SWISS Federal Railways (SBB) has identified a site adjacent to an existing freight yard in Schaffhausen, north of Zürich, as the location for a new depot for the Zürich S-Bahn fleet.
The new depot will consist of a 220m-long, 40m-wide and 10m-high maintenance hall with three 150m-long tracks. The depot will be used to maintain new trains on order for the S-Bahn - SBB awarded Siemens Mobility a contract in November 2025 to supply 116 six-car double-deck EMUs. The initial SFr 2bn ($US 2.53bn) contract includes an option to supply an additional 84 trains.
SBB says additional fleet maintenance capacity is required to meet growing demand on the network that already carries 500,000 passengers per day.
SBB adds that the project feasibility study found that the chosen location for the new depot was the best available on both operational and economic grounds as it will help to avoid running empty trains for long distances. The city of Schaffhausen will also have the option to redevelop the existing freight yard under the plans.
Schaffhausen is the terminus of lines S9 (Schaffhausen - Rafz - Zürich main station - Uster), S12 (Schaffhausen - Winterthur - Zürich main station - Brugg), and S33 (Schaffhausen - Winterthur). It is also served by line S24 (Thayngen - Schaffhausen - Winterthur - Zürich main station - Zug).
SBB say that it will start work to design the new depot this year, with the process to obtain planning approval expected to start in 2028. Commissioning of the new depot is anticipated in 2032. The first new EMUs are expected to enter service at the timetable change in December 2031.
