The Albula Railway is a single track metre gauge railway line forming part of the so-called core network of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It links Thusis on the Hinterrhein at 697 m (2,287 ft) and Filisur at 1,080 m (3,540 ft) with the spa resort of St. Moritz in Engadine at 1,774 m (5,820 ft).

Construction of the Albula Railway was begun in September 1898, the opening took place on 1 July 1903, and the extension to St. Moritz commenced operations on 10 July 1904. With its 55 bridges and 39 tunnels, the 61.67-kilometre long (38.32 mi) line is one of the most spectacular narrow gauge railways in the world.

On 7 July 2008, the Albula Railway and the Bernina Railway, which also forms part of the RhB, were jointly recorded in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, under the name Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes.

The best known trains operating on the Albula Railway are the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express.

The Albula Railway begins in Thusis, where it connects with the Landquart-Chur railway, built in 1896. Behind Thusis station, the line crosses the Hinterrhein, as well as the A 13 Autobahn, and enters the Albula Valley, which, east of Thusis, is known as the Schinschlucht. Even at this early stage, it passes many bridges and tunnels. After Solis station, 8 km (5.0 mi) from Thusis, the line crosses the Albula for the first time, on the 89 m (292 ft) high Solis Viaduct, which is both the highest bridge on the Rhaetian Railway, and the broadest span viaduct on the Albula Railway.


Some of the new Panorama cars, introduced in 2006, on the Landwasser Viaduct near Filisur Between Tiefencastel and Filisur, the train crosses the 35 m (115 ft) m high and 137 m (449 ft) long Schmittentobel Viaduct. Shortly before Filisur, it reaches one of the trademarks of the Albula Railway - and often also the Rhaetian Railway in general - the 65 m (213 ft) high Landwasser Viaduct, which in a curve of only 100 m (330 ft) radius leads directly into a tunnel through the cliff face at the opposite end.

свернуть