S17 (St. Gallen S-Bahn)

The S17 is a railway service of the St. Gallen S-Bahn that provides hourly service between Sargans and Rapperswil, in the cantons of St. Gallen and Glarus. Südostbahn (SOB), a private company primarily owned by the federal government and the canton of St. Gallen, operates the service.

On its journey, the S17 passes three disused railway stations: Bollingen, Weesen and Mols.

Operations
The S17 operates hourly between Sargans and Rapperswil, using the Ziegelbrücke–Sargans and Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke railway lines. The S6 also operates between Rapperswil and Ziegelbrücke, combining with the S17 for half-hourly service, with calls at every station. Between Uznach and Rapperswil, the S17 and S6 are additionally supported by the S4 and IR Voralpen-Express, both of which do not call at intermediate stations.

The three hours long Alpstein round trip (until December 2023 offered by the former S4 circle line), is still possible by combining the S4 and S17 services. At Sargans, the S17 continues as the S4 in direction of travel (and the S4 continues as S17 in the other direction), so that no change of trains is required; however, passengers do need to change trains either at Uznach or Rapperswil for the complete round trip.

Route
Rapperswil – Uznach – Ziegelbrücke – Sargans


 * Sargans
 * Mels
 * Flums
 * Walenstadt
 * Unterterzen
 * Murg
 * Mühlehorn
 * Ziegelbrücke
 * Schänis
 * Benken
 * Uznach
 * Schmerikon
 * Blumenau
 * Rapperswil

History
Prior to the 10 December 2023 timetable change, service over the Ziegelbrücke–Sargans railway line was provided by the S4, which operated in a bidirectional circular fashion. The expansion to dual track between Uznach and Schmerikon (constructed between 2021 and 2023) on the Rapperswil–Ziegelbrücke railway line permitted expanded service between Rapperswil and Uznach. The S4 was rerouted to run between Sargans and Rapperswil via St. Gallen, while Sargans to Rapperswil via Ziegelbrücke became the new S17.