RhB

Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes


State Party = ITA and SUI
Type = Cultural
Criteria = ii, iv
ID = 1276
Region = Europe and North America
Year = 2008
Session = 32nd
Extension =
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1276

The RhB (Rhaetian Railway / Rhätische Bahn (German) / Ferrovia Retica (Italian) / Viafier Retica (Romansh)) has the largest network of all the private railways in Switzerland. The company operates most of the railways in the south-easternmost canton of Graubünden (Italian: Grigioni, Romansh: Grischun, French/English: Grisons) since the Federal Railways SBB-CFF-FFS extend only a few kilometres over the cantonal border to the capital at Chur.

RhB serves the major tourist centre of St Moritz and Davos, and one of the lines, the Berninabahn, crosses the Bernina Pass to the Italian border and on to Tirano, where there is a link to the Italian railways.

In 2008 the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Network

The RhB network was developed in various stages at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with the result that several different electrification systems are in use, and one 12km section between Castione and Cama was completely separate from all other railways following a landslide in the mid-20th century, before later closure. All the RhB is of RailGauge|1 gauge, and is electrified:
*61km, the Bernina Bahn (Pontresina - Tirano) is electrified at 1000V.
*321km is electrified at 11kV 16.7Hz (including Chur-Arosa and the new Vereina tunnel route).

The network contains 84 tunnels (the longest being the 19.042 km (11.83 miles) Vereina tunnel, opened on 19 November 1999, and the 5.864 km (3.64 miles) Albula tunnel), and 383 bridges. The maximum gradient is 4.5%, except on the Bernina Bahn, where it is 7%. [http://www.ebepe.com/html/berninaline.html] Current services operated by the RhB (2008):
*Basic hourly service:
**Regio Express RE1: Chur – St. Moritz
**Regio Express RE2: Landquart – Davos
**Regio Express RE3: Disentis/Muster - Chur – Landquart - Scuol-Tarasp
**Regio R4: Chur – Arosa
**Regio R5: St. Moritz - Tirano (Italy)
**Regio R6: Davos Platz - Filisur
**Regio R7: Pontresina - Sagliains - Scuol-Tarasp
**Regio R8: Schiers - Landquart - Chur - Rhäzüns
**Regio R9: Chur - Thusis
*Off-peak hours:
**Regio R11: Chur - St. Moritz
**Regio R21: Landquart - Davos
**Regio R31: Disentis - Landquart
*Vehicle transporter services:
**Through the Vereina Tunnel: Klosters - Sagliains.
**Through the Albula Tunnel: Thusis - Samedan.

The annual traffic carried by the RhB (2002) is 300,000,000 passenger-kilometres, and 54,000,000 tonne-kilometres of freight. 80% of passenger income comes from tourists, though 40% of passengers are local people.

Ownership

The RhB is 53% owned by the Cantonal government of Graubünden, 43% by the Swiss Confederation, and 4% is held privately. It employs 1479 staff (2002).

ee also

* List of railway companies in Switzerland
* Glacier Express
* Bernina Express
* Hakone Tozan Railway: Japanese private mountain railway, twinning railway with RhB.
* Table of turn tunnels

References

* Eds: Hill, Ken and Pattison, Tony (2000). "Jane’s World Railways" ISBN 0-7106-2034-9. Jane’s Information Group, London.

External links

* [http://www.rhb.ch/ RhB official website]
* [http://www.ebepe.com/html/filichure.html The Rhaetian Network] Image presentations of famous Rhaetian lines
* [http://www.rail-info.ch/RhB/index.en.html Rail-info.ch description]
* [http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ch/narrow_gauge/RhB/pix.html Railfaneurope.net, RhB photos]