The Glacier Express     

 

Traveling on the famous Swiss mountain railways from St.Moritz to Zermatt and vice versa or from Piz Bernina to the Matterhorn. It's a 7 1/2 hour railway journey that crosses 291 bridges, goes through through 91 tunnels and across the Oberalp

Pass at 2’033 metres(or 6,670 feet) in altitude.  This is a panoramic trip through the Alps in the heart of Switzerland. The Glacier Express travels a beautiful route between the sights of the Graubünden holiday region, central Switzerland, including Lake Lucerne and Lucerne itself, the sunny Valais region with its glacier landscape, and the beautiful regions of the South. You will travel in comfort through the unspoilt natural beauty of a landscape rich in ancient, fragrant mountain forests, peaceful Alpine meadows, rushing mountain streams and mountain valleys, soaked in tradition and centuries-old culture. 

 

 


The sheer joy of travel aboard the Glacier Express: presenting you with a cross-section of the richly varied Swiss countryside. On board the Glacier Express, meals are prepared specially for you by the chef in the dining car. Coffee, drinks and snacks are brought to your seat by our Railbar staff. The Glacier Express offers you glistening mountains in Summer; a fairy-tale landscape deep in snow in Winter; a magical carpet of flowers in Spring; a splendid tapestry of color in Autumn. The Glacier Express is one of the world's most famous train journeys!

 

 

 

Glacier Express's route:

 

   

 

Glacier Express Route - a closer look

 

   


 

 

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Glacier Express History

 

The roaring 1920s

 

    In the roaring 1920s, and because of adventurous reports from alpine enthusiasts, the travel-keen upper-class from all four corners of the world at long last discovered the rustic charms of the Swiss Alps; previously remote mountain villages such as Zermatt and St.Moritz were transformed into chic health resorts. The three railway companies of that period (VZ – later BVZ, RhB and FOB) respectively successfully took advantage of the tourism potential at hand with the opening of the route between the Valais and Graubünden in 1926: the introduction of the through coaches Brig – Chur and Brig – St.Moritz exclusively in summer was met with a lot of interest amongst the travelling public. By the way, it was to take more than 50 years before the trains were able to also cross the impassable Furka alpine route in winter.

 

First trip 1930

 

June 25, 1930 – an historical date after the opening of the connection Visp – Brig, the Glacier Express ran for the very first time from Zermatt to St.Moritz. To cater for travellers – one travelled in elegant salon coaches – and converted passenger coaches from 1st to 3rd class – dining cars were introduced on the route between St.Moritz and Disentis. Whilst the VZ and RhB were already equipped with state-of-the-art electric locomotives – the "Crocodiles" – the FO Railway was still working with steam engines (HG 3/4), which were sent to Vietnam in 1947 and because of enter- prising promoters of the Furka alpine route were recalled to Switzerland in the 1990s , creating an absolute trend: nostalgic steam-engine trips are today more popular than ever!


The world's slowest express train

 

At the beginning of the 1940s the time was ripe: the FO network was converted to electricity and on September 1, 1942 the through electric route Brig – Disentis was officially celebrated. With the turmoil of the Second World War, express traffic was withdrawn from 1943 onwards to be reintroduced with slight changes in 1948 – in particular, without an elegant salon coach but with a dining car to the Oberalp pass. The Glacier Express also benefited from technological advancement during the 1950s and 1960s: faster engines produced shorter travelling times even for the "world’s slowest fast train", and comfortable coaches as well as the reintroduction of the dining cars to Andermatt inexorably increased the attraction of the Glacier Express.

 


 

The Glacier Express all year round

 

On January 1, 1961, the FO dissolved its administrative cooperation with the BVZ (formally VZ) and from then on commenced railway operations autonomously in Brig. Oddly enough – would you believe it that in 1982 the Glacier Express only ran in summer because the extended Furka alpine route was not safe in winter. Construction work on the Furka basis tunnel between Oberwald and Realp began in 1973 and service could finally start through the tunnel on June 26, 1982: the Glacier Express now runs all year round!

 

High quality tourism product

 

Thanks to modern technology and focused marketing efforts the Glacier Express blos- somed into an unmistakeable top-notch Swiss tourism product in the 1980s and 1990s: there has been continual growing worldwide demand on the unique Swiss Alpine train. Not just huge investments in infrastructure contributed to this – e.g. modern coaches such as air-conditioned pano- rama coaches – but also exquisite services such as perfect catering services, clever special trips and a wide range of packages offered at an international level in the travel market.

 

On the ball

 

Throughout the years the Glacier Express has remained true to itself: traditionally on the ball – only the best is good enough for the passengers. A tradition that has been further nurtured and extended under the auspices of the Rhaetian Rail- way and the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway (MGB) – FO and BVZ merged on January 1, 2003 to the tune of this sonorous name. On June 22, 2005, the Glacier Express celebrated its 75th birthday – and is even younger, more dynamic and popular than ever. Is that perhaps why it is giving itself a present of new 1st and 2nd class panorama coaches? Whatever the reason, from June 2006 it will proudly present itself in the beautiful Swiss Alps – traditionally trendy, just as one is used to!

 

 

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