The first railroad line in Switzerland, Zurich - Baden, was inaugurated 175 years ago on August 7.

On August 5, 1847, the management of the Swiss Northern Railway Company SNB announced that the first railroad line, Zurich - Baden, would be opened to public transport four days later. The timetables Zurich - Baden and Baden - Zurich, with intermediate stops in Altstetten, Schlieren and Dietikon, as well as the tariff for passenger transportation were attached to this introduction. Punctual departures were to be based on the station clocks. There were 4 trains a day in each direction; a huge difference compared to today, when the online timetable shows 138 trains from Baden to Zurich. But the fare for the route has also increased many times over. 1847: Fr. 1.60 (1st class), 1.20 (2nd class), 0.80 (3rd class), 0.40 (3rd class children); 2022: Fr. 23.40 (1st class), 13.40 (2nd class), 6.70 (2nd class ½ tax/children). In the first week, 9025 people traveled with the SNB. However, frequencies collapsed as soon as the novelty wore off. In July 1848, only 973 people were still using the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn every day.

In 1847 the journey took 45 minutes, today it takes between 16 and 37 minutes. This means that the differences in journey times are not so great, especially for regional trains. But for SNB passengers, the time saved compared to the stagecoach was significant, ¾ of an hour instead of 5 hours, as a father wrote to his daughter Julie de Merveilleux in Neuchâtel on July 10, 1850. Among other things, he mentions how impressed he was by the employees of the infernal machine - "cette machine infernale" - their serious demeanor. Despite their young and beautiful appearance, these people seemed to him to be imbued with the importance of their functions and the terrible consequences that the slightest carelessness or negligence on their part could have for many people.