SZU - Friesenberg Train Stop to Move
After a four-year dispute, residents of the Gehrenholz settlement have reached a settlement with the SZU, clearing the way for a controversial station relocation.
is now official: the Friesenberg stop on the Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn (SZU) will be relocated. The station, currently situated near the kiosk at the intersection of the railway line and Friesenbergstrasse — just below the Jewish cemetery Unterer Friesenberg — will move to the double-track section between the Seniorama Tiergarten and the Gehrenholz residential estate.
The move, long demanded by the SZU, had been blocked for years by a formal objection from the 84 co-owners along Agnes-Robmann-Weg, who faced partial expropriation of their properties. In recent days, that group reached a settlement with the SZU, removing the last obstacle to the project.
A Reluctant Compromise
Thomas Held, one of the affected residents, is candid about the outcome: "We achieved some things, but nobody is really happy with how this ended." Pursuing the case through the courts — potentially all the way to the Federal Supreme Court — carried too much risk and uncertainty, and the committee's own lawyer advised against it.
The settlement was reached after protracted negotiations and an on-site inspection on 13 November 2025 with representatives of the Federal Office of Transport (BAV). Under the agreement, residents withdrew their objection in exchange for a series of project adjustments: underground rerouting of power lines, repositioning of lighting columns, and landscaping improvements to the front gardens and lakeside parcels of the affected properties. In return, residents accepted the narrowing of the Agnes-Robmann-Weg path closer to their buildings — effectively agreeing to a partial land expropriation.
A Flawed Project From the Start
Critics argue the relocation was ill-conceived from the beginning. Squeezing a new barrier-free covered station into the narrow space between two densely populated residential areas has required artificial space to be created on both sides of the double track. The result: the popular café terrace of the Seniorama Tiergarten will be reduced, and the already thin green strip in front of the Gehrenholz homes will shrink further.
The dispute has dragged on for four years, during which the SZU's handling of the project drew repeated criticism from local residents and the neighbourhood association alike. One particularly embarrassing chapter: the steel overpass structure erected at the Friesenbergstrasse crossing — dubbed the "steel monster" by locals — was never properly functional, was found to have been incorrectly tendered, and is now scheduled for demolition by end of 2026. According to the Zürich city council, the failed structure cost approximately CHF 2.5 million.
The City's Conspicuous Silence
For Held, one of the most frustrating aspects of the whole affair has been the near-total absence of the City of Zürich from proceedings. Relevant city departments — including the civil engineering office and Grün Stadt Zürich — gave the impression early on that they had been instructed from above not to intervene. The city, he suggests, would have been less passive had a housing cooperative been affected rather than private homeowners.
From the neighbourhood's perspective, the relocation delivers minimal benefit. The new station will be barrier-free and covered — improvements that, as local voices have long pointed out, could equally have been achieved by modestly upgrading the existing stop near the cemetery, in consultation with the local Jewish community. The SZU rejected that option too.
The full history of the Friesenberg station saga, as one observer put it, is not a proud chapter for either the SZU or the city authorities responsible for overseeing it.
The new Friesenberg station is expected to be constructed following the completion of the settlement process.
