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90-519: The train is operated by the Rhaetian Railway company for the purpose of sightseeing. It takes the form of an enhanced regional service between Tirano and Chur or Davos: panoramic coaches with enlarged windows and multi-lingual (English, Italian and German) audio guide on board. It is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train; passengers must make a seat reservation either directly when they purchase Bernina Express tickets, or pay

180-611: A crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in an 800 km (500 mi) arc (curved line) from east to west and is 200 km (120 mi) in width. The mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km (1.6 mi). The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble , and stretching eastward through mid and southern Switzerland. The range continues onward toward Vienna , Austria, and southeast to

270-646: A dual system station, as the Bernina Railway operates on 1,000 V DC . Track 3 at Pontresina station has a switchable catenary, and is used for trains, such as the Heidi Express , operating through the station and needing to change from one of the two electification systems to the other. Between Samedan and Bever, the Engadin line shares its track with the Albula Railway. With the opening of

360-683: A horizontal distance of 5 km (3.1 mi), without using rack-and-pinion , but with many spirals. Then the line enters the Albula Tunnel at 1,815 metres under the Albula Pass . It emerges in the Val Bever, where it reaches Bever (1,708 m [5,604 ft]) on the Engadin plain. The line continues toward Samedan (1,721 m [5,646 ft]) and arrives at St. Moritz (1,775 m [5,823 ft]). In 2009 it

450-527: A hotel in Davos. He proposed a railway line from Landquart to Davos in 1888. Holsboer founded the Landquart-Davos AG to begin construction of a standard-gauge line, but the mountainous terrain lacked sufficient space. On 29 June 1888, a ground-breaking ceremony took place for a narrow-gauge railway instead. By 1890, the railway line served Davos. In 1895, Holsboer changed his company's name to

540-536: A limited freight traffic continued until 2003. The private association (SEFT, Società Esercizio Ferroviario Turistico) operated it as a heritage railway for tourists over 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) of the original 31 kilometres (19 mi) of line until part of the concession was withdrawn in 2013 to allow road construction. The road construction had been started in July 2014. For commuter services Rhaetian Railway ABe 4/16 electric multiple units are used. Apart from

630-743: A major commercial and military road between Western Europe and Italy. The pass was crossed by many troops on their way to the Italian peninsula. From Constantine I , Pepin the Short and Charlemagne to Henry IV , Napoléon and more recently the German Gebirgsjägers during World War II . Now the pass has been supplanted by the Fréjus Highway Tunnel (opened 1980) and Rail Tunnel (opened 1871). The Saint Gotthard Pass crosses from Central Switzerland to Ticino ; in 1882

720-708: A man was in 1788; the first ascent by a woman was in 1808. By the mid-1850s Swiss mountaineers had ascended most of the peaks and were eagerly sought as mountain guides. Edward Whymper reached the top of the Matterhorn in 1865 (after seven attempts), and in 1938 the last of the six great north faces of the Alps was climbed with the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand (north face of the Eiger). Important geological concepts were established as naturalists began studying

810-473: A number of passing loops along the route: at all stations with the exception of Chur Stadt (and formerly Sassal), as well as at Chur Sand depot and at Haspelgrube near Arosa. The maximum incline is 6% but there is no rack-and-pinion used. A short section of the line runs along the streets of Chur and is known as the Chur stadtbahn ('town railway'). In Chur, the line starts on Bahnhofplatz, in front of

900-740: A small supplement on top of their regional train tickets. The Bernina Express is popular with tourists and connects in Tirano with the Post Bus service via Lake Como in Italy to Lugano in Switzerland. The Albula line and the Bernina line on the Bernina Express's route were jointly declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. The trip on the Bernina Express through this World Heritage Site

990-604: A tunnel 1.6 km (1 mi) long was built along the route of the pass in the mid-19th century. With a summit of 2,469 m (8,100 ft), the Great St Bernard Pass is one of the highest in the Alps, crossing the Italian-Swiss border east of the Pennine Alps along the flanks of Mont Blanc. The pass was used by Napoleon Bonaparte to cross 40,000 troops in 1800. The Mont Cenis pass has been

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1080-646: Is sedimentary rock formed during mountain building. The Alpine orogeny occurred in ongoing cycles through to the Paleogene causing differences in folded structures, with a late-stage orogeny causing the development of the Jura Mountains . A series of tectonic events in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods caused different paleogeographic regions. The Alps are subdivided by different lithology (rock composition) and nappe structures according to

1170-726: Is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland . Headquartered in Chur , the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Swiss canton of Grisons , except for the line from Sargans to the cantonal capital, Chur, which are operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), as well as the line from Disentis/Mustér to the Oberalp Pass and further on to Andermatt , Uri , which

1260-535: Is a four-hour railway journey across 196 bridges, through 55 tunnels and across the Bernina Pass at 2,253 metres (7,392 ft) above sea level. The entire line is 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) ( metre gauge ) and electrified. The Albula line was constructed between 1898 and 1904; it has been operated by the Rhaetian Railway since its inauguration. The Bernina line

1350-503: Is of continental European origin, above which are stacked marine sediment nappes, topped off by nappes derived from the African plate. The Matterhorn is an example of the ongoing orogeny and shows evidence of great folding. The tip of the mountain consists of gneisses from the African plate; the base of the peak, below the glaciated area, consists of European basement rock. The sequence of Tethyan marine sediments and their oceanic basement

1440-470: Is often abbreviated as "ChA" (Chur-Arosa). Work began in 1912 on the route and the line opened on 12 December 1914. The railway leads up from Chur to Arosa (a total climb of 1,155 m or 3,789 ft) via a number of tunnels, bridges and other structures, including the Langwieser Viaduct - a structure of national importance. In 1942 the line became part of the RhB company and network; however

1530-691: Is operated by Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB). Inaugurated in 1888 and expanded from 1896 onwards in various sections, the RhB network is located almost entirely within Grisons, with one station across the Italian border at Tirano . The Rhaetian Railway serves a number of major tourist destinations, such as St. Moritz and Davos . One of the RhB lines, the Bernina Railway , crosses the Bernina Pass at 2,254 metres (7,395 ft) above sea level and runs down to Tirano, Lombardy in Italy. In 2008,

1620-624: Is sandwiched between rock derived from the African and European plates. The core regions of the Alpine orogenic belt have been folded and fractured in such a manner that erosion produced the characteristic steep vertical peaks of the Swiss Alps that rise seemingly straight out of the foreland areas. Peaks such as Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and high peaks in the Pennine Alps, the Briançonnais, and Hohe Tauern consist of layers of rock from

1710-739: Is technically very interesting, not only due to its famous Wiesen Viaduct . The Davos–Filisur line is 19 km (12 mi) long, runs through 14 tunnels extending a total of 4,200 m (13,780 ft) in length, and crosses 28 bridges. It was electrified in 1919. Starting in the Rhine valley, the Landquart-Thusis line runs more or less parallel with the Swiss Federal Railways ' Sargans - Landquart - Chur standard gauge line as far as Chur (elevation 585 m or 1,919 ft). The line to Thusis then simply follows

1800-581: Is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft) . The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations. Evidence of human habitation in

1890-534: The Adriatic Sea and Slovenia . To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the southern border of Bavaria in Germany. In areas like Chiasso , Switzerland, and Allgäu , Bavaria, the demarcation between the mountain range and the flatlands are clear; in other places such as Geneva , the demarcation is less clear. The Alps are found in the following countries: Austria (28.7% of

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1980-915: The Colle della Maddalena , to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain heads approximately east-northeast, a heading it follows until its end near Vienna. The northeast end of the Alpine arc, directly on the Danube , which flows into the Black Sea, is the Leopoldsberg near Vienna. In contrast, the southeastern part of the Alps ends on the Adriatic Sea in the area around Trieste towards Duino and Barcola . The Alps have been crossed for war and commerce, and by pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing routes by road, train, or foot are known as passes , and usually consist of depressions in

2070-511: The Gotthard Base Tunnel , was opened, which connects Erstfeld in canton of Uri with Bodio in canton of Ticino by two single tubes of 57.1 km (35.5 mi). It is the first tunnel that traverses the Alps on a flat route. From 11 December 2016, it has been part of the regular railway timetable and used hourly as standard ride between Basel / Lucerne / Zürich and Bellinzona / Lugano / Milan . The highest pass in

2160-461: The Italian border at Campocologno (553 m [1,814 ft]), the Bernina Express ends its journey at Tirano station (430 m [1,410 ft]). During the summer, the Bernina Express comprises a special separate train that travels from Chur to Pontresina with very few stops. In Pontresina, the locomotive is changed (because of the Bernina line's different electricity current) and

2250-486: The Landwasser Viaduct before arriving at Filisur (1,032 m [3,386 ft]). Shortly after Filisur the line passes its first spiral tunnel then continues to Bergün/Bravuogn (1,373 m [4,505 ft]). Between Bergün/Bravuogn and Preda (1,789 m [5,869 ft]), at the end of the valley, the line has to achieve a difference in height of about 400 m (1,300 ft) within

2340-607: The Oxford English Dictionary , the Latin Alpes might derive from a pre-Indo-European word * alb "hill"; "Albania" is a related derivation. Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania , has been used as a name for several mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times , "Albania" was a name for the eastern Caucasus , while in the English languages "Albania" (or "Albany")

2430-764: The Pangaean supercontinent consisted of a single tectonic plate ; it broke into separate plates during the Mesozoic Era and the Tethys sea developed between Laurasia and Gondwana during the Jurassic Period. The Tethys was later squeezed between colliding plates causing the formation of mountain ranges called the Alpide belt , from Gibraltar through the Himalayas to Indonesia —a process that began at

2520-580: The Pannonian Basin . The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn . Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft)

2610-694: The Rhine to Bonaduz (655 m [2,149 ft]). From there it enters the Domleschg Valley and follows the Posterior Rhine from Rhäzüns (658 m [2,159 ft]) to Thusis (697 m [2,287 ft]). The train continues toward Tiefencastel (851 m [2,792 ft]) following the Albula and then crosses the Landwasser Viaduct before arriving at Filisur (1,032 m [3,386 ft]). Shortly after Filisur

2700-466: The Romanticists , followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps. The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming

2790-736: The Simplon Pass , and the Stelvio Pass . Crossing the Italian-Austrian border, the Brenner Pass separates the Ötztal Alps and Zillertal Alps and has been in use as a trading route since the 14th century. The lowest of the Alpine passes at 985 m (3,232 ft), the Semmering crosses from Lower Austria to Styria ; since the 12th century when a hospice was built there, it has seen continuous use. A railroad with

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2880-720: The Vereina Tunnel and line in November 1999, the Engadin line, at both Lavin ( Sagliains car shuttle train station) and Susch (Sasslatsch II car shuttle train station), acquired a direct connection to the Prättigau at Klosters , on the Landquart–Davos line. This line begins at St.Moritz and runs towards Pontresina (elevation 1,774 m [5,820 ft]) in Val Bernina. It ascends progressively through

2970-503: The 15 km-long (9.3 mi) Saint Gotthard Railway Tunnel was opened connecting Lucerne in Switzerland, with Milan in Italy. 98 years later followed Gotthard Road Tunnel (16.9 km (10.5 mi) long) connecting the A2 motorway in Göschenen on the north side with Airolo on the south side, exactly like the railway tunnel. On 1 June 2016 the world's longest railway tunnel,

3060-664: The 20th century Robert Parker wrote a well-known work about the rock crystals of the Swiss Alps; at the same period a commission was established to control and standardize the naming of Alpine minerals. In the Miocene Epoch the mountains underwent severe erosion because of glaciation, which was noted in the mid-19th century by naturalist Louis Agassiz who presented a paper proclaiming the Alps were covered in ice at various intervals—a theory he formed when studying rocks near his Neuchâtel home which he believed originated to

3150-691: The 29 "four-thousanders" with at least 300 m (984 ft) of prominence. While Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786 and the Jungfrau in 1811, most of the Alpine four-thousanders were climbed during the second half of the 19th century, notably Piz Bernina (1850), the Dom (1858), the Grand Combin (1859), the Weisshorn (1861) and the Barre des Écrins (1864); the ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marked

3240-494: The 5.864-kilometre (3.644 mi) Albula Tunnel ) and 383 bridges. The maximum gradient is 7% on the Bernina railway , 6% on the Chur–Arosa line and 4.5% on Landquart–Davos line. In 2022, to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Switzerland's first railway, the Rhaetische Bahn, supported by Swiss train-builder Stadler, came together to run the world's longest-ever passenger train, composed of 100 cars stretching almost two kilometres long. Current passenger services as operated by

3330-430: The Alpine region. The cinnabar deposits in Slovenia are a notable source of cinnabar pigments. Alpine crystals have been studied and collected for hundreds of years and began to be classified in the 18th century. Leonhard Euler studied the shapes of crystals, and by the 19th-century crystal hunting was common in Alpine regions. David Friedrich Wiser amassed a collection of 8000 crystals that he studied and documented. In

3420-488: The Alps are difficult to quantify and likely to vary significantly in space and time. The Alps are a source of minerals that have been mined for thousands of years. In the 8th to 6th centuries, BC during the Hallstatt culture , Celtic tribes mined copper; later the Romans mined gold for coins in the Bad Gastein area. Erzberg in Styria furnishes high-quality iron ore for the steel industry. Crystals, such as cinnabar , amethyst , and quartz , are found throughout much of

3510-536: The Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi") , determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular,

3600-434: The Austroalpine peaks underwent an event in the Cretaceous Period, the two areas show distinct differences in nappe formations. Flysch deposits in the Southern Alps of Lombardy probably occurred in the Cretaceous or later. Peaks in France, Italy and Switzerland lie in the "Houillière zone", which consists of basement with sediments from the Mesozoic Era. High "massifs" with external sedimentary cover are more common in

3690-438: The Cavadürli loop tunnel. It continues to climb through dense larch and other coniferous forests to the Davos Laret . The highest point on the line is the next stop, Davos Wolfgang at 1,625 m (5,331 ft). Then the line leads back down and along Lake Davos to Davos Dorf , and the terminus at Davos Platz . The connecting line from Davos Platz to the Albula Railway at Filisur passes through wild gorges, and

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3780-402: The Eastern and South-Western Alps. The underlying mechanisms that jointly drive the present-day uplift pattern are the isostatic rebound due to the melting of the last glacial maximum ice-cap or long-term erosion, detachment of the Western Alpine subducting slab, mantle convection as well as ongoing horizontal convergence between Africa and Europe, but their relative contributions to the uplift of

3870-462: The Greek goddess Alphito , whose name is related to alphita , the "white flour"; alphos , a dull white leprosy; and finally the Proto-Indo-European word *albʰós . Similarly, the river god Alpheus is also supposed to derive from the Greek alphos and means whitish. In his commentary on the Aeneid of Virgil , the late fourth-century grammarian Maurus Servius Honoratus says that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. According to

3960-422: The RhB (2016): In 2002 the annual traffic carried by the RhB was 300 million passenger-kilometres and 54 million tonne-kilometres of freight. 80% of the passenger income comes from tourist traffic, although 40% of passengers are local commuters. Landquart railway station in Graubünden is the starting point of the Rhaetian Railway, historically as part of the Landquart-Davos line, operationally as

4050-453: The RhB section from the Albula / Bernina area (the part from Thusis to Tirano , including St. Moritz ) was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The Albula-Bernina line is the first rail line in the world to be photographed and put on Google Street View . The line also operates several historic trains on the network. The establishment of the Rhaetian Railway traces back to Dutch Willem Jan Holsboer , who owned

4140-447: The Rhaetian Railway ( Rhätische Bahn ) to reflect his plans for network expansion. By 1896 the lines Chur–Landquart and Chur–Thusis were operated. In 1897, a referendum was held for the Rhaetian Railway to bid on operations of the Graubünden/Grisons State Railways. This was followed by the Albula line in 1903 and the series of expansion projects carried on until 1922. In 1903 the Album line reached Celerina , and in 1904 also St.Moritz

4230-447: The Rhaetian Railway was used as the prototype for the Nord Express in the 20th Century Fox animated motion picture Anastasia . Not only was the Rhaetian Railway featured in the film, but several landmarks were also included: the Landwasser Viaduct and a 1912 Mittelthurgau-Bahn Ec 3/5 Class 2-6-2 tank locomotive No. 3 with an added tender. This 1912 locomotive was portrayed as a Russian continental steam locomotive (fictional). It

4320-432: The Swiss Italian -speaking town of Poschiavo (1,014 m [3,327 ft]). The train then follows the course of the Poschiavino and stops at Le Prese (964 m [3,163 ft]) and Miralago (965 m [3,166 ft]), both on Lake Poschiavo 's shore. After Miralago it continues its descent toward Brusio (780 m [2,560 ft]), where it passes the spiral Brusio Viaduct . Shortly after

4410-481: The Western Alps and were affected by Neogene Period thin-skinned thrusting whereas the Eastern Alps have comparatively few high peaked massifs. Similarly the peaks in eastern Switzerland extending to western Austria (Helvetic nappes) consist of thin-skinned sedimentary folding that detached from former basement rock. In simple terms, the structure of the Alps consists of layers of rock of European, African, and oceanic (Tethyan) origin. The bottom nappe structure

4500-525: The alps is the Col de l'Iseran in Savoy (France) at 2,770 m (9,088 ft), followed by the Stelvio Pass in northern Italy at 2,756 m (9,042 ft); the road was built in the 1820s. The Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) has defined a list of 82 "official" Alpine summits that reach at least 4,000 m (13,123 ft). The list includes not only mountains, but also subpeaks with little prominence that are considered important mountaineering objectives. Below are listed

4590-405: The centerpiece of the Klosters bypass road. Just south of Klosters Platz, the tracks cross the river the last time and come to two tunnels. One of these is for the Vereina line (see below). The other, the Klosters loop tunnel , takes the Davos line through a 90-degree loop towards the west. The line to Davos begins to climb at 4.5% gradient and then loops 180 degrees back towards the east, inside

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4680-744: The central and western portions. The variances in nomenclature in the region spanned by the Alps make classification of the mountains and subregions difficult, but a general classification is that of the Eastern Alps and Western Alps with the divide between the two occurring in eastern Switzerland according to geologist Stefan Schmid, near the Splügen Pass . The highest peaks of the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, respectively, are Mont Blanc, at 4,810 m (15,780 ft), and Piz Bernina , at 4,049 m (13,284 ft). The second-highest major peaks are Monte Rosa , at 4,634 m (15,203 ft), and Ortler , at 3,905 m (12,810 ft), respectively. A series of lower mountain ranges run parallel to

4770-402: The company's main workshop, and topologically as the 0 kilometre point of the company's core network. The Landquart-Davos line is the oldest in the Rhaetian Railway network. After leaving Landquart, the line to Davos generally follows the river Landquart upstream as far as Klosters Platz . Along the way, it crosses the river three times and passes by the award-winning Sunniberg Bridge ,

4860-420: The course of the Rhine to Bonaduz (655 m or 2,149 ft). From there, it enters the Domleschg Valley and follows the Posterior Rhine from Rhäzüns (658 m or 2,159 ft) to Thusis (697 m or 2,287 ft). This line begins in Thusis (elevation 697 m [2,287 ft]). It continues toward Tiefencastel (851 m [2,792 ft]) following the Albula and then crosses

4950-424: The dominant industry by the end of the century. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. The English word Alps comes from the Latin Alpes . The Latin word Alpes could possibly come from the adjective albus ("white"), or could possibly come from

5040-404: The end of the Mesozoic and continues into the present. The formation of the Alps was a segment of this orogenic process, caused by the collision between the African and the Eurasian plates that began in the late Cretaceous Period. Under extreme compressive stresses and pressure, marine sedimentary rocks were uplifted, forming characteristic recumbent folds , and thrust faults . As

5130-495: The end of the golden age of alpinism . Karl Blodig (1859–1956) was among the first to successfully climb all the major 4,000 m peaks. He completed his series of ascents in 1911. Many of the big Alpine three-thousanders were climbed in the early 19th century, notably the Grossglockner (1800) and the Ortler (1804), although some of them were climbed only much later, such at Mont Pelvoux (1848), Monte Viso (1861) and La Meije (1877). The first British Mont Blanc ascent by

5220-425: The existing tunnel, or the construction of a new bore to modern standards. As a result of this inquiry, RhB decided to build a new tunnel. Construction began in 2015, with the new tunnel opening in 2022 and the project completed including refurbishment of the old tunnel in 2023. The Reichenau to Disentis/Mustér line links the rest of the Rhaetian Railway network with the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn . It branches from

5310-402: The highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe , stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco , France , Switzerland , Italy , Liechtenstein , Germany , Austria and Slovenia . The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of

5400-413: The line ran on a separate electric system to the remainder of the network until 1997. Before then it was 2400 V DC - now it is 11 kV 16.7 Hz AC . The gauge has always been 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) as per the rest of the RhB network. It is a single track railway, with the exception of a short double track section along Engadinstrasse in Chur, with

5490-480: The line reaches Cavaglia (1,693 m [5,554 ft]) above Val Poschiavo ; after that, the line descends across the valley towards the Swiss Italian -speaking town of Poschiavo (1,014 m [3,327 ft]). After Poschiavo, the line runs next to Lago Poschiavo and calls at Le Prese (964 m [3,163 ft]) and Miralago (965 m [3,166 ft]). The descent continues towards Brusio (780 m [2,560 ft]), after which

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5580-399: The line runs across the famous spiral bridge, Brusio Viaduct . After the spiral bridge, the line passes through the Swiss border town of Campocologno (553 m [1,814 ft]) before entering Italy at Tirano RhB station (430 m [1,410 ft]). The 25.68-kilometre (15.96 mi) railway line from Chur to Arosa is known as the Arosabahn (or Arosa-Bahn ), and

5670-417: The line to Thusis behind the shared Rhine bridge. The line, which was opened progressively between 1903 and 1912, has been electrified since 1922. In contrast with the accompanying road, which rises about 500 m (1,600 ft) towards Flims and Laax , the railway to Disentis/Mustér runs slowly up the narrow " Ruinaulta gorge ". On this part of the line, its associated engineering structures dominate

5760-410: The line to serve industry in the Vorderrhein area and supplied cement for the construction of the normal gauge Gotthard Base Tunnel with train IDs starting with 5. Usually three pairs of trains serve Disentis/Mustér with a Ge 6/6 II and a few additional trains go only to Ilanz with a Ge 4/4 II. This line, which runs up the Engadin valley, was constructed in two stages. The Samedan–Pontresina section

5850-409: The line's summit at 2,253 m (7,392 ft) above sea and holds the title of the highest point of the entire Rhetian Railway network and among all adhesion railways in Europe. Alp Grüm (2,091 m [6,860 ft]) is the first station to the immediate south of the summit. It is situated above Lago Palü and right below Piz Palü and Palü Glacier . After negotiating many hairpin turns ,

5940-407: The main chain of the Alps, including the French Prealps in France and the Jura Mountains in Switzerland and France. The secondary chain of the Alps follows the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald , passing over many of the highest and most well-known peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the northwest and then, near

6030-453: The main railway station, where that station's platforms for the Arosabahn are, though there is a second stop in Chur only 760 m (2,490 ft) from the main station. A 5 km (3.1 mi) tunnel through the Mittenberg had been planned as an alternative route for the lower section of the line, avoiding running through the centre of Chur. This plan was finally dropped in 1996 as the considerable expense could not be justified. Currently

6120-419: The mountains in which a valley leads from the plains and hilly pre-mountainous zones. In the medieval period hospices were established by religious orders at the summits of many of the main passes. The most important passes are the Col de l'Iseran (the highest), the Col Agnel , the Brenner Pass , the Mont-Cenis , the Great St. Bernard Pass , the Col de Tende , the Gotthard Pass , the Semmering Pass ,

6210-551: The normal passenger coaches and the panoramic coaches used for the branded Bernina Express tourist services, the railway attaches to the back of trains, according to need: The RhB is 51.3% owned by the Cantonal government of Graubünden, 43.1% by the Swiss Confederation, 4.6% by private shareholders and 1% by a collection of local communities. The RhB has its headquarters at Bahnhofstrasse 25, Chur . 46°51′06″N 9°31′57″E  /  46.8517°N 9.5325°E  / 46.8517; 9.5325  ( RhB HQ ) In 1997,

6300-407: The orogenic events that affected them. The geological subdivision differentiates the Western, Eastern Alps, and Southern Alps: the Helveticum in the north, the Penninicum and Austroalpine system in the centre and, south of the Periadriatic Seam, the Southern Alpine system . According to geologist Stefan Schmid, because the Western Alps underwent a metamorphic event in the Cenozoic Era while

6390-421: The otherwise pristine natural landscape. At Ilanz , the railway line and road merge paths once again. Their combined pathways then rise slowly and evenly to Disentis/Mustér. The main traffic on the Reichenau–Disentis/Mustér line is RegioExpress passenger trains operating at hourly intervals. Several times a day, there are Glacier Express trains in each direction. Timetabled goods trains also operate on

6480-620: The range's area), Italy (27.2%), France (21.4%), Switzerland (13.2%), Germany (5.8%), Slovenia (3.6%), Liechtenstein (0.08%) and Monaco (0.001%). The highest portion of the range is divided by the glacial trough of the Rhône valley, from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa on the southern side, and the Bernese Alps on the northern. The peaks in the easterly portion of the range, in Austria and Slovenia, are smaller than those in

6570-413: The rising peaks underwent erosion, a layer of marine flysch sediments was deposited in the foreland basin , and the sediments became involved in younger folds as the orogeny progressed. Coarse sediments from the continual uplift and erosion were later deposited in foreland areas north of the Alps. These regions in Switzerland and Bavaria are well-developed, containing classic examples of flysch , which

6660-522: The rock formations of the Alps in the 18th century. In the mid-19th century, the now-defunct idea of geosynclines was used to explain the presence of "folded" mountain chains. This theory was replaced in the mid-20th century by the theory of plate tectonics . The formation of the Alps (the Alpine orogeny ) was an episodic process that began about 300 million years ago. In the Paleozoic Era

6750-752: The summer months and where huts and hay barns can be found, sometimes constituting tiny hamlets. Therefore, the term "the Alps", as a reference to the mountains, is a misnomer. The term for the mountain peaks varies by nation and language: words such as Horn , Kogel , Kopf , Gipfel , Spitze , Stock , and Berg are used in German-speaking regions; Mont , Pic , Tête , Pointe , Dent , Roche , and Aiguille in French-speaking regions; and Monte , Picco , Corno , Punta , Pizzo , or Cima in Italian-speaking regions. The Alps are

6840-598: The summit at the Ospizio Bernina station at 2,253 m (7,392 ft) above Lago Bianco . Alp Grüm (2,091 m [6,860 ft]) is the first station south of the Alps , situated above Lago Palü and right below Piz Palü (3,900 m [12,800 ft]+) and its glacier . After many hairpin turns the train reaches Cavaglia (1,693 m [5,554 ft]) above the Val Poschiavo , then

6930-980: The train continues with few stops to Tirano. During autumn, winter and spring, the Bernina Express comprises several cars that are attached to regional services. From Chur to Samedan, they are part of a RegioExpress train Chur – St. Moritz; from Samedan to Pontresina, they are part of a Regio train Scuol-Tarasp – Pontresina; from Pontresina to Tirano, they are part of a Regio train from St. Moritz – Tirano. Each of these Bernina Express trains includes designated carriages for passengers with only regional train tickets. 46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E  /  46.40889°N 10.01972°E  / 46.40889; 10.01972 Rhaetian Railway 46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E  /  46.40889°N 10.01972°E  / 46.40889; 10.01972 The Rhaetian Railway ( German : Rhätische Bahn ; Italian : Ferrovia retica ; Romansh : Viafier retica ), abbreviated RhB ,

7020-517: The train enters the Albula Tunnel at 1,815 m (5,955 ft) under the Albula Pass . It emerges in the Val Bever, where it reaches Bever (1,708 m [5,604 ft]) on the Engadin plain. The train continues toward Samedan (1,721 m [5,646 ft]) and arrives at the Pontresina station (1,774 m [5,820 ft]) in the Val Bernina (Bernina Valley). The train leaves Pontresina and ascends progressively through

7110-413: The train passes its first spiral tunnel and continues to Bergün/Bravuogn . Between Bergün/Bravuogn (1,373 m [4,505 ft]) and Preda (1,789 m [5,869 ft]), at the end of the valley, the train has to achieve a difference in height of about 400 m (1,300 ft) with an horizontal distance of 5 km (3.1 mi) without using rack-and-pinion , but with many spirals. Then

7200-423: The train service (Regio) R4 provides the passenger service on the line and is shown as timetable 930 in the Swiss national timetables. It is well used by tourists coming to and from the resort at Arosa. The line also carries a substantial amount of freight. This line is not connected to the others. It opened in 1907 and was owned by the Rhaetian Railway between 1942 and 2003. Passenger services ceased in 1972, but

7290-616: The valley to the Bernina Pass over the Morteratsch station (1,896 m [6,220 ft]) (with the Morteratsch Glacier and Piz Bernina , the highest summit of the Eastern Alps , in sight). After Morteratsch, the line runs towards Bernina Diavolezza (2,093 m [6,867 ft]), where an aerial tramway leads to Diavolezza , and Ospizio Bernina station. This station, next to Lago Bianco , stands at

7380-510: The valley to the Bernina Pass over the Morteratsch station (1,896 m [6,220 ft]), where the glacier and the highest summit of the Eastern Alps , Piz Bernina (4,093 m [13,428 ft]) are visible. Before arriving at the Bernina Pass , the train stops at Bernina Diavolezza (2,093 m [6,867 ft]) for cable-car connections to Diavolezza (2,921 m [9,583 ft]). The Bernina Express reaches

7470-539: The various orogenies including exposures of basement rock. Due to the ever-present geologic instability, earthquakes continue in the Alps to this day. Typically, the largest earthquakes in the alps have been between magnitude 6 and 7 on the Richter scale. Geodetic measurements show ongoing topographic uplift at rates of up to about 2.5 mm per year in the North, Western and Central Alps, and at ~1 mm per year in

7560-548: The west in the Bernese Oberland. Because of his work he came to be known as the "father of the ice-age concept" although other naturalists before him put forth similar ideas. Agassiz studied glacier movement in the 1840s at the Unteraar Glacier where he found the glacier moved 100 m (328 ft) per year, more rapidly in the middle than at the edges. His work was continued by other scientists and now

7650-450: Was able to be served. During the years 1907 to 1910, the Rhaetian Railway, in collaboration with the federal and cantonal governments, undertook a large-scale expansion of its network. All RhB lines are 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge wide and electrified: The network contains 84 tunnels (the longest being the 19.042-kilometre (11.832 mi) Vereina Tunnel , opened on 19 November 1999, and

7740-402: Was announced that an examination of the Albula Tunnel conducted in 2006 had found major degradation of the tunnel, with over 60% of the lining in need of replacement. Furthermore, the bores are small by modern standards, and cabling, signalling and drainage all need replacement. As a result, it was announced that an inquiry would decide between two options for action: a comprehensive renewal of

7830-460: Was built between 1908 and 1910 and operated independently until the 1940s, when it was acquired by the Rhaetian Railway. The Bernina Express uses gradients of 7 % to negotiate the difference in height of about 1,800 m (5,900 ft) from the summit at Ospizio Bernina to Tirano. The train leaves the city of Chur (585 m [1,919 ft]) in Graubünden and follows the course of

7920-645: Was modified with the smoke deflectors and the smoke-box door from a Danish State Railways Class R 963. The locomotive's fictitious number being used in the movie was 2747, as this was a reference to the address of the Fox Animation Studios on East Camelback Road in Phoenix, Arizona . The Landwasser Viaduct was portrayed as a tall, 4-storey viaduct in Poland as a type of Roman aqueducts . Alps The Alps ( / æ l p s / ) are one of

8010-484: Was occasionally used as a name for Scotland , although it is more likely derived from the Latin word albus , the colour white. In modern languages the term alp , alm , albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a high mountain pasture, typically near or above the tree line , where cows and other livestock are taken to be grazed during

8100-483: Was opened on by the Rhaetian Railway on 1 July 1908, simultaneously with the Pontresina– Morteratsch section, which formed part of the then-independent Bernina Railway. The actual Engadine line , between Bever and Scuol-Tarasp , was opened on 1 July 1913, and was the first Rhaetian Railway line to be electrified from the start at 11 kV 16⅔ Hz AC . Since the opening of the Engadin line, Pontresina has been

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