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Waldenburg railway

railway line in Switzerland

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ154730
Source-derived summary

The Waldenburg railway (German: Waldenburgerbahn; WB) is a narrow-gauge light rail system in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland. The 13.1-kilometre (8.1 mi) long single-track line runs from Liestal, the capital of the canton, to Waldenburg, with stops in Bubendorf, Hölstein, Niederdorf, and Oberdorf. It connects to SBB train services in Liestal railway station. The line was temporarily closed between April 2021 and December 2022 for modernisation and conversion to metre gauge.

Since 2016, the line has been operated by Baselland Transport (BLT), and was, with the exception of a few industrial and funicular lines, the only line in Switzerland with a track gauge of 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in). It was opened on 1 November 1880 and was operated by steam-hauled trains until 1953, when electric operation began. New rolling stock was introduced from 1985. On 5 April 2021, the line closed for rebuilding to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in), and reopened on 11 December 2022. The 750 mm gauge rolling stock was sold for further service on the Čierny Hron Railway in Slovakia.

Since 2022 the line has used ten metre-gauge seven-car Tramlink vehicles built by Stadler Rail.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Waldenburg railway” is railway line in Switzerland. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Waldenburg, railway and line, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2021, 2022, 2016, 1880—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Waldenburg, railway and line is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “railway line in Switzerland” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q154730. VIAF identifies the subject as 127342088. Authority coordinates are 47.434, 7.773. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2022, 2016 and 1880.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Search vocabulary
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Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Waldenburg railway”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Waldenburg railway primary sources, Waldenburg railway archive and Waldenburg research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Waldenburg railway” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.