Glacier Express

From Zermatt at 1,616 m (5,302 ft) below the Matterhorn, the Glacier Express descends the Mattertal valley to Brig in the Rhone valley, then climbs back through the Goms valley toward the 15.407-km (9.57 mi) Furka Base Tunnel and emerges in the canton of Uri. Andermatt at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) is the principal mid-route stop. After Andermatt the line ascends to the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 m (6,670 ft) — the journey''s high point — and drops along the upper Rhine to the Romansh-speaking municipality of Disentis/Mustér.

From Disentis the train follows the Vorderrhein through the Ruinaulta gorge — sometimes called the Swiss Grand Canyon — to Chur (585 m / 1,919 ft), the lowest point of the journey and the oldest continuously inhabited city in Switzerland. East of Chur the route enters UNESCO-listed territory: the Albula Line, opened in 1903 and inscribed in 2008, with its signature Solis Viaduct (89 m / 292 ft high, 11 limestone arches) and the curved 65-metre-high (213 ft) Landwasser Viaduct, designed by Alexander Acatos and built 1901–1902 by Müller & Zeerleder. Between Preda and Bergün/Bravuogn the line absorbs 400 metres (1,300 ft) of altitude in five kilometres (3.1 mi) via three spiral and two helical tunnels.

The fleet is entirely electric, drawing 11 kV at 16⅔ Hz on 1,000-mm metre-gauge track shared with local services. Panoramic carriages with floor-to-ceiling glazing arrived in 1993 and were refurbished by 2021 with a six-language audio guide; the Excellence Class, launched in winter 2019, caps each carriage at 20 passengers with a concierge, a gold-plated revolving compass dome over the Glacier Bar, and an included five-course menu paired with regional wines. Signature on-board details — the tilting wine glass, designed in the 1980s to compensate for the 12.5% maximum gradient — are sold as souvenirs at every station shop.

The Glacier Express is the only one-seat ride between two of the most photographed mountain resorts on earth: Zermatt at the foot of the 4,478-metre (14,692 ft) Matterhorn and St. Moritz, the highest urban railway terminus in Switzerland at 1,775 metres (5,823 ft). It threads two UNESCO sections — the Albula and Bernina lines, jointly inscribed on 7 July 2008 — and crosses the 65-metre-high Landwasser Viaduct that drops directly into a tunnel on a 100-metre-radius curve. The "slowest express train in the world" tagline (the train averages 42 km/h or 26 mph on a journey covered by direct local trains in roughly four hours) was launched as marketing for the 1982 relaunch and stuck because it accurately describes a deliberately scenic crossing — every detour, spiral and helical tunnel exists to keep the line below the gradient limits a regular alpine cogwheel railway would otherwise need.

Boarding is at fixed stations only — Zermatt, Brig, Andermatt, Chur, Filisur, Samedan or St. Moritz — with mandatory seat reservation (CHF 54 in 1st/2nd class, CHF 540 in Excellence Class) on top of the route ticket. The carriages keep their direction of travel through the journey, but the train reverses on certain track sections, so forward-facing seats cannot be guaranteed for the full eight hours. Meals are pre-ordered at booking and served at-seat in 1st and 2nd class; Excellence Class includes its full five-course menu and wine pairing. Six-language headphones at every seat narrate the route landmarks live, and Wi-Fi is available with on-board infotainment accessible via smartphone. Dogs are not allowed (registered guide dogs excepted), no smoking is permitted on board, and ski equipment, golf bags, oversized luggage and bicycles are not transported — Jaisli Mobility Service handles luggage transfers between any two Swiss addresses for individual travellers.

The first Glacier Express train left Zermatt on 25 June 1930 at 07:30, jointly operated by the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (VZ), Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) and Rhätische Bahn (RhB). Until 1982 the line shut down every winter because the open-air Furka Pass and Oberalp Pass were buried in snow; through coaches were attached to local trains between Brig and Zermatt, and the dining car ran only between Chur and Disentis until being extended progressively to the Oberalp summit by 1948. Two infrastructure milestones reshaped the service. The 15.407-km Furka Base Tunnel, opened on 26 June 1982 after eleven years of construction, enabled year-round operation and pushed annual ridership from 20,000 in 1982 to 80,000 by 1984. Panoramic carriages introduced in 1993 took ridership past a quarter-million by 1994. Glacier Express AG was incorporated in 2017 with headquarters in Andermatt and 50% ownership each by RhB and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB, itself the 2003 merger of BVZ and FO). Excellence Class launched in winter 2019, and refurbishment of all panoramic carriages completed in 2021.

Three structures define the route. The Landwasser Viaduct between Schmitten and Filisur is a single-track six-arched limestone curve, 65 m (213 ft) high and 142 m (466 ft) long with a 100-metre-radius minimum (the tightest on the entire railway), opened October 1902 after roughly 18 months of scaffold-free construction using two cranes. The Solis Viaduct east of the hamlet of Solis spans the Albula river with eleven limestone arches; its 42-metre central span carries the line at 89 m (292 ft) above the gorge. It was designed by Hans Studer and built in 1902 by Munari, Cayre und Marasi. The Furka Base Tunnel — 15,407 m (50,548 ft) long with portals at Oberwald (1,390 m) and Realp (1,550 m) — was excavated between 1971 and 1982 with shotcrete-and-rock-bolt permanent support and pioneered polyurethane-grouted rock impermeabilisation in railway tunnelling. Gradients on the line peak at 12.5%, requiring the 23.9 km of Abt-system rack-and-pinion track to manage descents, and between Preda and Bergün the line wraps three spiral and two helical tunnels around six high viaducts to overcome 400 metres of altitude in five kilometres of map distance.

Late June through September delivers the longest daylight, snow-free passes and lake reflections in the Engadin — peak demand makes Excellence Class booking essential several months in advance. December to April runs reduced frequency on the winter timetable and exchanges green meadows for snow-frosted pine forests and the 2,033-metre Oberalp Pass under deep snow; the train operates on full schedule even in heavy weather thanks to the Furka Base Tunnel. The annual maintenance break runs from approximately mid-October (10 October in 2026) to early December (4 December in 2026) — the line does not run at all during these weeks. May and October at the timetable''s edges combine smaller crowds with clearer photography light, and the late-September larch turn in the Surselva and Engadin valleys is a genuine spectacle. Avoid mid-week public holidays in Switzerland or southern Germany if you want consistent open seats in 1st and 2nd class within the 93-day reservation window.

Book seat reservations on glacierexpress.ch the moment they open (93 days out for 1st/2nd class; immediately for Excellence Class, which is sold for the full timetable period). Swiss Travel Pass, Eurail Pass, Interrail Pass, Half-Fare Travelcard and GA travelcard cover the ticket portion — only the seat reservation surcharge remains payable, and 1st-class travel still requires a 1st-class travel card. Pre-order meals at booking time: kitchens have limited capacity once underway. Bring a polarising filter to cut window glare; entrance-door windows can be opened for clear photographs since the 2021 refurbishment. The train reverses direction at certain stations, so seat orientation cannot be reserved. On-board payment is cashless only (Maestro, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Postcard and Twint). Pack one cabin-sized bag at most — racks at carriage ends are limited; ski luggage, golf bags and bicycles are simply not accepted on board, and Jaisli Mobility Service moves bags between any two Swiss addresses for individual travellers.