Facts
On January 20, 1989, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) submitted a plan approval application to the Federal Office of Transport (BAV) for the construction of a 132-kV SBB transmission line. In the subsequent plan publication procedure, the Municipal Council of Rüthi filed an objection and demanded that the line be cabled in the area of the protected Valentinsberg. The Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL) also stated in its statement that it would only agree to the project on the condition that a new route be sought for the line in the St. Valentinsberg area or the line be cabled.
Subsequently, on September 17, 1990, the SBB submitted a modified project, according to which the SBB transmission line runs from pole 181 to pole 186 on the route or on the poles of the existing line of the St. Gallen-Appenzell Power Plants AG (SAK) equipped with new brackets, while the 20kV SAK line is cabled on a separate new route. The modified project was approved by the BAV on July 20, 1992.
The necessary rights for the construction of the SBB transmission line and the cabling of the SAK line were largely acquired by direct negotiation. Only with the owners of three parcels located in Rüthi could no agreements be reached. After the opening of a so-called accelerated expropriation procedure, the primary school municipality of Rüthi, as the owner of one of the affected parcels, filed an objection to the expropriation. The SBB then requested the President of the Federal Appraisal Commission, District 11, for early possession.
Considerations
The President of the Appraisal Commission rejected the SBB's request for early possession of the rights to be expropriated in the municipality of Rüthi at the time. The SBB appealed this decision to the Federal Administrative…