Rapperswil
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
() is located next to the
old town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
and
harbour
A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...
of
Rapperswil
Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...
in the
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
canton of St. Gallen. It is the largest of four active railway stations in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Rapperswil-Jona
Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, Rapperswil-Jona also includes Bollinge ...
(the other three being , and ). Rapperswil railway station is situated on the north shore of
Lake Zürich
Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...
at the northern end of the
Seedamm
The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...
, which separates the
''Obersee'' (upper Lake Zürich) from the main body of the lake.
Because the Seedamm carries both rail and road connections from the south shore of the lake, and because Rapperswil is the meeting point of three separate line from the northern side of the lake, the station is a major nodal point on the local rail network, notably of the
Zurich Transport Network (ZVV). The first railway opened in 1859.
History
In early 1859 the first
steam train
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomoti ...
ran from Rapperswil – as a hub of railway lines from Rapperswil to
Rüti and from Rapperswil to
Schmerikon
Schmerikon is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster (Wahlkreis), See-Gaster in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gallen in Switzerland. In the local Swiss Germa ...
. Turntables and cranes were used to move cargo to/from the vessels at the harbour situated at nearby ''Fischmarktplatz''.
In 1875, the
Lake Zürich left bank line (''Linksufige Zürichseebahn'') from
Zürich Hauptbahnhof
Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened to Zürich HB or just HB, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. It is a major railway hub, with services to and from a ...
to
Ziegelbrücke
Ziegelbrücke is a village situated on both sides of the Linth Channel in Switzerland. Ziegelbrücke is shared by the Municipalities of Switzerland, municipalities of Niederurnen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Glarus (canton), Glarus an ...
opened along the south shore of the lake. In railway terms, this was linked to Rapperswil in 1878, when the
Gotthardbahn established the line across the
Seedamm
The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...
. The Rapperswil shore of
Lake Zürich
Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...
had to wait until 1895 for the opening of the
Lake Zürich right bank line (''Rechtsufrige Zürichseebahn'').
The famous
Orient Express
The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, w ...
stopped in Rapperswil on its way from
Varna
Varna may refer to:
Places Europe
*Varna, Bulgaria, a city
** Varna Province
** Varna Municipality
** Gulf of Varna
** Lake Varna
**Varna Necropolis
* Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy
* Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia
Asia
* Var ...
to
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
,
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
.
Since 1877 Rapperswil has been a major hub of what is now the
Südostbahn
The Südostbahn (German language, German, ) – commonly abbreviated to SOB – is a Switzerland, Swiss railway company, and a network in Central Switzerland, Central and Eastern Switzerland. It resulted from the merger of the Schweizerische S ...
(SOB), with a large depot. The current station building in
Renaissance Revival architecture
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...
style was built in 1894/95, planned by architect
Karl August Hiller, underlining the growing importance of tourism.
The railway station's infrastructure, including the bus terminal and the station building, were renewed in 2007/8, and the rail tracks and the infrastructure by June/July 2016.
Operation
Train
Rapperswil railway station is an important junction station, where the Südostbahn's (SOB)
Rapperswil to Pfäffikon railway line across the
Seedamm
The Rapperswil Seedamm is the artificial causeway at the narrowest area of Lake Zurich between Hurden, Hurden (SZ) and Rapperswil (SG). The structure contains two bridge segments and is approximately long. The Seedamm carries a road () and ...
meets with the
Lake Zürich right bank line, the
Wallisellen to Rapperswil via Uster line and the
Rapperswil to Ziegelbrücke line.
Rapperswil is served by services of two
S-Bahn
The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...
-style networks, the
Zürich S-Bahn
The Zurich S-Bahn () system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, ...
and the
St. Gallen S-Bahn. Services
S5,
S7,
S15 and
S40 of the Zürich S-Bahn call at this railway station. Connections to or from
Zürich HB via either the right bank line (S7) or Uster line (S5/15) are very frequent, and the ride takes only about 36 minutes. The S40 provides a local link to
Pfäffikon and
Einsiedeln
Einsiedeln () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and Districts of Switzerland#Schwyz, district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century.
Histor ...
.
Rapperswil is also the terminus of the hourly St. Gallen S-Bahn services
S4,
S6, and
S17 that operate south-east to
Schwanden/
Linthal via
Ziegelbrücke
Ziegelbrücke is a village situated on both sides of the Linth Channel in Switzerland. Ziegelbrücke is shared by the Municipalities of Switzerland, municipalities of Niederurnen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Glarus (canton), Glarus an ...
. Rapperswil is also a calling point of the ''
Voralpen Express
The ''Voralpen-Express'' (''VAE'') is a named train connecting small to medium-sized cities and villages in Central and Eastern Switzerland on a scenic route, carrying this name since 1992. It is operated by Südostbahn (SOB) and runs every hour ...
'', an
InterRegio
The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...
(IR) train operated by the SOB and providing an hourly direct link between
St. Gallen and
Lucerne
Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...
.
During weekends, there is also a nighttime S-Bahn service (SN5) offered by
ZVV.
Summary of railway services:
*
''
Voralpen-Express
The ''Voralpen-Express'' (''VAE'') is a named train connecting small to medium-sized cities and villages in Central Switzerland, Central and Eastern Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland on a scenic route, carrying this name since 1992. It is operated ...
'': hourly service to via , and to via .
*
St. Gallen S-Bahn:
** : hourly service to via St. Gallen.
** / : half-hourly service to and hourly service to / or Sargans.
*
Zürich S-Bahn
The Zurich S-Bahn () system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zurich and portions of neighbouring cantons (Aargau, Glarus, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, ...
:
** : half-hourly service to via and , and to .
** : half-hourly service to via , , and (
Zürich Airport
Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest of the count ...
).
** : half-hourly service to via and .
** : half-hourly service to via and .
**
Nighttime S-Bahn (only during weekends):
*** : hourly service between and (via ).
Rapperswil is also an important depot for the rolling stock of the Zürich S-Bahn. Due to the station's hub status, one of the few
SBB-CFF-FFS
Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland.
The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a government institution, but since 1999 it has been a special stock corpo ...
firefighting and rescue trains (LRZ) is based in Rapperswil.
Bus
Buses provided by
Verkehrsbetriebe Zürichsee und Oberland
Verkehrsbetriebe Zürichsee und Oberland (VZO) is a public transport operator in the region between Lake Zürich and the Zürcher Oberland to the south-east of the city of Zürich in the canton of Zürich. It operates bus services between the vari ...
(VZO) ''(Lake Zurich and Oberland transport services)'' link the station to the upper northern shore of
Lake Zürich
Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...
and the ''
Zürcher Oberland
The Zürcher Oberland ("Zürich highlands") in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zürich, bordering on the Toggenburg, including the districts of Uster, Hinwil, Pfäffikon as well as the Töss Valley as far as the di ...
'', and also operate the city's own ''Stadtbus Rapperswil-Jona''. One bus service, provided by ''
Schneider'', links the railway station with
Eschenbach and
Wattwil
Wattwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Toggenburg (Wahlkreis), Toggenburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gallen in Switzerland, located along the Thur (Rhi ...
. Most bus services depart from the forecourt of the railway station, except lines 991 and 996 (the latter operates only during peak-hours), which depart south of the railway station (''Rapperswil Bahnhof Süd''). the lines are as follows:
History
Until the timetable change on 10 December 2023, bus line 621 (operated by ''Schneider'') operated between Rapperswil railway station and Jona, Buechstrasse Ost. This line stopped operations due to the increase in frequency of line 622, which mostly uses the same route. Line 995 operated between Rapperswil railway station and Hummelberg, but its leg between Kreuz (
Jona railway station
Jona railway station is a railway station in Switzerland, situated next to the village of Jona ( canton of St. Gallen). It is one of four active railway stations in the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona (the other three being , and ). The statio ...
) and Rapperswil railway station was truncated in December 2023 for the same reason. Line 995 now also serves the leg from Jona Center to Jona, Buechstrasse Ost formerly operated by line 621.
Boat
Rapperswil harbour is adjacent to the railway station, and lake shipping services of the ''
Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft
The Lake Zurich Navigation Company (, ZSG) is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zurich () and the river Limmat in Zurich.The company's services connect lake-side towns between Zurich and Rapperswil/ Schmerikon, i ...
'' (ZSG) connect with trains and buses, providing alternative, if rather slower, routes to
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
and other lakeside towns on
Lake Zürich
Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...
. Most boats dock
Ufenau
Ufenau is an island located, with the neighbouring island of Lützelau, in Lake Zürich in Switzerland between Freienbach ( away) and Rapperswil ( away). Highlights on Ufenau include ''St. Peter & Paul'' church, ''St. Martin's'' chapel, and Ufena ...
island near Rapperswil harbour.
During summer, there is also a
ferry
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
across ''
Obersee''.
The ferry connects a
pier
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
adjacent to the
University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil (now part of
OST), situated south of the railways station, with
Lachen and
Altendorf in the
canton of Schwyz
The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz.
It is one ...
.
See also
*
Rail transport in Switzerland
Rail transport in Switzerland is noteworthy for the density of its network, its coordination between services, its integration with other modes of transport, timeliness and a thriving domestic and trans-Alps, Alp freight system. It is made nece ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
{{Lake Zurich
Railway stations in the canton of St. Gallen
Swiss Federal Railways stations
Buildings and structures in Rapperswil-Jona
1859 establishments in Europe
Railway stations in Switzerland opened in 1859