The separate RHB line starts a half a kilometre east of Rorschach station, shortly after it branches off from the
Chur–Rorschach railway line belonging to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). The property line is exactly at kilometre 64.41483. The entry signal from Heiden into the Rorschach train station is at kilometre 64.476. This position is often incorrectly stated as the property limit, but in fact it is the operational limit. The property line between SBB and AB and the zero point of the kilometers in the direction of Heiden are behind the SBB depot, directly in front of the two points in the
Appenzeller Bahnen parking facility. The rack also begins immediately after the two switches. The gradient that begins afterwards is on average 91 ‰, the maximum value is 93.6‰. Above Wienacht Tobel, the route is a little flatter and only reaches 79.6‰. The route continues via the stations at Seebleiche, Sandbüchel, Wartensee, Wienacht-Tobel and Schwendi bei Heiden to Heiden. All intermediate stations are request-only stops. The terminal station in Heiden is at an altitude of 794 metres. The trains to Heiden start from Rorschach Hafen station, initially following a piece of the
Romanshorn–Rorschach railway line operated by SBB to Rorschach station and from there the route towards to the junction. The route runs through the
municipalities of
Rorschacherberg (Seebleiche, Sandbüchel),
Thal (Wartensee),
Lutzenberg (Wienacht-Tobel), Heiden (Schwendi) and Grub (without a station) and ends in the municipality of
Heiden.
Current operations Passenger services on the route are currently operated as line S25 of the
St. Gallen S-Bahn and
Bodensee S-Bahn, running hourly between and . The schedule in the early morning differs from those after 9:00 a.m. In the summer, steam-powered services are also offered. The historic summer wagons are used in regular operation; a bicycle wagon is used to transport bicycles. There is no longer freight traffic on the line, with the exception of AB's own construction trains, as the main customers, Starrag and Wolfhalden grain mill, have ceased to exist. During the reorganisation of Swiss freight traffic, many service points with a lower volume of goods, including all of the RHB, were discontinued. The motor car BDeh 3/6 25 was repaired between September 2009 to May 2010 in the main workshop of the
Rhaetian Railway in Landquart. It was repainted in the current colors and given the AB logo. The Rorschach-Heiden-Bergbahn is included in the
Ostwind tariff network.
Threat of closure Due to declining frequencies and a cost recovery rate of less than 30%, the
cantons of
Appenzell Ausserrhoden and
St. Gallen are considering whether the three rack railways operated by Appenzeller Bahnen (Rorschach Hafen to Heiden, Altstätten Stadt to Gais, and from Rheineck to Walzenhausen) should continue to operate. In particular, a switch to bus operation or fully automatic operation is up for discussion. ==History==