The United Swiss Railways is a former railway company in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

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The United Swiss railways was created on 1 May 1857 through the merger of the Glatt Valley Railway

Glattalbahn

The term Glattalbahn is ambiguous as it refers to three different entities: a railway line opened in 1856, the company that built that line, and a rapid transit system opened in 2006.-Railway line from Uster to Wallisellen:...

 (German: Glatthalbahn; Wallisellen

Wallisellen

Wallisellen is a municipality in the district of Bülach in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley .-History:The first settlement at Wallisellen dates from 58 BC....

–Uster

Uster

Uster is a city and capital of the district Uster in the Swiss Canton of Zürich.It is the third largest city in the Canton of Zürich, with over 30,000 inhabitants, and is one of the twenty largest cities in Switzerland...

), the original Southeastern Railway (German: Südostbahn; Rorschach–Sargans

Sargans

Sargans is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291...

–Chur

Chur

Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....

, Sargans–Walenstadt

Walenstadt

Walenstadt is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is located on Lake Walen .-Geography:...

–Weesen

Weesen

Weesen is a village in See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.-Geography:Weesen has an area, , of . Of this area, 36.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 51.9% is forested...

–Rapperswil

Rapperswil

Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.-Today:On...

, Weesen–Glarus

Glarus

Glarus is the capital of the Canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Glarus municipality since 1 January 2011 incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern....

) and the St. Gallen–Appenzell Railway (German: Sankt Gallisch-Appenzellische Eisenbahn; Winterthur

Winterthur

Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...

–Wil

Wil

Wil is the capital of the Wahlkreis of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St...

–St. Gallen

St. Gallen

St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on the service sector for its economic...

–Rorschach). Its headquarters was located in St. Gallen. The VSB operated in competition with the Swiss Northeast Railway (NOB) lines from Winterthur and Wallisellen to St. Gallen and Lake Constance

Lake Constance

Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

 and from Uster to Glarus. The Rhine valley railway from Rorschach to Chur remained a regional line, as did the eastern Alpine line from Chur towards Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 prior to the construction of the Gotthard Railway. The network also included the Toggenburg Railway (German: Toggenburgerbahn) from Wil to Ebnat-Kappel

Ebnat-Kappel

Ebnat-Kappel is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Toggenburg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.-History:Kappel is first mentioned in 1218 as Capelle. Until 1762 Ebnat was known as Ober-Wattwil.-Geography:...

 and the Walensee Railway (German: Walenseebahn). On 1 July 1902 the VSB with a route length of 269 km was nationalized and is now part of the network of the Swiss Federal Railways

SBB-CFF-FFS

Swiss Federal Railways and SFR are not in official use) is the national railway company of Switzerland headquartered in Bern. Formerly a government institution, it is since 1999 a special stock corporation with all shares held by the Swiss Confederation or the Swiss cantons...

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In Uster the railway built what is now the oldest roundhouse

Roundhouse

A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...

 with a turntable in Switzerland. The depot has been restored and now serves as a depot and workshop for the Zürich Highlands Steam Society (German: Dampfbahn-Verein Zürcher Oberland), operator of the Bauma

Bauma

Bauma is a municipality in the district of Pfäffikon in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.-Geography:Bauma has an area of . Of this area, 35.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while 54.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 8.6% is settled and the remainder is non-productive...

–Hinwil

Hinwil

Hinwil is a municipality in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.- History :The village Hinwil from which the later municipality took its name is first mentioned in 745 as Hunichinwilari, in a donation made by Beata and Landolt to the Abbey of Saint Gall...

 heritage railway

Heritage railway

thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

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