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Private company

Appenzeller Bahnen

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Swiss railway company

Appenzell Railways (German: Appenzeller Bahnen, AB) is a Swiss railway company with headquarters in Herisau. It operates a network of railways and a bus line in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St. Gallen and Thurgau. It was founded in 2006 through the merger of the former Appenzeller Bahnen (founded in 1988) with the Rorschach–Heiden railway, Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway and Trogenerbahn.2 It employed 179 people.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Jan 1, 1988Founded1

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Photo: Markus Giger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Appenzell Railways (German: Appenzeller Bahnen, AB) is a Swiss railway company with headquarters in Herisau. It operates a network of railways and a bus line in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St. Gallen and Thurgau.2

Corporate structure

Appenzeller Bahnen sits at the top of its group. 1 entity, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Appenzeller Bahnen Herisau
    • Alter Zoll station Owned · Altstätten, Switzerland
    • Altstätten Stadt station Owned · Altstätten, Switzerland
    • Appenzell railway station Owned · Appenzell, Switzerland
    • Bendlehn station Owned · Speicher, Switzerland
    • Bühler railway station Owned · Bühler, Switzerland
    • Gais railway station Owned · Gais, Switzerland
    • Gfeld station Owned · Speicher, Switzerland
    • Gonten railway station Owned · Gonten, Switzerland
    • Gontenbad railway station Owned · Gonten, Switzerland
    • Hebrig station Owned · Gais, Switzerland
    • Heiden railway station Owned · Heiden, Switzerland
    • Hirschberg railway station Owned · Schwende-Rüte, Switzerland
    • Jakobsbad railway station Owned · Gonten, Switzerland
    • Kreuzstrasse railway station Owned · Altstätten, Switzerland
    • Lustmühle station Owned · Teufen, Switzerland
    • Niederteufen station Owned · Teufen, Switzerland
    • Rank station Owned · St. Gallen, Switzerland
    • Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway Owned · Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland
    • Rietli station Owned · Gais, Switzerland
    • Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn Owned · Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland
    • Ruderbach railway station Owned · St. Margrethen, Switzerland
    • Sammelplatz railway station Owned · Appenzell, Switzerland
    • Sandbüchel railway station Owned · Rorschach, Switzerland
    • Schachen (Gais) station Owned · Gais, Switzerland
    • Schwarzer Bären station Owned · St. Gallen, Switzerland
    • and 32 more

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Appenzeller Bahnen reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

  • Alter Zoll station
  • Altstätten Stadt station
  • Appenzell railway station
  • Bendlehn station
  • Bühler railway station
  • Gais railway station
  • Gfeld station
  • Gonten railway station
  • Gontenbad railway station
  • Hebrig station
  • Heiden railway station
  • Hirschberg railway station
  • Jakobsbad railway station
  • Kreuzstrasse railway station
  • Lustmühle station
  • Niederteufen station
  • Rank station
  • Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway
  • Rietli station
  • Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn
  • Ruderbach railway station
  • Sammelplatz railway station
  • Sandbüchel railway station
  • Schachen (Gais) station
All 57 holdings
  • Schwarzer Bären station
  • Schwende railway station
  • Schwendi bei Heiden station
  • Schützengarten station
  • Seebleiche railway station
  • Speicher railway station
  • St. Gallen AB railway station
  • St. Gallen Birnbäumen station
  • St. Gallen Marktplatz railway station
  • St. Gallen Notkersegg station
  • St. Gallen Riethüsli station
  • St. Gallen Schülerhaus station
  • St. Gallen Spisertor railway station
  • St. Gallen–Trogen railway line
  • Steigbach station
  • Steinegg railway station
  • Sternen bei Teufen station
  • Stofel station
  • Stoss AR station
  • Strahlholz station
  • Teufen AR railway station
  • Trogen railway station
  • Urnäsch railway station
  • Vögelinsegg station
  • Waldstatt railway station
  • Walzenhausen railway station
  • Warmesberg station
  • Wartensee railway station
  • Wasserauen railway station
  • Weissbad railway station
  • Wienacht-Tobel railway station
  • Zweibrücken station
  • Zürchersmühle railway station

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.1

The story

The origins of the Appenzeller Bahnen company lies in a number of formerly independent companies and railway lines:

The Rorschach–Heiden-Bergbahn (RHB), which opened its line from Rorschach to Heiden in 1875.

The Appenzellerbahn (AB), which opened its line from St. Gallen Winkeln to Urnäsch via Herisau in 1875, with an extension from Urnäsch to Appenzell in 1886. In 1913, the line from Herisau to Winkeln was replaced by a new line to Gossau.

The Frauenfeld–Wil railway (FW) in 1887

The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell-Bahn (SGA), which opened between St. Gallen and Gais in 1889, and was extended to Appenzell in 1904.

The Rheineck–Walzenhausen-Bergbahn (RhW), which opened between Rheineck and Walzenhausen in 1896.

The Trogenerbahn (TB), which opened between St. Gallen and Trogen in 1903.

The Altstätten-Gais-Bahn (AG), which opened between Gais and Altstätten in 1911.

Read the full text

The Säntisbahn, which opened between Appenzell and Wasserauen in 1912.

The Appenzellerbahn and Säntisbahn merged in 1947, retaining the Appenzellerbahn (AB) identity. The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell-Bahn and Altstätten-Gais-Bahn merged in 1948, under the name St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell–Altstätten-Bahn (SGA).

The Appenzeller Bahnen company was formed in 1988, with the merger of the Appenzellerbahn and the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell–Altstätten-Bahn. In 2006, the Appenzeller Bahnen company merged with the Rorschach–Heiden-Bergbahn, the Rheineck–Walzenhausen-Bergbahn and the Trogenerbahn companies. In legal terms, this merger took the form of the Appenzeller Bahnen company acquiring the other companies.

In 2021 the company merged with Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn AG, owner of the Frauenfeld–Wil line. The two companies had shared operations for years.

From Wikipedia’s article on Appenzell Railways, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Operation

Today, the company operates the following railway lines:

The St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell, Gossau–Appenzell–Wasserauen and Altstätten–Gais lines form a connected network of 1,000 mm or 3 ft 3+3⁄8 in metre gauge lines, all electrified at 1500 V DC. The St. Gallen–Trogen line is also of metre gauge, but ran independently until 2018.

From 2016 to 2018, the Appenzellerbahnen undertook a large construction project to connect the Appenzell-St. Gallen and St. Gallen-Trogen lines. The three points of incompatibility were electrification (the St. Gallen-Trogen line was 1000 V DC with a brief stretch at 600 V DC shared with the St. Gallen trolleybus system), different (but physically adjacent) termini in St. Gallen, and maximal grades (the rack railway approach to St. Gallen from Appenzell was too steep for adhesion-based St. Gallen-Trogen rolling stock). So the new project re-electrified the St. Gallen-Trogen line at 1500 V DC and constructed a new Ruckhalde tunnel through St. Gallen. The old alignment through St. Gallen closed in April 2018, and the system began through-running in October of the same year.

The Rheineck–Walzenhausen and Rorschach–Heiden lines are geographically separate from the rest of the network, and are of respectively 1,200 mm (3 ft 11+1⁄4 in) and standard (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauges. The Altstaetten–Gais, Rheineck–Walzenhausen and Rorschach–Heiden lines all have rack railway sections, whilst the Gossau–Appenzell–Wasserauen and Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen lines are adhesion only. Frauenfeld-Wil was cooperating closely, but legally distinct from 2003. It is not connected by tracks. 2021 they were taken over.

Read the full text

The company also operates a bus service from Teufen, on the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell line, to Speicher, on the St. Gallen–Trogen line. Night bus services are operated over the routes of the St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell and St. Gallen–Trogen lines.

Services

As of December 2023, Appenzell Railways (AB) operates eight regional train services that run on its own railway network. Trains operate as S-Bahn services (numbered 15, 20‒26 with "S" prefix) for St. Gallen S-Bahn (some also for Bodensee S-Bahn). In addition, AB also operate bus line 190.

From Wikipedia’s article on Appenzell Railways, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Also owns

  • Alter Zoll station
  • Altstätten Stadt station
  • Appenzell railway station
  • Bendlehn station
  • Bühler railway station
  • Gais railway station
  • Gfeld station
  • Gonten railway station
  • Gontenbad railway station
  • Hebrig station
  • Heiden railway station
  • Hirschberg railway station
  • Jakobsbad railway station
  • Kreuzstrasse railway station
  • Lustmühle station
  • Niederteufen station
  • Rank station
  • Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway
  • Rietli station
  • Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn
  • Ruderbach railway station
  • Sammelplatz railway station
  • Sandbüchel railway station
  • Schachen (Gais) station
All 57 also owns
  • Schwarzer Bären station
  • Schwende railway station
  • Schwendi bei Heiden station
  • Schützengarten station
  • Seebleiche railway station
  • Speicher railway station
  • St. Gallen AB railway station
  • St. Gallen Birnbäumen station
  • St. Gallen Marktplatz railway station
  • St. Gallen Notkersegg station
  • St. Gallen Riethüsli station
  • St. Gallen Schülerhaus station
  • St. Gallen Spisertor railway station
  • St. Gallen–Trogen railway line
  • Steigbach station
  • Steinegg railway station
  • Sternen bei Teufen station
  • Stofel station
  • Stoss AR station
  • Strahlholz station
  • Teufen AR railway station
  • Trogen railway station
  • Urnäsch railway station
  • Vögelinsegg station
  • Waldstatt railway station
  • Walzenhausen railway station
  • Warmesberg station
  • Wartensee railway station
  • Wasserauen railway station
  • Weissbad railway station
  • Wienacht-Tobel railway station
  • Zweibrücken station
  • Zürchersmühle railway station

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded Appenzellerbahn1
  2. Succeeded St. Gallen–Gais–Appenzell–Altstätten-Bahn1
  3. Succeeded Trogenerbahn1

Timeline

  1. Jan 1, 1988Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
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  5. 5