Zürich S-Bahn

The Zürich S-Bahn (German: S-Bahn Zürich) system is a network of rail lines that has been incrementally expanded to cover the ZVV area, which comprises the entire canton of Zürich and portions of neighboring cantons (Aargau, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Thurgau and St. Gallen), with a few lines extending into Germany. The network is one of many commuter rail operations in German speaking countries to be described as an S-Bahn.

The entire ZVV S-Bahn network went into operation in May 1990, although many of the lines were already in operation.

The lines of the S-Bahn network are numbered from S2 to S55, but the numbering is rather sporadic, with several missing numbers (e.g. S19, S20).

Unusual among rapid transit services, the Zürich S-Bahn provides first class commuter travel; about one-fifth of seats on each train are first class.

History

Gold Coast Express

The first step in developing Zürich's rail system which eventually led to the establishment of the S-Bahn was the establishment of the so-called Gold Coast Express (German: Goldküstenexpress) on 26 May 1968 between Zürich Stadelhofen and Rapperswil via Meilen along the wealthy north shore of Lake Zürich, popularly known as the Gold Coast. It operated a regular schedule every half hour, with the total journey time for the distance of 36 kilometres (22 miles) reduced from the previous 60 to 40 minutes. After World War II, there was a rapid expansion of commuting to Zürich from the former wine-growing villages along the railway line, which originally opened in 1894. As a result, commuters complained that the trains were overcrowded, slow and often delayed.