Home > The rail line > Altstetten South

Altstetten South: a third express track

The Altstetten South (Altstetten Süd) project will create a third main track into Zurich main station - south of the two existing ones - and thereby eliminate a number of conflicts and increase the capacity of the station throat.

Altstetten South involves building a tunnel so that express trains coming from Altstetten can enter the throat of Zurich main station in its middle, instead of on the extreme northern side, as they must today.

If a train from the west is to continue beyond Zurich toward Oerlikon (and the north) or Thalwil (and the south), today it must immobilize almost the entire throat of Zurich's main station as it crosses a number of tracks.

In the future, trains on the Altstetten South line will enter the station between the lines to Thalwil and Oerlikon, thus reducing the number of tracks a train must cut across to enter or leave the station.

New 125-kph crossover

A new 125-kph crossover called Europe Crossover (Spurwechsel Europa, for the nearby "Europabrücke" road overpass) was installed just east of Altstetten station in late 2000. It permits trains on the left-hand track to pass onto the right-hand track.

After completion of the new Altstetten South express tunnel, this crossover will allow the two express tracks to split into three just east of Altstetten, where the new south express track will split off.

Usually, the new Altstetten South express track will be for inbound trains, whereas the existing pair of tracks to the north will both be for outbound trains. This will allow a controlled weaving of westbound express trains at two-minute intervals onto the single westbound express track to Killwangen-Spreitenbach.