Rhätische Bahn

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About Rhätische Bahn

The RhB (Rhaetian Railway / Rhätische Bahn (German) / Ferrovia Retica (Italian) / Viafier Retica (Romansh) has the largest network of all the private railways in Switzerland. The company operates most of the railways in the south-easternmost canton of Graubünden (Italian: Grigioni, Romansh: Grischun, French/English: Grisons) since the Federal Railways SBB-CFF-FFS extend only a few kilometres over the cantonal border to the capital at Chur.

RhB serves the major tourist centre of St Moritz and Davos, and one of the lines, the Berninabahn, crosses the Bernina Pass to the Italian border and on to Tirano, where there is a link to the Italian railways.

In 2008 the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

In 2009 it 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 from two options a course action; either comprehensive renewal of the existing tunnel or the construction of a new bore to modern standards. In any case, after assessments and financing, which could be potentially complicated due to the split ownership of the tunnel, no construction will start until 2011 no matter what is decided.

The Bernina Express is an express train which connects Chur (or Davos) to Poschiavo and Tirano, Italy crossing the Swiss Alps from north to south, using the Albula / Bernina Line.

The train is operated by the Rhaetian Railway, it is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train but rather in the sense that it provides a one-seat ride for a long duration travel. The Bernina Express itself is a train composed of panoramic coaches with a piped multi-lingual commentary, and a small supplement and seat reservation is needed in order to travel on this train. The Bernina Express is popular with tourists, and connects in Tirano with the Post Bus service to Lugano.

The trip on the Bernina Express is a 4 hour railway journey across 196 bridges, through 55 tunnels and across the Bernina Pass on the highest point at 2,253 metres in altitude. The entire line is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) (metre gauge).

The Bernina Railway built the line from 1908-1910 and operated independently until the 1940s. The Bernina Express uses gradients of 7% to achieve a difference in height of about 1800 meters from the summit at Ospizio Bernina to Tirano.


(WIKIPEDIA 2009)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaetian_Railway