Location Zürich, Switzerland Operator Swiss Federal Railways Character Passenger and freight Owner Swiss Federal Railways | Status Active Traffic Rail Length 2,148 m | |
Line Lake Zürich right bank
Zürichberg | ||
The Hirschengraben Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the Swiss city of Zürich. The tunnel runs from the western approaches to Zürich Hauptbahnhof railway station, east under the station, the river Limmat and city centre before turning south and surfacing at Zürich Stadelhofen station. It includes a set of underground platforms at Zürich Hauptbahnhof, and carries twin standard gauge (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) tracks electrified at 15 kV AC 16,7 Hz using overhead catenary.
The tunnel was opened in 1989, and initially allowed trains to run through Zürich onto the Lake Zürich right bank line without reversal. The original routing of the right bank line, which departed from Zürich Hauptbahnhof station in a westerly direction before performing a clockwise 270 degrees turn via a viaduct over the Limmat and passing through Letten station and the Letten Tunnel to Stadelhofen, was closed after the opening of the Hirschengraben Tunnel. The following year, the Zürichberg Tunnel opened from a junction to the south of Stadelhofen to Stettbach station, thus allowing trains to run to and from points to the east and north of Zurich without reversal.
At Zürich Hauptbahnhof, the tunnel serves a pair of underground island platforms, with four platform tracks, numbered as Hauptbahnhof tracks 41 to 44 but sometimes referred to as Museumstrasse station. These platforms are linked to the stations other platforms and facilities, both underground and surface, by a complex of subways and shopping malls.
The tunnel is principally used by suburban trains of the Zürich S-Bahn, but occasional use is also made by postal trains, freight trains, and long-distance passenger trains.
In 2014, the routing via Hirschengraben and Zürichberg tunnels was supplemented by the Weinberg Tunnel, which links a further set of low-level platforms at Hauptbahnhof via an eastbound route to Oerlikon station, as part of the Durchmesserlinie Zürich. Unlike its 1990 equivalent, this routing is intended for use by long distance passenger trains as well as the S-Bahn.