FREE UK Rail
Glacier Express
Known as the 'Orient Express of the Alps', the Glacier Express is famed for being the slowest 'express' train in the world.
Also known as the 'Orient Express of the Alps', the Glacier Express is famed for being the slowest 'express' train in the world. Linking Brig with Chur, the train makes its way across literally hundreds of bridges and viaducts, as well as over 90 tunnels, along its route.
One of the highlights of the journey comes when the train climbs the 6,669 foot Oberalp Pass. It uses cogwheels in the steepest places. You can see green valleys, picturesque villages, the high Alpine lake on the Oberalp Pass, and the Matterhorn. The Glacier Express train made its first journey in 1930. Services were suspended from 1943-1946 due to the Second World War. The line only ran seasonally due to the adverse weather conditions, until the completion of the Furka Tunnel in 1982. Since then, it has run year-round excursions.
