The station was built in 1855, and used for the first time on 14 October of that year for Sankt Gallisch-Appenzellische Eisenbahn scheduled service on the Winterthur–Wil railway. In 1875, the Tösstalbahn was opened. Initially, due to its operator's lack of permission to enter Winterthur Hauptbahnhof, that line's termini were Grüze and Bauma. It was not until 1882 that the operators of the Tösstalbahn could run trains to Winterthur Hauptbahnhof. For that purpose, a second track was created between Winterthur HB and Winterthur Grüze. The line from Winterthur HB to Räterschen, as well as the route to Tösstal remained separated, without any connection between them. With the commissioning of the new electrical signalling in 1953, the two tracks to Winterthur were connected with each other by a set of points. Between Winterthur HB and Winterthur Grüze, double track operation was introduced. Räterschen railway station also received new signalling at that time. Simultaneously, the main line was renovated, and the section between Winterthur Grüze and Räterschen converted to double track. Since the introduction of the Zürich S-Bahn in 1990, S12 trains travelling in both directions have stopped hourly at Grüze. Since November 2002, Grüze has been a self-service station and the signal box has been automatically remote controlled.
Architecture
The station has been a junction station ever since the construction of the Tösstalbahn. It is the point where the line from Winterthur HB separates into the lines to Wil and into the Tösstal, respectively. For that reason, tracks 4-7 are provided with platforms, each serving two tracks, one in each direction. The other tracks, apart from one siding, are on the Tösstalbahn side of the line, and are used for goods traffic. As the station is located within the Grüze industrial area, it was formerly the scene of a lot of cargo handling. Even today, the station is one of the main SBB-CFF-FFS cargo hubs in the canton of Zürich. The station's platform shelters, built in 1955, are listed buildings, and are unique in Switzerland. They were developed between 1952 and 1955 by the railway architect Hans Hilfiker, also the designer of the famous Swiss railway clock, as a prototype for new platform shelters. A special feature of these shelters is the central support tube with platform numbers at its ends, from which the cantilever roofs protrude on both sides. The new shelters, however, were never put into series production, and so Grüze remains the only station of its kind in Switzerland. The station building is located on the southwestern side of all tracks at the station.
Services
Zürich S-Bahn
The station is served by four lines of the Zürich S-Bahn.
Night trains
One night train operated by THURBO runs through the station heading for Wil. The Tösstal is served by night buses from Winterthur Hauptbahnhof and therefore has no night train.
