 9:50 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. (replacement buses will run). From October 25, 2024 at 5:00 a.m., the same timetable as before the closure will apply again. But not for long: From December 15, 2024, long-distance trains will run between St. Gallen and Sargans every half hour: The SOB (Alpenrhein-Express) IR13 will now run between St. Gallen–Sargans–Chur. The SBB’s existing IR13 Zurich–St. Gallen–Sargans–Chur will now only run to Sargans instead of Chur. In Sargans there is a connection to the IC3 to Chur and Zurich.
Construction work is not yet fully completed. Before the new timetable is introduced on 15 December 2024, the infrastructure must undergo a comprehensive test phase to ensure smooth operation. Final work will be carried out until spring 2025, but this work will not require any timetable restrictions.
The double-track expansion in numbers
- The costs amount to around CHF 250 million (EUR 266 million) and will be financed through the federal government’s 2025 expansion phase.
- During construction, 183,000m3 of excavated material was removed, which corresponds to the volume of 73 full Olympic swimming pools.
- 71,000 tons of gravel were used for the new roadways, which corresponds to 1,420 fully loaded freight wagons.
- For the new double-track sections, 371 new mast foundations for overhead line masts and signals were built.
Further information can be found on the project page “Double-track expansion in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley” .
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