Hauenstein Railway

Hauenstein Railway
Ruemlingen Viaduct on the old line
Overview
Locale	Switzerland
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Route map Legend km elev SNCF from Strasbourg 0.0 Basel SBB 2.3 SBB to Basel Bad and Germany SBB to Biel/Bienne 2.5 Basel St. Jakob Birs 3.5 Basel SBB RB 4.8 Muttenz BLT to Basel 6.2 Pratteln SBB to Zürich Adler tunnel [de] 12.2 Frenkendorf-Füllinsdorf 331 m 14.4 Liestal 327 m to Waldenburg Frenke bridge 17.4 Lausen 343 m 19.1 Itingen 359 m 21.1 Sissach 376 m summit line on left 23.7 Diepflingen 420 m 24.0 Gelterkinden 403 m 25.3 Sommerau 420 m 26.9 Rümlingen 480 m Rümlingen viaduct 128 m 28.8 Buckten 520 m Tecknau state road 149 m 29.1 Tecknau 445 m Buckten tunnel 263 m Mühlefluh tunnel 60 m Hauenstein base tunnel (8134 m) 30.8 Läufelfingen 559 m Hauenstein summit tunnel (2495 m) 33.9 Miesern (former wintersport halt) 36.6 Trimbach 482 m Aare bridges 103 m/153m 37.4 to/from Aarau and Zürich 37.8 Summit line on left 39.2 Olten 396 m to Biel to Lucerne to Bern Source: Swiss railway atlas[1] This diagram: view talk edit

The Hauenstein Railway is a major railway line in Switzerland connecting the cities of Basel and Olten.^[1]

The original line was built between 1853 and 1858 under the Unterer Hauenstein Pass, an ancient pass through the Jura Mountains, including a 2,495 m (8,186 ft) long tunnel under the village of Hauenstein. Between 1912 and 1916 a new line with an 8,134 m (5.054 mi) long base tunnel was built further east, by-passing the steeper sections of the line.^[1]

Normally long-distance trains use the base tunnel line, and the old summit line is only used by trains serving the local people (Läufelfingerli). Sometimes during disruptions inter-city trains operate on the old line, but it is reasonably fast and diverted trains take only about four minutes longer than normal services. Freight trains rarely use the summit line because of its large gradients.