Glacier Express

The Glacier Express is an express train which connect the two major mountain resorts of St. Moritz and Zermatt in the Swiss Alps using different railroad lines, belonging to the two cooperating companies of Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn and Rhaetian Railway. It is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train but rather in the sense that it provides a one-seat ride for a long duration travel, in fact it has the reputation of being the "slowest express" train in the world.

The trip on the Glacier Express is a 7½ hour railway journey across 291 bridges, through 91 tunnels and across the Oberalp Pass on the highest point at 2,033 metres in altitude. The entire line is metre gauge, and large portions of it use a rack-and-pinion system both for ascending steep grades and to control the descent of the train on the back side of those grades.

The "Albula line" on the Glacier Express route was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008.

Itinerary

Albula line

Shorltly after having left the St. Moritz station (1,775 m) in Graubünden, the train passes Samedan and Bever on the high Engadin plateau. There it continues in the "Val Bever" before entering in the "Albula Tunnel" at 1,815 m under the Albula Pass. After the tunnel the train passes Preda, the first village in the "Albula valley" and continues toward Bergün. Between these two villages the train has to go through many spirals because of the high difference of altitude within a short distance (400 m for 5 km). After another spiral the train reaches Filisur at the end of the valley at (1,032 m). From there the train passes on the Landwasser Viaduct, the most emblematic landmark of the railway line and continues toward Thusis (720 m) where it reaches the Posterior Rhine and follows it to the city of Chur (585 m).

Oberalp section

From Chur the train follows back the course of the Rhine through the gorge of Ruinaulta and climbs slowly the valley toward Ilanz (698 m), Disentis (1,142 m) and Sedrun (1,404 m). From Sedrun the line becomes steeper to finally reach its summit, the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 meters. From there the train enters in the Canton of Uri in Central Switzerland and continues down to Andermatt (1,447 m).

Furka line

From Andermatt the train goes forward in the Urserental valley passing the villages of Hospental (1,452 m) and Realp (1,538 m). From there the train enters the Furka Tunnel, leaving the old railway line which climbs the Furka Pass (operated today by the Furka Heritage Railway), to emerge in Oberwald (1,368 m) in the Goms Valley, in the Canton of Valais. The train then continues toward the city of Brig following the course of the Rhône and pass along the villages of Ulrichen (1,346 m), Münster-Geschinen (1,359 m) and Fiesch (1,049 m), before going through another spiral.

Mattertal line

From Brig (678 m) the train continues to Visp (651 m), then enters the valley of Mattertal and goes up, passing the villages of Salden (799 m), St. Niklaus (1,127 m) and Randa (1,408 m), where a spectacular debris avalanche completely disconnected the railway and road in 1991. Täsch (1,450 m) is an important station as it is the end of the open road, therefore a terminal for motorized people. After a steeper section the train finally arrive in Zermatt at 1,616 m, after nearly 8 hours of travel.

See also

*Bernina Express

External links

* [http://www.glacierexpress.ch/ Glacier Express official website]
* [http://www.ddavid.com/alongdesire/swiss1.htm Glacier Express] A personal trip on the Glacier Express with photographs