Appenzell to Trogen

Until April 2018, trains from St. Gallen to Appenzell left the city on a rack, climbing through the Ruckhalde round a curve with a radius of just 30 metres. Swiss television called it the tightest rack curve in the world. It was also the reason the trains could not run more often. The Appenzeller Bahnen wanted a train every quarter of an hour between St. Gallen and Teufen, and the slow crawl on and off the rack made that impossible. So the railway dug a tunnel of about 700 metres beneath the hill, graded to be climbed without a rack, and took the record curve out of use.

The tunnel did one more thing. It let two railways of very different character become one line. Since December 2018 the same train runs from Appenzell, under the peaks of the Alpstein, across the open hill country of Gais and Teufen, through the tunnel and the streets of St. Gallen, and up again to Trogen, where the open-air assembly of Ausserrhoden once met. It is about 30 kilometres of metre gauge, part mountain railway and part tramway, and it takes a little over an hour.

The S21 runs every half hour, all day and all year, and no reservation is needed. A ticket for the whole ride costs CHF 10, and every Swiss and Interrail pass covers it.

The red trains leave Appenzell past the depot and cross the Sitter on a long stone viaduct, then loop round the Hirschberg with the village and the Alpstein spread out behind. The line climbs alongside the road to the passing loop at Sammelplatz, the highest point of the Appenzell section at 928 metres, and runs down in a tight curve into Gais, where the rack line to Altstätten waits in the next platform. From here the train follows the main road through Bühler and into Teufen, sharing the village street with cars and front doors. After Niederteufen and Lustmühle it reaches Riethüsli, on the edge of St. Gallen, and dives into the Ruckhalde tunnel.

The curve that was given up

The first trains reached Gais from St. Gallen on 1 October 1889, on a line that needed seven rack sections for its gradients. The others were taken out one by one as the line was rebuilt, and the last, about 940 metres long at an average of 90 per mille, climbed out of the city through the Ruckhalde, and at its heart was the 30-metre curve. Tunnels to replace it were planned from the 1970s, and each plan failed on cost. What changed it was the merger of four Appenzell railway companies in 2006 and the new company's wish for a train every 15 minutes to Teufen. Building began in spring 2016, the tunnel opened with a public festival on 6 October 2018, and the rack curve had closed that April. The work cost about CHF 90 million, of which the three cantons and their communes paid 49 million.

Two railways, one train

The line to Trogen opened on 10 July 1903, two days before Speicher celebrated the 500th anniversary of the battle of Vögelinsegg, fought on the hill the railway crosses. It ran through the old town on the tracks of the St. Gallen city tramway, and it still runs in the street there: after a pause at the main station, the trains pass the Marktplatz and the Spisertor, then climb through Notkersegg and over the ridge at Vögelinsegg, with the city and the lowlands below, to Speicher and Trogen. Since the December 2018 timetable, trains from Appenzell have run straight through, with no change in St. Gallen.

The whole line is now worked by Tango trains, the ABe 8/12 built by Stadler: low-floor articulated units, eleven of which entered service with the new line. On the climb out of St. Gallen towards Riethüsli they take a gradient of 80 per mille on their wheels alone.

The rack that remains

The rack has not vanished from the Appenzeller Bahnen. From Gais, the S24 runs every hour down a line of 1911 to Altstätten Stadt in the Rhine valley, 23 minutes away, on a rack for the steep descent. It is the obvious detour from the through line, and the OSTWIND day pass and every rail pass cover it.

The S21 runs through from Appenzell to Trogen, and back, every 30 minutes from about 05:00 to 23:00, every day of the year. The same timetable runs on weekdays and at weekends, and it is unchanged in the timetable that starts on 13 December 2026. Between St. Gallen and Teufen extra trains make it a train every 15 minutes in the morning, at midday and in the late afternoon. There are no reservations: buy a ticket and get on.

Times below are for the 2026 and 2027 timetables, read from the Swiss national timetable in November 2026. Check them before travelling on the Appenzeller Bahnen (opens in a new tab) site or at sbb.ch (opens in a new tab).

Appenzell to Trogen

Trains leave Appenzell at roughly :10 and :40 past each hour. Towards Trogen they wait four minutes at Gais to cross the train coming the other way.

Trogen to Appenzell

Trains leave Trogen at :25 and :55 past each hour.

Connections

St. Gallen is about an hour from Zurich, with fast trains every half hour, and the narrow-gauge platforms are beside the main station. From Gais, the S24 rack line runs hourly to Altstätten Stadt in 23 minutes. From Appenzell, the S23 runs on to Wasserauen in 12 minutes.

The line is part of the OSTWIND fare network of eastern Switzerland, and tickets are priced by zone. Appenzell to Trogen, or St. Gallen to Appenzell, is a four-zone single at CHF 10.00 in second class and CHF 17.60 in first, valid for two hours; with a Half Fare Travelcard or for a child it is CHF 5.00. Tickets are sold online and in the SBB, OSTWIND and FAIRTIQ apps, and must be bought before the train leaves.

For a day on the line and its branches, the OSTWIND 9 o'clock day pass covers every zone from 09:00 for CHF 40.00, or CHF 20.00 with a Half Fare Travelcard. Fares read from ostwind.ch (opens in a new tab) and sbb.ch (opens in a new tab) in November 2026.

Every pass that covers Switzerland covers this line in full, with no reservation and no supplement.

Swiss Travel Pass and GA Travelcard

The Appenzeller Bahnen state that the Swiss Travel Pass is valid on all their lines, so the through line, the rack railway from Gais to Altstätten and the branch to Wasserauen are all included. The GA Travelcard covers them too, and a Half Fare Travelcard halves the fare.

Interrail and Eurail

Included. Interrail's table of Swiss railway companies lists the Appenzeller Bahnen among the operators covered by both the Global Pass and the One Country Pass, with no reservation required.

Is a pass worth it here?

Not for this journey alone. The whole ride costs CHF 10, and a day on every line in the region costs CHF 40 from nine in the morning. Visitors staying three nights or more with the same host in and around Appenzell are usually given the Appenzeller Ferienkarte, which includes free second-class travel in 21 OSTWIND zones.

Pass conditions checked in November 2026 against the Appenzeller Bahnen's own pages and Interrail's railway-companies page, last updated 21 October 2026. Conditions change with each season, and the pass issuer's page is the one that binds.

The line strings together a town of painted houses, a village square rebuilt after a fire, a city with a World Heritage abbey and a village of merchants' palaces, and the trains run often enough to stop at all of them in a day. The rack line from Gais adds a small town in the Rhine valley.

St. Gallen, in the middle of the line, is the easiest base, with the most hotels and the fastest trains to Zurich. To wake up under the Alpstein, stay in Appenzell; for a quiet night on a village square, stay in Trogen. A stay of three nights or more around Appenzell usually brings the Appenzeller Ferienkarte and free travel on the line.

The places below keep their own websites and take direct bookings.

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