Aargau Southern Railway


Aargau Southern Railway is a former railway company in Switzerland. Between 1873 and 1882, the Schweizerische Centralbahn and the Schweizerische Nordostbahn jointly built a connecting line to the Gotthardbahn. The line was operated by the SCB and ran from Rupperswil to Immensee. Branch lines ran from Wohlen to Bremgarten and from Hendschiken to Brugg.
The routes were opened in this order:
In 1902, the Aargauische Südbahn became part of the Swiss Federal Railways. In 1912, the line between Wohlen and Bremgarten West was permanently leased to the Bremgarten-Dietikon-Bahn and was equipped with a third rail for trains. A planned line between Brugg and the German town of Waldshut was never built.
On 26 May 1969 a line was opened near Brugg to directly connect with the Bözberg line. Previously all trains operating between the Gotthard and the Bözberg lines had to reverse in Brugg. During the construction of the Heitersberg Line, the Rupperswil–Lenzburg–Othmarsingen section was significantly upgraded so that it could be used by most east-west trains between Zurich and Bern.
The line is and electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz and has two tracks throughout. The line from Brugg to Rotkreuz is the main route for freight trains between the Basel freight yard and the St Gotthard and Italy and is therefore an important rail freight route.
Between Rotkreuz and Hendschiken S26 S-Bahn services operate every half-hour. Due to lack of capacity between Gexi junction and Lenzburg, currently only one train per hour continues to Aarau via Lenzburg. The other half-hourly S-Bahn service starts or ends at Othmarsingen, where it connects to the S3 service to Lenzburg and Aarau. The S23 S-Bahn service operates on the Aarau–Lenzburg–Brugg route hourly.