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Blockage at Luzern station until Sunday 26th March

Posted by (Basel, Switzerland) on

Nobody seems to have posted this yet, so I will.
Yesterday (Wednesday 22nd March) there was a derailment outside Luzern station (aka Lucerne). 400 metres of track was ripped up and 4 sets of points destroyed. No trains can get into or out of the station on the SBB lines.
The ZB line to Interlaken is open, but all other lines into and out of the station are closed (Zürich, Bern, Basel, Milan etc.)
The SBB now says repairs will take until Sunday. Trains are running to and from the nearest station to Luzern, with bus connections, but these buses are slower than trains and have limited capacity.

Latest info here: http://www.sbb.ch/en/timetable/rail-traffic-information.html
As of the time I posted, it says:

Train services at Luzern station are suspended.

The S4 / S44 / S5 / S55 + IR Luzern - Engelberg / Interlaken Ost (Zentralbahn) S-Bahn trains are running on schedule.

Passengers travelling from Genève / Lausanne / Biel/Bienne / Basel SBB / Olten to Arth-Goldau / Lugano / Milano Centrale or vice versa travel via Zürich HB.

In the direction of Rotkreuz, Zug + Zürich HB: Replacement bus services are operating Luzern - Ebikon + Bus 22 / 23 (VBL).

In the direction of Sursee, Zofingen, Olten, Basel SBB / Bern:
Replacement bus services are operating Luzern - Emmenbrücke + Bus 2 (VBL).
Special trains operating Emmenbrücke xx:33 - Sursee (» S8 Olten) /// (S8 Olten xx:36 ») Sursee xx:11 - Emmenbrücke.

In the direction of Wolhusen, Langnau i.E. / Langenthal: Replacement bus services are operating Luzern - Littau.

In the direction of Arth-Goldau, Erstfeld / Bellinzona + Lugano:
Passengers travelling from Luzern to Arth-Goldau should take the bus services 6 / 8 / 24 (VBL) to Luzern Verkehrshaus and change in Luzern Verkehrshaus.

Departure of the buses Luzern: Europaplatz vor KKL

Long-distance trains IR Luzern - Zürich HB (- Zürich Flughafen) are cancelled between Luzern and Ebikon.
Long-distance trains ICN / IR Basel SBB - Luzern - Arth-Goldau - Erstfeld / Lugano are cancelled between Basel SBB and Arth-Goldau.
Long-distance trains IR Luzern - Zofingen - Bern - Genève-Aéroport are cancelled between Luzern and Sursee.
Long-distance trains IR Luzern - Sursee - Olten - Gelterkinden - Basel SBB are cancelled between Luzern and Sursee.
Trains VAE Luzern - Rapperswil - St. Gallen are cancelled between Luzern and Luzern Verkehrshaus. The trains VAE make an unscheduled stop in Meggen, Merlischachen + Immensee.
Trains RE Luzern - Olten are cancelled between Luzern and Emmenbrücke.
Trains RE Luzern - Langnau i.E. - Bern are cancelled between Luzern and Littau.

S-Bahn trains S1 Sursee - Luzern - Zug - Baar are cancelled between Emmenbrücke and Ebikon.
S-Bahn trains S3 Luzern - Küssnacht am Rigi - Arth-Goldau - Brunnen are cancelled between Luzern and Luzern Verkehrshaus.
S-Bahn trains S6 Luzern - Wolhusen - Langenthal are cancelled between Luzern and Littau.
S-Bahn trains S61 Luzern - Schachen LU are cancelled.
S-Bahn trains S9 Luzern - Lenzburg are cancelled between Luzern and Emmenbrücke Gersag.
S-Bahn trains S99 Luzern - Hochdorf LU are cancelled.

Reason: Unscheduled construction work

Duration of interruption from 22.03.2017 14:00 until 26.03.2017 close of services.

For further information, please call free SBB hotline at 0800 99 66 33.

Posted by
20200 posts

Chris, I saw that last night on the SBB site. There was a number for relatives to call. Hopefully no serious injuries.

Posted by
32219 posts

Chris,

I saw the story about the derailments on BBC yesterday, but didn't realize this had disrupted to much of the rail service there. That derailment was somewhat odd, as according to the news it occurred on the fourth car in the train.

I'm not clear on your reference to "4 sets of points"?

Posted by
8889 posts

It happened ~14:00 yesterday (Wednesday), one coach tipped over 45°, 6 people injured, all now released from hospital. Reports yesterday said the station would be open again today, but today they are now saying the repairs will last until Sunday night.

Points are places where rail lines converge and diverge, with mechanisms to move rails to make sure the trains go the correct way. There are lots of them at the entrances of stations, and the derailment must have ripped them out.

Details from a Swiss paper (in German) with photos and videos: http://bazonline.ch/panorama/vermischtes/zug-in-luzern-entgleist-bahnhof-ohne-strom/story/28475980

Diese Schäden müssen behoben werden:

  • 400 Meter Gleis werden neu verbaut
  • vier Weichen müssen komplett ersetzt werden
  • zwei weichen sollen teilweise umgebaut werden
  • bis zu 200 Tonnen Schotter werden bewegt
  • zwei Fahrleitungsmasten müssen ersetzt werden

"The following damage must be repaired:
* 400 metres of track will be rebuilt
* 4 sets of points will be completely replaced
* 2 sets of points will be partially rebuilt
* Up to 200 tonnes of ballast (gravel) will be moved
* 2 overhead power masts must be replaced."

Posted by
20200 posts

I'm sure Nigel can explain better, but I believe they mean "switch points", where tracks diverge. The spot where the rails cross each other is called a "frog" because when viewed from above, the section of rail resembles a jumping frog. Anyway, coming out of a major station, there are dozens of these mechanisms, and and I would expect many to be damaged during a derailment. FYI in a previous life I actually drove spikes with a spike maul and remember having to replace one of these at one time.

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