For passengers travelling from Altstätten and St. Gallen, there will once again be a seamless public transport connection in Appenzell towards Schwendetal at weekends during this year’s summer season. The trial operation offering a PostBus service from Appenzell Railways’ (AR) Hirschberg stop is entering its second season and offers AR passengers a direct connection towards Wasserauen.

The service is available at weekends and on public holidays from 29 April to 29 October 2023. The Postbus departs from the Hirschberg stop every half an hour between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Departures are scheduled at x.02 and x.32, i.e. immediately after the train has arrived. The timetables are also available online. The usual tickets for the Ostwind fare network, the Bodensee Ticket, the Appenzell Holiday Card, the guest card for Eastern Switzerland and the Half Fare Travelcard and GA Travelcard are valid.

On the journey towards Wasserauen, the Postbus stops in Weissbad and Schwende, with a connection to Brülisau in Weissbad. For return journeys from Wasserauen or Brülisau, the usual public transport connections (train or PostBus) are still available, with transfer options in Appenzell towards Gais–St. Gallen or Gais–Altstätten.

Thanks to its cooperation with the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Railways, PostBus was able to perform the seamless connection from Hirschberg station towards Alpstein in a short time frame last year. The service is now entering the second year of a trial operation that is expected to last three years. With demand of over 6,500 people, the strong public transport connection towards Alpstein also contributed to reducing capacity difficulties at the car park in Wasserauen. On peak days, more than 250 people travelled from Hirschberg towards Wasserauen. As a result of this encouragingly high Postbus utilization during the 2022 summer season, the PostBus connection from Hirschberg will operate once again in summer 2023.