Glacier Express route

The St. Moritz–Chur leg of the Glacier Express, filmed from the cab over the Albula line: spiral tunnels above Bergün, the Landwasser Viaduct and the Schin gorge.

The route

The Glacier Express links Zermatt, below the Matterhorn, with St. Moritz in the Engadin. The full trip takes about eight hours and crosses 291 bridges and 91 tunnels on two metre-gauge networks: the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn in the west and the Rhaetian Railway in Graubünden. The service has run since 1930. Its highest point is the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 m, and further east it follows the young Rhine through the Ruinaulta gorge. This film covers only the eastern end of that journey: the run from St. Moritz down to Chur over the Albula line.

The Albula line opened between Thusis and Celerina in 1903 and reached St. Moritz in 1904. Before it, the spa at St. Moritz was a 14-hour stagecoach ride from Chur. The engineers held the gradient to 3.5 per cent so that ordinary trains and goods wagons could work the line without a rack. To drop from Preda to Bergün, the track winds through three spiral tunnels, two curved tunnels and four viaducts, using 12 km of line to cover 6.5 km as the crow flies. At the top, the 5,866 m Albula Tunnel takes it under the pass at about 1,820 m.

In 2008 the Albula and Bernina lines were inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage list as the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina Landscapes. They were listed as working railways, not museum pieces. Regular regional trains and the panoramic Glacier Express share the same largely single track, so the timetable depends on trains meeting at passing loops. The Glacier Express stops for a few weeks each year between mid-October and early December, but the ordinary trains keep running through the winter.

What you will see

Leaving St. Moritz, the train runs down the broad, open upper Engadin past Celerina and Samedan before turning into the side valley that leads to the Albula Tunnel. The long, dark stretch under the pass ends at Preda, and from there the descent begins. Between Preda and Bergün, watch how often the line seems to double back on itself. You enter a curving tunnel facing one way and come out heading the other, and stretches of track you have just used appear above or below you on the slope.

After Bergün the valley narrows into wooded gorges on the way to Filisur. Shortly beyond Filisur comes the Landwasser Viaduct, 65 m high on a curve of only 100 m radius, with one end running straight into a tunnel in the cliff face. From the cab you see the track bend sharply out across the gorge. The line then drops to Tiefencastel and enters the Schin gorge, a sequence of short tunnels and bridges cut into steep rock. Look out for the Solis Viaduct, which at 89 m is the highest bridge on the Rhaetian Railway.

At Thusis the mountains open out into the wider Domleschg valley. The last part of the film is gentler, following the Hinterrhein through farmland and villages to Reichenau, where it meets the Vorderrhein. From there the train follows the Rhine valley into Chur. This calmer final half hour is a good contrast to the engineering of the Albula section.

Riding it for real

The Glacier Express is run jointly by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn and the Rhaetian Railway, with panoramic coaches. You can ride the whole route or just one section, such as St. Moritz–Chur. A seat reservation is compulsory and carries a supplement, even for holders of the Swiss Travel Pass or other rail passes that cover the fare itself.

If you want the same scenery without booking ahead, the Rhaetian Railway's regular trains run between St. Moritz and Chur over the same Albula line, and some carriages have windows that open, which photographers appreciate. Timetables and seasonal dates change from year to year, so check the Glacier Express and Rhaetian Railway websites for current services and fares before you travel.

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