European Epic # 13: The Little Express That Could

The Swiss urge to conquer mountains with rails found a unique expression in the east-west railway line running along some of the higher Alpine regions.  Today, this line is the home of the world-famous Glacier Express, the "slowest express train in the world."

(I was tempted to draw in an animation of the "world's longest selfie stick," 

stretching down from the second-to-last car.)

Of course, the Glacier Express isn't really what the name suggests at all.  It's a through train from Zermatt to St. Moritz, aimed squarely at tourists.  The train employs special Panorama cars and takes about 8 hours to make the journey.  

It's jointly operated by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn and Rhätische Bahn (Rhaetian Railway) through a special holding company.  Here's a map with a simple schematic diagram of the Glacier Express route across southern Switzerland.

The other oddity is that the train no longer passes by the Rhône Glacier which gave it that evocative name.  Ever since the completion of the Furka Basis Tunnel in 1982, the train has been able to operate all year but at the cost of missing the glacier -- apart from one brief glance from a distance just before you enter the tunnel's western portal.  A summer-only tourist train using steam cog engines still travels the original winding Furka Pass route between Brig and Andermatt, with its much higher elevation and shorter summit tunnel.

As well as the five rack sections between Zermatt and Visp, the route has to use the rack on other portions of the MGB route across the Oberalp Pass east of Andermatt.  The RhB takes over east of Disentis, and uses no rack portions, instead taking the track through numerous tunnels and spirals, and across numerous bridges, to cope with the rugged terrain through which it passes.

I've had the Glacier Express in my sights and on my bucket list for many a year.  I was pumped for the ride across the Alps, to say the least.

General comment: for anything up to 2/3 of the 8-hour travel time, you can't point your camera out the left side without risking missing something awesome on the right side.  I did the best I could, considering I was stuck with an aisle seat, and beg indulgence for the reflections of interior lights and such on the windows.  So here we go.

The Upper Rhone Valley east of Brig.

A quick and slightly fuzzy glimpse of the Rhone Glacier, about 1.5 seconds before the train entered the Furka Basis Tunnel.

Once through the tunnel, the scenery continues dramatic as you approach Andermatt.

At Andermatt, you get an extended stop allowing you to get off and stretch the legs,  In this picture, look through the narrow space above the train car and below the station roof in the centre, and you will see a westbound train crawling down the steep slope from the Oberalp Pass on the rack.  We couldn't leave until that train arrived.

Also, tucked away a kilometre or two under our feet is the Gotthard Tunnel -- and, further east, the newer Gotthard Basis Tunnel.  These are the busiest tunnel routes in Switzerland, since they form the key link in the through railway and highway from Zurich to Milan and Rome.

The view back west as we climbed away from Andermatt.

The terrain around the Oberalp Pass is definitely high-alpine and rugged to a considerable degree.

At Disentis, you enter the domain of the Rhaetian Railway: the Grey Cantons (Grisons/Graubünden) of southeastern Switzerland.  The native language here is Romansch, an archaic tongue rooted in Latin.  Disentis has the highest percentage of Romansch speakers in the world.  Romansch is one of the four official languages of the Swiss Confederation, alongside German, French, and Italian.

By now, the train is following the upper course of the Rhine River.  Around a bend you see this eye-catching rock formation.

Moments later, the train descends into the Rhine Gorge and follows it for the next half hour.

I'm baffled that tourist literature doesn't make much mention of this eye-grabbing sight.

Beyond the gorge, the country opens out until you reach the city of Chur.  There, the train turns southeast towards the high Albula Pass, and begins climbing, and twisting, and turning.  The RhB allows a maximum grade of 7% which is very high indeed for a railway which does not use a rack or any other form of assistance to climb.

Just before arriving at Filisur, the train crosses the most iconic sight on the line, the great Landwasser Viaduct.  (that's the bridge in the first picture of this blog post)

Two quick pictures as we crossed: a view downwards on the right-hand or downhill side.

And a panorama view up the valley on the left or uphill side.

After Landwasser, the track keeps climbing and climbing as more and more vistas open out.

Then the train passes under the summit of the Albula Pass in a long tunnel -- and from there it's only another 20 minutes or so to the terminal at St. Moritz.

If you are intrigued and want to learn more about this unique experience, here's the link to the special Glacier Express website.  Glacier Express

Word to the wise: reservations can be booked 90 days ahead.  Book as soon as possible, the train is almost always sold out -- even in summer when multiple trains run each way every day.