Bernina railway line

Coordinates: 46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E / 46.40889°N 10.01972°E / 46.40889; 10.01972
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Bernina railway
)
Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes
Graubünden, Switzerland
Part ofRhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes
CriteriaCultural: (ii), (iv)
Reference1276
Inscription2008 (32nd Session)
Coordinates46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E / 46.40889°N 10.01972°E / 46.40889; 10.01972
Bernina railway line is located in Canton of Grisons
Bernina railway line
Location of Bernina railway line in Canton of Grisons
Bernina railway line is located in Switzerland
Bernina railway line

The Bernina railway line (

Graubünden, Switzerland, with the town of Tirano, in the Province of Sondrio, Italy, via the Bernina Pass. Reaching a height of 2,253 metres (7,392 ft) above sea level, it is the third highest railway crossing in Europe and the third-highest railway in Switzerland. It also ranks as the highest adhesion railway of the continent, and – with inclines
of up to 7% – as one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world. The elevation difference on the section between the Bernina Pass and Tirano is 1,824 m (5,984 ft), allowing passengers to view glaciers along the line.

On 7 July 2008, the Bernina line and the

UNESCO World Heritage Sites, under the name Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina
Landscapes. The whole site is a cross-border joint Swiss-Italian heritage area.

Trains operating on the Bernina line include the Bernina Express.

History

Bernina railway line
Overhead catenary,
1,000 V DC
Highest elevation2,253 m (7,392 ft)
above sea level
Maximum incline7%
Route map

Legend
km
elev (M)
or length (m)
in metres
0.000
 St. Moritz
1,775 M
Albula Railway to Thusis
Inn viaduct
64 m
Charnadüra II
689 m
2.028
 Celerina Staz
1,716 M
3.509
 Punt Muragl Staz
1,728 M
Muottas-Muragl-Bahn
Samedan–Pontresina railway
to Samedan
5.788
 Pontresina
1,774 M
7.257
 Surovas
1,822 M
12.165
 Morteratsch
1,896 M
Montebello Curve
15.716
 Bernina Suot
2,046 M
16.800
 Bernina Diavolezza
2,082 M
aerial cable car to Diavolezza
17.866
 Bernina Lagalb
2,099 M
aerial cable car to Lagalb
Lower Berninabach bridge
37 m
Upper Berninabach bridge
31 m
Profile error +357 m
Alp Bondo track laying
Arlas gallery
175 m
22.324
 Ospizio Bernina
2,253 M
Scala gallery
140 m
Profile error −216 m
Scala track laying
Sassal Mason gallery I
16 m
Scala
192 m
Sassal Mason gallery II
348 m
Drago
54 m
Sassal Mason gallery III
20 m
Grüm gallery
264 m
27.086
 Alp Grüm
2,091 M
Upper Palü gallery
239 m
Palü
254 m
Lower Palü gallery
347 m
Stablini
289 m
including galleries 334 m
29.505
Stablini passing loop
1,934 M
Upper Pila gallery
213 m
Val Pila
227 m
Lower Pila gallery
125 m
gallery at Pila Viaduct
88 m
33.074
 Cavaglia
1,692 M
Puntalto
46 m
including gallery 56 m
Val Varuna I
149 m
38.179
 Cadera
1,383 M
Val Varuna II
147 m
Cavagliasco I tunnel
daylighted 1968
32 m
Balbalera
122 m
Cavagliasco
20 m
42.020
Privilasco
1,119 M
43.618
 Poschiavo
1,014 M
depot and workshop
45.300
 Li Curt
998 M
47.066
Le Prese (incrocio)
passing loop
973 M
47.957
 Le Prese
965 M
Lago di Poschiavo
50.786
 Miralago
965 M
53.875
 Brusio
780 M
Brusio spiral viaduct
116 m
56.162
 Campascio
637 M
57.336
to freight yard
57.649
 Campocologno
553 M
58.140
Switzerland
Italy
border
530 M
60.688
 Tirano
25.957
 Tirano RFI
standard gauge) to Lecco
Source: Swiss railway atlas[1]
This diagram:
Bernina railway line with the Palü Glacier in the background. Postcard from ca. 1910

In the year following the completion of the

Kraftwerke Brusio AG, the builders of the hydro-electric works, without the aid of cantonal subsidy.[2]

The line opened from 1908 (116 years ago) (1908) onwards, in several sections: on 1 July 1908 between

Bernina Suot
. It was only on 5 July 1910 that the whole line could be opened, upon completion of the most difficult section between Bernina Suot and Poschiavo. The line was electrically operated with DC current from the start. In 1935 the voltage was increased from 750 to 1000 volts.

Originally, the Bernina line was intended for use only in summer, but in 1913/14 the BB commenced winter operations as well. This development was associated with major weather-related problems, necessitating further erection of avalanche barriers.

In the first years of its existence, the BB was always on the verge of bankruptcy. The costs of construction expenditure on the line to 1915 amounted to around 15 million

Swiss francs. Even the introduction of a restaurant car in 1928, and packages for tourists, could not save the little railway company from ruin. Due to its difficult financial situation, it was taken over by the Rhaetian Railway
in 1943.

The RhB modernised the line fundamentally, also for military reasons, and completely renewed the section at the top of the pass. Previously, the line formation on the north ramp of the Bernina Pass had been laid out in curves giving

catenary and the flat bottomed rails of the old formation were removed, but the substructure
is still visible in the high mountains.

Since the mid-1980s, the Rhaetian Railway has been marketing the natural and technical attractions of the Bernina line specifically to tourists. Thus, the section from Pontresina to Tirano forms part of the route of the Bernina Express. In October 2011, it was the first railway line in the world to be photographed and put on Google Street View.[3][4][5]

Description of the railway

St Moritz
station

St Moritz is the terminus of both the

Punt Muragl Staz. At this point is the valley station of Muottas-Muragl-Bahn, the funicular to Muottas Muragl
, opened in 1907.

Pontresina station

The next station in

Tirano
.

At "Montebello Curve" railway crossing

The line now turns to the south east. After crossing the Rosegbach, passing through the

cableways
.

The next section is probably the most interesting on the north side of the pass. Here, the route is very winding, and moves from one side of the valley to the other. First, the Berninabach is crossed, using the 37 m (121 ft) long Lower Berninabach Bridge, and then the line crosses the Arlasbach, a tributary of the Berninabach. On the Upper Berninabach Bridge, the line moves back to the eastern side of the valley. Southwest of here, the

watershed between the Danube and the Po
.

The railway now runs along the eastern bank of the lake, and, near

Poschiavo
is particularly badly affected by drifting snow, countless engineering structures have been erected from the southern dam wall onwards: the 140 m (460 ft) long Scala Gallery, the 192 m (630 ft) long Scala Tunnel, the Sassal Mason Gallery, even longer at 348 m (1,142 ft), and the 54 m (177 ft) long Drago Tunnel.

After the Grüm Gallery, the attractive

Alp Grüm station is reached. It not only is located at the tree line, but also marks the last station before the Italian linguistic border. From here onwards, the line clambers, with a gradient of up to 7%, and via multiple s-bends, downwards into the Poschiavo valley. That this occurs without the assistance of a rack railway
system makes the Bernina line one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world.

Immediately behind the Alp Grüm station, the line winds in a tight 180° bend, and passes below Alp Grüm through the Upper Palü Gallery. In a further 180° bend, it heads through the Palü Tunnel and subsequently through the Lower Palü Gallery. A further four half circle loops follow, until the line reaches the

Poschiavo
it finally meets up once again with the Bernina Pass road.

At the request of the Poschiavo community, the station at Poschiavo was built just outside the village boundaries. It has a railway depot and workshop, in which a few historic railcars of the Bernina line are also stored. The remaining section of line of approximately 17 km (11 mi) to Tirano are laid partially still as a mountain railway, but also partially in the manner of a tramway system. After the stopping point

Poschiavo Lake
, thus remaining at the lake's altitude of 965 m (3,166 ft) above sea level.

Brusio spiral viaduct
Slope diagram of the Bernina line

Below

Campocologno, which is unusually large due to its customs facilities, the line finally reaches Italy, and, after crossing the main square of Tirano, its terminal station. Here, the Bernina line meets the standard gauge station and line of the Italian state rail infrastructure company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), which links Tirano through Valtellina to Milan
.

Rolling stock and traffic

Today, the following classes of railcar and locomotive are used in scheduled commercial services on the Bernina line: fifteen

ABe 8/12I starting service in 2010, to replace the old series of engines, such as four ABe 4/4I and nine ABe 4/4II. Still in service also six ABe 4/4III and two Gem 4/4
that can operate without electrical feeding, thanks their diesel-generator inside (double engine locomotives).

This fleet, consisting of

timber
. Additionally, the regional shopping businesses of the Poschiavo valley are served partly by rail.

The timetable is tightly designed, with year-round services of one

panorama car equipped Bernina Express
and the Trenino Rosso travelling in the opposite direction.

In winter, an old 1913 steam rotary snowplow is regularly in service, but also two electrical rotary snowplows from 1968 and also two modern engines from 2010 are used as well. Their operation is also a tourist attraction that draws in railway enthusiasts from all over the world, especially for the steam one. The two Gem 4/4 assure the shunt of the rotary snowplow.

In connection with the danger of avalanches on the Bernina line, the Rhaetian Railway has developed an unusual procedure for the removal of these high alpine hazards. In late winter, when the risk of avalanche is greatest, artillery is fired at the points of origin of avalanches, to bring some control to their occurrence.

References

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7
    .
  2. ^ "Candidature UNESCO World Heritage - Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina Cultural Landscape" (PDF). Rhaetian Railway. p. 63. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Street View hits the stunning Swiss Alps railways". Google Official Blog. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  4. ^ "Street View Rhaetian Railway". Rhaetian Railway. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  5. ^ "Google Street View on Bernina Railway". Netzwelt (in German). October 19, 2011.

Bibliography

Audio-visual material

  • "Von Pontresina, Oberengadin, nach Bernina Hospiz", Welt-Kinematograph, Freiburg i. Br., Germany 1909 or 1910.
  • "Mit der Berninabahn", Welt-Kinematograph, Freiburg i. Br., Germany 1910.
  • "Le Ferrovie del Bernina", Pasquali e C., Turin, Italy 1911.
  • "The Bernina Railway (Switzerland)", Urbanora, Great Britain 1912.
  • "La Ferrovia del Bernina", Regie: Giovanni Vitrotti, Società Anonima Ambrosio, Turin, Italy 1913.
  • "Europe's Winter Playground", Director: Frederick Burlingham, British & Colonial Kinematograph Company, Great Britain 1913.
  • "Dallo Spluga al Bernina", Luca Comerio, Milan, Italy 1914.
  • "Eine Fahrt mit der Bernina-Bahn (Schweiz)", Sascha-Filmfabrik, Vienna, Austria 1914.
  • The TV program "Die schönsten Bahnstrecken Europas", which was shown on Germany's ARD network (see also Das Erste), included a cab ride on the Bernina line.

Images

  • A Rhaetian Railway train in Tirano.
    A Rhaetian Railway train in Tirano.
  • An RhB Regio train to Tirano between Lagalb and Ospizio Bernina.
    An RhB Regio train to Tirano between Lagalb and Ospizio Bernina.
  • Bernina Express panorama cars in Tirano.
    Bernina Express panorama cars in Tirano.
  • Lei Pitschen in winter.
    Lei Pitschen in winter.
  • Regional train on the Bernina line on the shores of Lake Nero in the Lago Bianco to the Bernina Pass
    Regional train on the Bernina line on the shores of Lake Nero in the Lago Bianco to the Bernina Pass
  • Crossing the upper Berninabach Bridge.
    Crossing the upper Berninabach Bridge.
  • Grüm Galery at Alp Grüm.
    Grüm Galery at Alp Grüm.
  • A down valley train at Poschiavo station.
    A down valley train at Poschiavo station.
  • Rhaetian Railway station in Tirano.
    Rhaetian Railway station in Tirano.
  • ABe 4/4 I 30 and 34 below Alp Grüm.
    ABe 4/4 I 30 and 34 below
    Alp Grüm
    .
  • Hybrid loco Gem 4 / 4 in service at the head of a Regio train to Tirano.
    Hybrid loco Gem 4 / 4 in service at the head of a Regio train to Tirano.
  • Rotary snowplow Xrotd 9213 with dual-mode Gem 4 / 802 4 in action
    Rotary snowplow Xrotd 9213 with dual-mode Gem 4 / 802 4 in action
  • RhB EMUs ABe 4/4 III 55 "Diavolezza" and 54 "Hakone" cross the "Am See Brücke"
    RhB EMUs ABe 4/4 III 55 "Diavolezza" and 54 "Hakone" cross the "Am See Brücke"

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bernina railway.
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