The Solothurn–Wanzwil railway was opened on 12 December 2004 to connect with the

Mattstetten–Rothrist new line The Mattstetten–Rothrist new line (''Neubaustrecke Mattstetten-Rothrist'') is Switzerland's first railway to reach speeds above 160 km/h (100 mph) in regular operations, running between Mattstetten and Rothrist. It forms most of the ...

(high-speed line) as part of a package of railways forming

Rail 2000 Rail 2000 (German: ''Bahn 2000''; French: ''Rail 2000'', Italian: ''Ferrovia 2000'') is a large-scale project of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) established in 1987 to improve the quality of the Swiss rail network for the N ...

. The built route mostly uses the route of the Solothurn–Herzogenbuchsee railway, which was closed in 1992. The Solothurn–Wanzwil section is single-track and, together with the Mattstetten–Rothrist line, was the first line in Switzerland to use the

European Train Control System The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a train protection system designed to replace the many incompatible systems used by European railways, and railways outside of Europe. ETCS is the signalling and control component of the European ...

in regular operation. The maximum speed from Solothurn to Subingen is 140 km/h and from there it is 200 km/h. The turnout at the transition to double-track can also be run at 200 km/h. The line is mainly used by the ICN services on the –/ route, which pass through without stopping between Olten and Solothurn. Additional colour light signalling was planned as a response to concerns that the ETCS system would not be ready for operation for the opening of the line (on 12 December 2004). Two conditions in the planning approval of the department of transport required that this fallback would be removed at the latest ten years after the start of operations. Additional work to optimise operations were planned as part of demolition work planned for late 2013 and early 2014, which were to cost CHF 7.4 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solothurn-Wanzwil railway Railway lines in Switzerland Railway lines opened in 2004