Background
Since the mothballing of the old VSB trackage between Weesen and Näfels in 1918, local rail services only operated to Ziegelbrücke instead of Näfels. Therefore there was no longer a direct connection from the Canton of Glarus to Zurich.
The "Glarner Dream" of a direct connection to Zürich was realized by the Pendlerverein (commuter association) of the Glarus government and the SBB as a component of the Swiss Bahn 2000 modernization plan and put into service on 12 April 2004. The plan was for an hourly service, but this could not be achieved due to financial problems in the canton Glarus and technical problems on the part of the SBB.
The Glarner Sprinter is a commuter service for those travelling from the towns and villages of Glarus to the greater Zürich region. Conversely, the Canton of Glarus can expect increased weekend tourism (for winter sports, hiking, mountain climbing, etc.) because of the direct connection to the large Glarus valley.
Read more about this topic: Glarner Sprinter
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