Glacier Express

What it is

The Glacier Express links Zermatt and St Moritz on standard passenger track, taking about eight hours to cross Switzerland and trading on a reputation as the slowest express train in the world. It is a joint venture of Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB) and Rhaetian Railway (RhB), run in dedicated panoramic cars with large windows for the length of the route. The train has operated year round since the Furka Base Tunnel opened in 1982; before that the line was not a single continuous winter service, since the old route over the Furka Pass closed with the snow.

Why this line

1. The train tops out at 2033 m on the Oberalp Pass, a figure confirmed on the operator’s own route page.
2. No official total distance is published by Glacier Express AG. Tourism sites commonly cite a figure of 290 to 300 km, but that is not an operator number and is not printed here as fact.
3. It runs on standard passenger track for its whole length, shared with regular trains, unlike some other named Alpine lines that use dedicated tourist rolling stock or a rack system.
4. The Furka Base Tunnel, opened in 1982, is what turned the route from a summer only journey into a year round service.
5. It runs all year, with winter runs adding snow covered scenery over the same route as the summer timetable.

Practical

Seat reservation is compulsory in the panoramic cars and is booked through glacierexpress.ch. This site does not print train fares; check the booking page directly for the current reservation cost before travelling. With a route this long the best views change several times over the crossing, so no single side holds an advantage for the whole journey.

Gateways on the line

Zermatt is the western terminus, a car free resort reached by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn and the gateway to the Matterhorn. Brig and Andermatt sit at the midpoint around the Furka Base Tunnel, with Andermatt also the junction for trains south towards the Gotthard. Disentis and Muster mark the changeover onto Rhaetian Railway metals for the eastern half of the route. Chur is the main junction before the final climb to St Moritz, the eastern terminus and also the southern end of the Bernina Express, so a traveller who wants both named lines in one trip can change there without a long wait.