21-626: The Rapperswil–Pfäffikon railway (also known as the Zürichsee-Gotthardbahn , lit. ' Lake Zürich-Gotthard Railway ' ; ZGB) is a 3.51 km (2.18 mi) long, mostly single-tracked standard-gauge railway line connecting Pfäffikon in the Swiss canton of Schwyz with Rapperswil in the canton of St. Gallen , crossing Lake Zürich using the Hurden peninsula and Seedamm causeway. The Zürichsee–Gotthardbahn (which
42-536: A goods train or cargo train , is a railway train that is used to carry cargo , as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad cars (also known as wagons) which carry freight. A wide variety of cargos are carried on trains, but the low friction inherent to rail transport means that freight trains are especially suited to carrying bulk and heavy loads over longer distances. The earliest recorded use of rail transport for freight
63-459: A "reserve" track that can allow a reduced capacity service to continue if one track is closed. If a single-track line is designed to be used by more than one train at a time, it must have passing loops (also called passing sidings or crossing loops ) at intervals along the line to allow trains running in different directions to pass each other. These consist of short stretches of double track, usually long enough to hold one train. The capacity of
84-524: A bike trail can restrict a train corridor to a single track. Also reclaiming a railway corridor to use trains again limits the use of double tracks. The bike path is usually where the second track would be, and there may be fierce opposition by bikers and hikers. An example of a bike, single-track corridor is the E&;N Railway in Victoria, Canada. Freight train A freight train , also called
105-502: A coal mine and a power plant, without any changes to the makeup of the freight cars in between. This allows cargo to reach its destination faster, and increases utilization of freight cars, lowering operating costs. Unlike passenger trains, freight trains often do not follow fixed schedules, but are run as needed. When sharing tracks with passenger trains, freight trains are scheduled to use lines during specific times to minimize their impact on passenger train operations, especially during
126-624: A single-track line is determined by the number of passing loops. Passing loops may also be used to allow trains heading in the same direction at different speeds to overtake. In some circumstances on some isolated branch lines with a simple shuttle service (such as the Abbey Line in Great Britain or L202 railway in Croatia) a single-track line may work under the "one train working" principle without passing loops, where only one train
147-541: A single-track railway to double track is called duplication or doubling; converting double track to single track is known as singling. A double-track railway operating only a single track is known as single-line working . Kirkby railway station (until 1977) and Ormskirk railway station (until 1970) were double-track railway , when they were converted into single-track railway with cross-platform interchange . Building bike trails on rail corridors has occurred in limited examples; however, developing rail rights of way for
168-613: A train, such as: As of April 2020, there were 1.6 million rail cars in North America . Freight trains often operate between classification yards , which are hubs where incoming freight trains are received, and then broken up, with the cars then being assembled into new trains for other destinations. In contrast to this type of operation, which is known as wagonload (or carload) freight , there are also unit trains , which exclusively carry one type of cargo. They normally operate directly between origin and destination points, such as
189-421: Is allowed on the line at a time. On single-track lines with passing loops, measures must be taken to ensure that only one train in one direction can use a stretch of single track at a time, as head-on collisions are a particular risk. Some form of signalling system is required. In traditional British practice (and countries using British practice), single-track lines were operated using a token system where
210-582: Is listed in Swiss federal statistics as the Rapperswil–Pfäffikon company) commenced operations over the newly built Seedamm (causeway) from Rapperswil to Pfäffikon on 27 August 1878. The ambitious goal of the joint stock company was the construction of a rail link from Eastern Switzerland to the Gotthard Railway ( Gotthardbahn , GB) which was still under construction, and continuing along
231-484: Is not high enough to justify the cost of constructing and maintaining a second track . Single track is significantly cheaper to build and maintain, but has operational and safety disadvantages. For example, a single-track line that takes 15 minutes to travel through would have capacity for only two trains per hour in each direction safely. By contrast, a double track with signal boxes four minutes apart can allow up to 15 trains per hour in each direction safely, provided all
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#1732773346019252-728: The Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn (Wädenswil-Einsiedeln Railway) and the ZGB signed a merger agreement to found the Südostbahn (Swiss Southeastern Railway; SOB). The SOB started operations on 1 January 1890 and ended VSB operations on the Rapperswil–Pfäffikon line on 5 August 1891. When the SOB acquired the ZGB, nearly 90 percent of the share capital and 25 percent of the fixed bonds were written off. The Südostbahn, to which
273-634: The Rapperswil–Pfäffikon line now belonged, opened the Pfäffikon–Arth-Goldau railway on 8 August 1891, which gave Rapperswil access to the Gotthard Railway. The SOB started electric operations on 15 May 1939. A section of double-track between Pfäffikon Nord and Pfäffikon has relieved the congested line over the Seedamm since 6 June 2004. SBB S-Bahn services are now operated over the SOB line. Five trains run every hour in each direction over
294-530: The Seedamm in 2019: In the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings, the SOB-owned Hurden station is served only by line S5 the SBB as part of its night network. Single track railway A single-track railway is a railway where trains traveling in both directions share the same track. Single track is usually found on lesser-used rail lines, often branch lines , where the level of traffic
315-491: The ZGB connected with the Lake Zürich left-bank railway . Although the company had a concession to build a link to the Gotthard Railway, no significant effort was made to build it. When another initiative committee tried to get a concession for a Pfäffikon–Brunnen or Pfäffikon–Arth-Goldau railway, the ZGB sold it the land surveys that it had already carried out. Finally, on 12 August 1889, the existing initiative committees,
336-423: The early days of railways in North America it was common to rely upon simple timetable operation where operators knew where a train was scheduled to be at a particular time, and so would not enter a single-track stretch when they were not scheduled to. This generally worked but was inflexible and inefficient. It was improved with the invention of the telegraph and the ability to issue train orders . Converting
357-538: The railway, the ZGB was responsible for maintaining the road on the causeway. In order to be able to dispense with further investments in rolling stock and operational facilities, the ZGB transferred operations to the United Swiss Railways ( Vereinigte Schweizerbahnen ; VSB), which had a large rolling stock depot in Rapperswil. The operations, which always ran at a deficit, stopped at Rapperwil, where
378-422: The shore of Lake Lucerne via Vitznau and Küssnacht to Rotkreuz . In 1879 alone, more than 160,000 Swiss francs were invested in planning a projected extension from Pfäffikon to Brunnen . The federal government contributed 100,000 francs to the cost of the causeway construction, which included a road ( Hauptstrasse 8 ) and a footpath as well as the railway. In addition to the operation and maintenance of
399-594: The train driver had to be in possession of a token in order to enter a stretch of single track. Because there was only one unique token issued at any one time for each stretch of single track, it was impossible for more than one train to be on it at a time. This method is still used on some minor lines but in the longest single-track lines in Britain (e.g. the Highlands of Scotland) this has been superseded by radio communication, known as Radio Electronic Token Block . In
420-424: The trains travel at the same speed. This hindrance on the capacity of a single track may be partly overcome by making the track one-way on alternate days. Long freight trains are a problem if the passing stretches are not long enough. Other disadvantages include the propagation of delays, since one delayed train on a single track will also delay any train waiting for it to pass. Also, a single track does not have
441-624: Was in Babylon , circa 2,200 B.C.E. This use took the form of wagons pulled on wagonways by horses or even humans. Freight trains are almost universally powered by locomotives. Historically, steam locomotives were predominant, but beginning in the 1920s diesel and electric locomotives displaced steam due to their higher reliability, cleaner emissions, and lower costs. Freight trains carry cargo in freight cars , also known as goods wagons , which are unpowered and designed to carry various types of goods. Different types of freight cars may be used by
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