Zürich Letten railway station

Zürich Letten is a former railway station in the Swiss city of Zürich. It is situated on the old route of the Lake Zürich right bank railway (Rechtsufrige Zürichseebahn) from Zurich Hbf station to Rapperswil station. Radical changes to the local railway geography led to the closure of the station in 1990, but the station building still exists, and the trackbed is used as a pedestrian path.

The station today. The viaduct over the river is in the distance, whilst the entrance to the tunnel is below and behind the photographer.
Map showing changes to the rail routes at Letten
The viaduct over the river viewed from the station site
The tunnel entrance

The former railway station is adjacent to the Letten Power Station on the Limmat.

History

As built in 1894, the right bank railway was a single track line that departed from Zürich Hbf in a westerly direction, before performing a clockwise 270 degrees turn via a viaduct over the Limmat. It then passed through Letten station and the Letten Tunnel in order to reach Stadelhofen station. By rail the distance between Zurich Hbf and Stadelhofen was some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), despite the fact that they are only 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) apart in a straight line.[1][2]

In 1990 the Letten Tunnel was replaced by the Hirschengraben Tunnel, which took a direct route from new through low-level platforms at Zurich Hbf under the Limmat to Stadelhofen. After the new route opened, Letten station was closed and the original railway line and tunnel fell into disuse. For a while the area became a centre for Zürich's drug scene, until this was driven away by police action in 1995. The railway line was closed in 1998, and by 2002 it had been removed, and the tunnel was filled in and sealed off.[1][2]

Current use

The former track bed across the viaduct and through Letten station has been converted into a pedestrian and cycle route, whilst the Letten Tunnel has been sealed off. The station building is currently used by the publishers of the magazine Transhelvetica, but other future uses for the station building are under discussion, with use as a theatre and/or restaurant proposed.[3][4][5]

References
  1. "Der ehemalige Bahnhof Letten Wasserwerkstrasse 93" [The former railway station Letten Wasserwerkstrasse 93] (in German). Prof. Arthur Dürst. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  2. Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Verlag Schweers + Wall GmbH. 2012. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
  3. Rohrer, Jurg (2011-08-03). "Ein Theater im Bahnhof Letten?" [A theater in the Letten station?]. Tages Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  4. "Alter Bahnhof Letten" [Old Letten Station]. Transhelvetica (in German). Passaport AG. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  5. map.geo.admin.ch (Map). Swiss Confederation. Retrieved 2012-03-16.


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