Albula and Bernina Railway: Switzerland’s UNESCO Alpine Train Route

Red trains curving over stone viaducts, spiralling through mountain tunnels and climbing past glaciers to more than 2,200 metres: the Albula and Bernina lines of Switzerland’s Rhaetian Railway are often called the most beautiful railway journey in the world. Together they link Thusis in the canton of Graubünden with Tirano in Italy, and since 2008 they have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A UNESCO World Heritage railway

UNESCO inscribed the “Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes” on 7 July 2008. The listing covers two historic lines, today run as a single transalpine route. The Albula section within the property is 67 km long, with 42 tunnels and covered galleries and 144 viaducts and bridges. The Bernina section adds 61 km, 13 tunnels and galleries and 52 viaducts and bridges.

UNESCO recognised the railway for its technical, architectural and environmental achievements and as an outstanding example of how mountain railways developed in the early 20th century. Both lines are metre gauge.

The Albula line: Landwasser Viaduct and spiral tunnels

The Albula Railway runs from Thusis, at 697 m, to St. Moritz at 1,774 m. Under project supervisor Friedrich Hennings, the Thusis–Celerina section opened on 1 July 1903, and trains reached St. Moritz on 10 July 1904. The maximum gradient was held to 3.5% so that steam locomotives could work the line.

• Solis Viaduct: about 8 km from Thusis, it rises 89 m above the gorge and is the highest bridge on the Rhaetian Railway.
• Landwasser Viaduct: the line’s most famous landmark, 65 m high, stands just before Filisur. It carries the track on a curve of only 100 m radius straight into a tunnel in the cliff face.
• Bergün to Preda: to climb 417 m in a short, steep valley, the engineers built three spiral tunnels, two curved tunnels and several viaducts, adding about 12 km of track. On the train you lose all sense of direction as the line loops back over itself.
• Albula Tunnel: 5,866 m long, it crosses under the pass at a summit of 1,820 m before the descent into the Engadin.

The Bernina line: over the Alps without a rack

The Bernina Railway opened in sections from 1908 and in full on 5 July 1910. It was electric from the start and climbs gradients of up to 7% by adhesion alone, with no rack, making it one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world.

• Montebello Curve and Morteratsch: just past Morteratsch station, about 2 km below the Morteratsch Glacier, the famous curve offers views up to the ice and peaks of the Bernina range.
• Ospizio Bernina: the line’s summit at 2,253 m, beside Lago Bianco. The lake marks the watershed between the Danube and the Po.
• Alp Grüm: a station at the tree line and the last stop before the Italian-speaking valley. From here the line drops in tight S-bends at up to 7%.
• Brusio spiral viaduct: below Brusio, a viaduct loops a full circle simply to lose height.
• Le Prese to Tirano: near the end the train runs along village streets like a tram before arriving in Tirano, Italy.

Riding the Bernina Express and Glacier Express

The best-known way to ride both lines is the Bernina Express panoramic train, which runs from Chur or Davos to Tirano, linking the Albula and Bernina routes. The Glacier Express from Zermatt has followed the Albula line to St. Moritz since 1930. Rhaetian Railway regional trains also run on both lines, stopping at places such as Bergün, Filisur, Morteratsch and Alp Grüm.

Each season has its own appeal: summer brings green pastures and clear views of the glaciers, while winter turns the Bernina Pass into a snowfield where the red carriages stand out sharply. Panoramic trains are popular, so reserve seats ahead; timetables and fares are on the Rhaetian Railway website. The video below follows the UNESCO route.

Video: Swiss Trains - RhB UNESCO Heritage Route - Swiss Pass - SwissAlpsHotel.

The photographs in this gallery are by Max Galli, Christoph Benz, David Gubler, Giorgio Murbach, Andrea Badrutt, Daniela Balgera, Henrik Petersen, Jan Geerk and Severin Lang. For more of the Swiss mountains, see Swiss mountain destinations to compare or another form of high-mountain access.

Related reading

• A KiwiRail Train Clears Snow near Arthur’s Pass
• Titlis Cliff Walk: The High-Alpine Bridge and the View Around It
• 15 Swiss Ski Resorts: Compare the Villages, Terrain and Connected Areas
• Bon and Montant’s Wing-Assisted Eiger Descent

Sources