Virtual Railfan Tour of Switzerland - Wednesday - Roadside tramway Aarau to Menziken and Schoftland

S14 ABe 4/4 EMU at Schoftland in pre-merger AAR livery.

The other part of the AVA is the S14 line which runs from Schoftland, Aarau (where there is a mainline SBB connection), and Menziken. These are a through line now but in the past they were disconnected railways. Also considerable re-alignments have occurred to these street running tramsways to move the tracks alongside the road. In many areas, these railways were street running which became a problem as traffic increased over time.

This route was operated by the AAR railway until the 2018 merger with the BDWM.


AAR shops at Schoftland. Note the double slip switch is common even on the narrow gauge. Very rare in Canada

Complex double slip trackwork at Menziken

The AVA station in Aarau. The AVA station is south of the main SBB station and accessible via a tunnel under a main road. Old maps show the original alignments of the narrow gauge railway connecting north of the main station.

Paul at Aarau


Aarau

Limmattalbahn
Finally, the AVA will run the Limmattalbahn light railway, currently under construction, which will serve the busy Limmattal valley, connecting Diekiton with the Zurich tram network.

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