Bözberg
South portal of the Bözberg Tunnel at the ghost station ofSchinznach-Dorf
Overview
Native name	Bözbergstrecke
Line number	700
Locale	Switzerland
Termini	Basel SBB Baden
Technical
Line length	65.9 km (40.9 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Maximum incline	1.4%
Route map Legend km elev SBB to Basel 8.3 80.2 Pratteln 290 m SBB to OltenS3 A 3 /Rhine Pratteln Salina Raurica Ergolz bridge (185 m) 76.9 Kaiseraugst 285 m A 861 Rheinfelden Augarten 71.6 Rheinfelden 285 m 68.2 Möhlin 308 m A 3 /E60 /H3 61.8 Mumpf 310 m 58.8 Stein-Säckingen 311 m SBB to LaufenburgS1 55.4 Eiken 328 m 51.8 Frick S1 360 m 46.9 Hornussen 414 m 42.4 Effingen 461 m Bözberg tunnel (2,526 m) 39.2 Schinznach Dorf 441 m A 3 /E60 Villnachern tunnel (184 m) 35.9 Villnachern 403 m Aare bridge (223 m) SBB from Olten SBB from Rotkreuz 31.3 Brugg AG S12 352 m Reuss SBB to Koblenz 27.4 Turgi 341 m 22.5 Baden S6 385 m SBB to Zürich [1] This diagram: view talk edit

TheBözberg railway line is a railway line inSwitzerland, running betweenBasel andBrugg viaPratteln,Rheinfelden,Stein-Säckingen,Frick and theBözberg Tunnel. At Brugg it connects toZürich viaBaden and to theGotthard Railway via theAargauische Südbahn.

The line was built by the Bötzberg Railway (German:Bötzbergbahn), a joint venture of theSwiss Northeastern Railway andSwiss Central Railway. Construction started in 1870 and it opened on 2 August 1875. It was taken over bySwiss Federal Railways in 1902. It is now an important freight line connectingGermany andItaly via the Gotthard.

A proposal was made in 1836 to build a railway line from Zürich to Basel viaLaufenburg but it suffered from lack of finance and opposition in Basel.^{[citation needed]} Thesection between Zürich and Baden opened on 9 August 1847 by theSwiss Northern Railway (German:Schweizerische Nordbahn),^[2] which became known as theSpanisch-Brötli bahn ("Spanish bun railway"). The Aargau canton government proposed a continuation of the line via Brugg and theBözberg Pass to Basel.

In 1858 the Swiss Northeastern Railway openeda line fromBrugg toOlten, connecting to theSwiss Central Railway'sHauenstein line to Basel.^[2] At the same time the Zürich–Baden line (which by that time had been merged into the Schweizerische Nordostbahn) was extended to connect with the Centralbahn's line at Brugg.^{[citation needed]} Construction of an alternative route, known as theBötzbergbahn (BöB) began in 1870 and it was opened on 2 August 1875 through the Bözberg Pass fromPratteln to Brugg via theFrick valley and the 2,526-metre-longBözberg Tunnel by a joint venture of the Centralbahn and the Nordostbahn. This line is 49 km long, about 8 kilometers shorter than the line via Olten. Trains on it used the Centralbahn between Basel and Pratteln and the Nordostbahn between Brugg and Zürich. The single-track line was built with a maximum grade of 1.4%.

In 1895, the section between Pratteln andStein-Säckingen was double-tracked.^[3] No further double-tracking occurred before the Bözbergbahn was incorporated in theSwiss Federal Railways on 1 January 1902. In November 1904, the section from Stein-Säckingen toFrick was double-tracked. In April 1905, this was followed by the double-tracking of theSchinznach-Dorf–Brugg section, and finally in September 1905 double-tracking was completed on the section from Schinznach-Dorf through the tunnel toEffingen and Frick.^[3]

On 18 October 1926, the entire line from Pratteln to Brugg was electrified.^[4] Between Basel and Pratteln the Bözberg and Hauenstein lines share the same track. Congestion on this section was relieved by the opening of Adler Tunnel in 2003 betweenLiestal andMuttenz, which is now used by fast passenger trains.

General two inter-regional trains operate each way each hour between Zürich and Basel. OneRegio S-Bahn Basel S1 service operates each way each hour between Frick and Basel, stopping at all stations. Intercity trains between Zürich and Basel operate on the faster route via theHeitersberg line, theOlten–Aarau line (but bypassing Olten) and theHauenstein line.^[5]

In 1993, the local rail services between Brugg and Frick closed, and public transport on the route is now only provided byPostBus Aargau line 137 bus service. The stations atHornussen, Effingen and Schinznach Dorf are no longer served by trains and theVillnachern station is served only two trains a day ofRegio S-Bahn Basel.

Freight trains operate every day over the line to connect with the Gotthard line. They are mostly hauled by two of the most modern freight locomotives of various railway companies or hauled by one Swiss Federal railwaysRe 420 (formerlyRe 4/4 II) paired with aRe 620 (formerlyRe 6/6 II)—this combination is known asRe 10/10.

The Swiss Federal Office of Transport has granted a permit for the construction of a replacement for theBözberg railway tunnel. The new tunnel will form part of a scheme to increase the loading gauge on the freight route betweenBasel andChiasso via the newGotthard Base Tunnel.^[6]

• Wägli, Hans G.; Jacobi, Sébastien (2010).Schienennetz Schweiz - Bahnprofil Schweiz CH+ [Swiss rail network] (in German) (3rd ed.). Zürich: AS Verlag.ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9.

• Railway lines in Switzerland
• Transport in Aargau
• Transport in Basel-Stadt
• Transport in Basel-Landschaft
• Railway lines opened in 1875
• 1875 establishments in Switzerland
• Swiss Federal Railways lines
• 15 kV AC railway electrification

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing German-language text
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2021
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2022
• CS1 German-language sources (de)