Aerial panorama of the Gornergrat 170622

The Gornergrat Railway (; GGB) is a mountain

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

, located in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

. It links the resort village of Zermatt, situated at

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

, to the summit of the

Gornergrat The Gornergrat (; ) is a rocky ridge of the Pennine Alps, overlooking the Gorner Glacier south-east of Zermatt in Switzerland. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat rack railway (GGB), the highest open-air railway in Europe. Betwee ...

. The

Gornergrat railway station Gornergrat is the upper terminal railway station of the Gornergrat railway, a rack railway which links it with the Zermatt, resort of Zermatt. The station is situated at the summit of the Gornergrat, in the Switzerland, Swiss Zermatt, municipalit ...

is situated at an altitude of , which makes the Gornergrat Railway the second highest railway in Europe after the

Jungfrau The Jungfrau (, , , "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönc ...

, and the highest open-air railway of the continent. The line opened in 1898, and was the first electric rack railway to be built in Switzerland. The Gornergrat is a starting point for many hikes, as it lies surrounded by 29 peaks rising above in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and several glaciers, including the

Gorner Glacier The Gorner Glacier () is a valley glacier found on the west side of the Monte Rosa massif close to Zermatt in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is about long (2014) and wide. The entire glacial area of the glacier related to Gorner Glacier ...

(which is billed as the second longest glacier in the Alps). At the end of the line on Gornergrat, the

Matterhorn The , ; ; ; or ; ; . is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the Main chain of the Alps, main watershed and border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, ...

is visible on a clear day. It is also a popular

skiing area A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North A ...

. The Gornergrat Railway Ltd (''Gornergrat Bahn AG'') is a wholly owned subsidiary of ''BVZ Holdings AG'', who are also the majority owners of the '' Matterhorn Gotthard Verkehrs AG'', the company that operates the

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn is a narrow gauge railway line and a railway company (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG, MGB) in Switzerland. The track width is . It was created in 2003 through an amalgamation of Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) and BVZ Zermatt ...

(MGB), with which the GGB connects in Zermatt.

History

Work on the railway started in 1896, five years after the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn had linked Zermatt to

Visp Visp (; ; ) is the capital of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Geography Visp lies in the Rhône valley, at the confluence of the Vispa and the Rhône, west of Brig-Glis. Visp has an area, , of . Of this a ...

and the Rhone Valley. The line opened on August 20, 1898, and was electrified from the start. Initially it operated only in summer, but year-round operation was extended to the lower section of the line in 1929, and to the summit in 1941. The Gornegrat Railway was the highest railway in Europe until the opening of the

Jungfrau Railway The Jungfrau Railway (, , JB) is a mountain rack railway in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. It is the highest railway in Switzerland and Europe, ru ...

in 1912. The upper terminal was remodelled in 2004.

Operation

Route

There are several passenger stops on the line: There are also freight-only stations at Ladegleis Findelbach, which is on a short branch from the passenger station at Findelbach, and at Riffelboden, which is situated between Riffelalp and Riffelberg passenger stations.

Infrastructure

The line is in length, including of double track, and traverses an altitude difference of . It is built to

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

() and uses the

Abt rack system A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with t ...

throughout. It is one of four lines in the world using

three-phase electric power Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system employing three wires (or four including an optional n ...

, requiring two overhead conductors, with the track forming the third conductor. There is a non-powered connection with the

at Zermatt to allow transfer of freight and delivery of rolling stock.

Rolling stock

The line uses the following rolling stock: The railway typically operates two-railcar trains, and can carry approximately 2,500 people per hour from Zermatt to the mountain summit.

Gallery

File:Riffelberg.jpg, Above Riffelberg File:Gornergrat03.jpg, Summit station; the train has two pantographs for the three-phase power-supply File:Riffelalp.jpg, Riffelalp intermediate station. In the left, beside

station building A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger railway station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers. A station building is a component of a station, which can include tracks, ...

, the track of the ''

Riffelalptram The Riffelalp tram (, RiT) is a high altitude tramway line located in the Swiss canton of Valais near the resort of Zermatt. The line links the Riffelalp Resort to Riffelalp station, on the Gornergrat railway, and via that line to Zermatt and b ...

'' File:2012-08-17 11-27-08 Switzerland Canton du Valais Blatten.JPG, Gornergrat station building File:Above_Rotenboden.JPG, Above Rotenboden File:Лето-2009 954.jpg, Switch point File:Map Gornergratbahn.png, Map of the railway

References

External links

Gornergrat Bahn website
(English version) {{Authority control Railway lines in Switzerland Metre-gauge railways in Switzerland Mountain railways Railway companies of Switzerland Railway lines opened in 1898 Railways using three-phase power Rack railways in Switzerland Electric railways in Switzerland Transport in Zermatt 1898 establishments in Switzerland