Zurich Altstetten railway station


Zurich Altstetten railway station is a railway station in the Altstetten quarter of the Swiss city of Zurich. The station is located on the Zürich to Olten main line and is the junction for the Zürich to Zug via Affoltern am Albis line.
The station is served by lines,,,,, and of the Zürich S-Bahn. It is also a calling point for the hourly InterRegio services that link Basel to Zurich Airport via Zürich Hauptbahnhof, and Bern to Zürich via Olten.
The station is situated within fare zone 110 of the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund and well connected to the ZVV network, with bus and tram stops on both sides of the station. Since 2022 the station also serves as the eastern terminus of the Limmattal light rail line.

History

The first station on the site was built by the Swiss Northern Railway in 1847, as part of their pioneering line from Zürich to Baden, and hence was one of the first railway stations in Switzerland. Over time, this line became today's Zürich to Olten main line and the principal rail route between Zürich and northern and western Switzerland. The Zürich to Zug via Affoltern am Albis line opened in 1864, making Altstetten into a junction station. In 1907, the Swiss Federal Railways, who had taken over both lines, opened a workshop near the station.

Layout

The station has one side platform and two island platforms, served by five tracks, and has station buildings and entrances on both the north and south sides of the station. The platforms and entrances are connected by a pair of pedestrian subways. The tracks are numbered 2–4 and 6–7.
There are two stations with tram and bus services. Bhf. Altstetten Nord is located north to the railway station, while Bahnhof Altstetten is situated south of the station. Route 51 of the Zurich tram system serves the Bhf. Altstetten Nord station, whilst route 31 of the Zurich trolleybus system passes the south side of the station. Bus routes 45, 78, 80, 83 and 89 also serve the south side of the station, whilst routes 307 and 485 both terminate at Bhf. Altstetten Nord.
Since December 2022, the Limmattal light rail line terminates at Bahnhof Altstetten station. The light rail line has its own platforms, across the station plaza from platform two of the S-Bahn services. This service, operated by AVA, runs through the Limmat Valley region and connects to the Zürich tram network at Farbhof, just to the west of Altstetten station.

Services

Railway

the following rail services stop at Zürich Altstetten:
  • InterRegio:
  • * : hourly service between and via.
  • * : hourly service between and.
  • Zürich S-Bahn:
  • * / : two trains per hour between and and hourly service to and.
  • * : half-hourly service between and ; hourly service to or ; rush-hour service to.
  • * : half-hourly service between and Winterthur; hourly service to or.
  • * : hourly service to Koblenz via , half-hourly to via Zürich HB.
  • * : peak-hour service between and Zürich HB.
  • * : on Friday and Saturday night, hourly service between Aarau and Winterthur.
  • * : on Friday and Saturday night, hourly service between and Pfäffikon SZ.
  • * : on Friday and Saturday night, hourly service between and.

Local tram and bus services

Summary of tram and bus services:
  • Bahnhof Altstetten to the south of the station, via both western and eastern underpass, AVA light rail line , VBZ trolley bus line, and VBZ bus lines,,,,.
  • Bhf. Altstetten Nord to the north, via the eastern underpass, VBZ tram line, VBZ bus line, and VBG line.