Brig-Visp-Zermatt Railway

Zermatt – Brig
Timetable field :	140: Brig – Visp – Zermatt 141: Täsch – Zermatt 144: ( Glacier Express )
Route length:	43.985 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Electricity system :	11 kV 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	Adhesion 25  ‰ rack 125  ‰
Minimum radius :	80 m
Rack system :	Dept
Legend 0.00 Zermatt 1605.2  m above sea level M. Connecting track to the GGB Schafgrabengalerie 260 m Spissfluhtunnel 36 m Lugelwang Gallery 322 m Schusslaui Gallery 235 m Gallery Schilten / Kalter Boden 729 m 2.90 Crossing point Kalter Boden Täschwanggalerie 637 m Täschsand Bridge 35 m Täschsand crossing point 5.61 Bag 1437.6  m above sea level M. 9.93 Randa 1405.9  m above sea level M. 13.41 Herbriggen 1253.9  m above sea level M. 14.71 Mattsand intersection Mattwald Bridge 31 m Blattbach tunnel 131 m Schwiedernen intersection (from 2017) 19.01 St. Niklaus 1126.7  m above sea level M. Jungbach Gallery 290 m Sellibrücke 75 m 21.98 Kipferwald crossing point Kipfenbrücke 146 m Tschongbach Gallery 115 m 24.21 Kalpetran 896.7  m above sea level M. Faulkinn Bridge II 27 m Faulkinn Bridge I 25 m Faulkinntunnel 20 m Tunnel Unter Mühlebach 90 m Mühlebach Viaduct 67 m Mühlebach tunnel 31 m Merlenbirkentunnel 28 m Lochgraben tunnel 45 m Wet tree tunnel 58 m 27.72 Stalden-Saas 799.4  m above sea level M. Ackersandbrücke 47 m 28.91 Crossing point Ackersand 697.7  m above sea level M. Riti Bridge New bridge Sefinot crossing point (from 2017) 34.32 Vispersand E 62 Former Visp depot 08/35 Visp 650  m above sea level M. Eyholz 40.04 Gamsensand crossing point Chamois Glisergrund depot Saltina bridge 19 m Former property boundary FO / BVZ former Depot Brig (FO) former FO junction to Disentis 43.98 Brig until 2007 terminus station 671.7  m above sea level M. FO to Disentis (since 2007)

The Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn ( BVZ ) - official name from 1991 to 2002 BVZ Zermatt-Bahn  - was a meter- gauge narrow - gauge railway in the Swiss canton of Valais . Opened in 1891 as the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (VZ), it merged with the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn (FO) in the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (MGB) on January 1, 2003 . The 44 km long railway line is part of the route of the by St. Moritz trains running Glacier Express and connects the car-free resort Zermatt with communities Visp and Brig-Glis in the Rhone Valley .

history

Planning, construction and start of operations

Steam locomotive No. 2

The mountain village of Zermatt gained after the first ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper in 1865 for the first time greater awareness in Europe. The number of overnight stays increased continuously from then on, although the place itself could only be reached by a long walk through the inhospitable Mattertal. For a long time, a simple mule track only led to St. Niklaus . Nevertheless, in the 1880s, Zermatt was already seeing up to 12,000 tourists a year. In order to promote tourism in the valley and especially in Zermatt itself, the first plans soon arose to build a railway line that would connect the up-and-coming health resort with the Rhone Valley.

On September 21, 1886, the Federal Council granted the Masson, Chavannes & Co. banking house in Lausanne and Basler Handelsbank an initial license . The original application provided for a narrow-gauge railway with 750 mm gauge and mixed adhesion and cogwheel operation leading from Visp to Zermatt . The gauge was finally changed to meter gauge at the urging of the Federal Council . The railway was supposed to be operated over the summer months from the beginning of June to the end of September, as the risks of operating in the high mountain winter could not be managed. In addition, there was only a prospect of a high number of passengers in summer, since winter tourism was not yet of great importance at the time. However, the Federal Council reserved the right to extend the operating time, and also stipulated that reduced tariffs should be offered to local residents.

The banks involved entrusted the planning and construction to the Suisse-Occidentale-Simplon (SOS) railway company , which carried out extensive surveying work in the Mattertal in the summer of 1887 . On October 10, 1888, the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de Viège à Zermatt SA was established as an operating company . The exact routing and mode of operation were initially the subject of intensive discussions. The Suisse-Occidentale-Simplon proposed a pure adhesion railway with a maximum gradient of 45 ‰, while the engineer Ernest von Stockalper , who was involved in the construction of the Gotthard Railway , proposed a combined adhesion and cog railway according to the original plan. An expert commission set up to determine the ideal operating mode visited numerous rack railways in Switzerland and Germany for this purpose, including the Brünigbahn and the Rübelandbahn in the Harz Mountains, which is equipped with the Abt rack system . The visits led to the decision to equip the railway line with the system used on the Rübelandbahn and to provide for a maximum gradient of 125 ‰. A total of six route sections with a total length of 7450 m were to be equipped with racks.

The arrival of the first train in Zermatt

Construction began on November 27, 1888 in Visp. Construction work was entrusted to Julius Chappuis, a building contractor from western Switzerland, while SOS acquired the land and procured the rolling stock. Acquiring the necessary land turned out to be difficult, especially in the area of ​​the municipalities of Stalden and St. Niklaus , as the local population was not interested in selling it and so lengthy expropriation proceedings were necessary. The land in the entire valley was also divided into innumerable and sometimes tiny pieces of land, the real owners of which were mostly not recorded in official documents. The lack of a road made it necessary to transport the construction material almost exclusively via the already completed railway line to the construction sites.

On July 3, 1890, rail operations could finally begin on the first section between Visp and Stalden. The first trains reached St. Niklaus on August 26th of the same year, but an unusually severe winter delayed the completion of the rest of the route in the following months. It was not until July 18, 1891, that the entire route to Zermatt was opened.

First years of operation

The Ritibrücke near Neubrück received a second opening for the VZ

The Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (VZ) transferred the operational management of the Suisse-Occidentale-Simplon, as this gave the opportunity to deploy the staff to other positions during the interruption of operations in winter. This agreement was maintained by the successor company Jura-Simplon-Bahn (JS) and ultimately also by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) until 1920.

The number of passengers has risen continuously since the opening and already exceeded the forecasts made at the time of construction after a short time. At the same time, the railway also had to struggle with numerous storms, which repeatedly paralyzed operations for days. The opening of the Gornergrat Railway in 1898, the Simplon Tunnel in 1906 and the Lötschberg Railway in 1913 also brought more passengers to the Visp-Zermatt Railway. However, the upward trend came to an abrupt end with the outbreak of the First World War . Foreign tourists stayed away from Switzerland while the price of coal rose massively. The number of passengers dropped back to the level of 1891. The timetable had to be reduced considerably and the fare increased significantly, but cost-covering operation was no longer possible. While the summer timetable in 1914 still contained six train pairs per day between Visp and Zermatt, after the outbreak of war there were only three, and from 1918 only two train pairs. In 1918 the total loss was around 971,000 francs .

After the end of the war, the number of passengers initially rose again only slowly. In the midst of the emerging upswing, a flood destroyed around 300 meters of the route between Visp and Ackersand on September 24, 1920 , after the Vispa had been diverted onto the rail route near Kipfen by avalanches and landslides in the winter of 1919/20 and had caused severe devastation. The resulting deficit, the last so far in the history of the railway, the SBB took as an opportunity not to extend the expiring contracts and to hand over the management to the VZ on January 1, 1921. This then went into a joint management association with the Gornergratbahn. At the same time, an office was set up in collaboration with Zermatt hoteliers, which was the first to advertise the tourist destination of Zermatt internationally. In 1927 the number of passengers returned to the pre-war level, in 1931 it achieved a new record with 227,845 passengers carried, which was only surpassed after the Second World War .

Closing gaps, electrification and year-round operation

The rescue of the Brig-Furka-Disentis-Bahn

The Visp-Zermatt-Bahn itself survived the First World War unscathed. The situation was fundamentally different with the Brig-Furka-Disentis Railway (BFD), which had not yet been completed when the war broke out . By 1915, it had only been able to complete the section from Brig to Gletsch and had to file for bankruptcy in 1923. VZ director Auguste Marguerat took the initiative to maintain the railway line. A syndicate was formed that was supported by the federal government and the cantons of Valais , Uri , Graubünden and Vaud . On April 4, 1925, rail systems and vehicles were auctioned for 1.75 million Swiss francs. On April 17th, Furka-Oberalp-Bahn AG (FO) was re-established with share capital of CHF 3.3 million. As early as July 4th, 1926, operations on the entire route to Disentis could begin . The FO itself was initially under the management of the VZ, it was only on January 1, 1961 that it was spun off as an independent company.

Closing the gap between Brig and Visp

With the operation of receiving the Furka-Oberalp railway there was the disadvantage that the meterspurige VZ in Visp through 8 km alone in normal track running rail line from the west end of the associated collars - urn step meter gauge network (FO in Brig) was isolated. In addition, since the opening of the Lötschbergbahn in 1913, travelers from Bern had to change both in Brig and in Visp; a condition that was felt to be awkward.

Numerous projects for a meter-gauge railway line from Visp to Brig had already been proposed at the beginning of the 20th century, most of them envisaged a continuation in the direction of Furka or Grimsel , but ultimately only the later Furka-Oberalp Railway, starting in Brig, was realized in 1919 the hotelier Alexander Seiler submitted a license application for a meter-gauge tram from Visp to Brig, which should serve to develop the smaller settlements between the two villages. The project was discontinued after the SBB announced that they would set up two stops on their standard gauge line. Since the SBB did not comply with the announcement, the license application was submitted again in 1925. Shortly afterwards, a committee consisting of VZ, FO and the Visper Lonza plants took over the project. Under the direction of the VZ, it was converted into a connecting line running parallel to the SBB line, which no longer has any intermediate stops and was only intended to link VZ and FO. In 1928 the committee submitted a correspondingly modified application for a license, which was approved on September 28, 1928, subject to the provision of an intermediate stop. Continuous operation from Brig to Zermatt was finally started on June 5, 1930. Curiously, this did not immediately lead to a change of name for the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn. It was not until June 1, 1962 that the name was changed to Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de Brigue-Viège-Zermatt (Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn).

The three narrow-gauge railways Visp-Zermatt-Bahn, Furka-Oberalp-Bahn and Rhaetian Railway used the connection to set up a continuous express train from St. Moritz to Zermatt. On June 25, 1930, the now world-famous Glacier Express left the Zermatt train station for the first time .

electrification

The electric locomotives HGe 4/4 11–15 formed the basis of electrical operation in 1929

Under the impression of the enormous increase in coal prices during the First World War, an electrification of the railways was discussed soon after the end of the war in order to become independent of expensive imported coal . A study commissioned in 1919 recommended the use of direct current with a voltage of 1500 to 3000 volts . In order to save costs, parts of the steam locomotives should be used for the construction of electric locomotives, at times the procurement of railcars was considered. Since the prices for copper and the necessary electrical systems were still extremely high in the immediate post-war period , the plan had to be abandoned in view of VZ's still troubled financial situation.

It was not until 1927 that there were renewed plans to switch to electrical operation. Now, however, high-voltage alternating current with a frequency of 16 ² ⁄ ₃   Hz should be used. Among other things, this offered the advantage of only having to install one feed point at Visp, which drastically reduced the costs for electrical systems compared to the original plans. Considerations of taking over the SBB power system unchanged with 15,000 volts had to be abandoned quickly. In particular, the Rhaetian Railway, which has been successfully operating the Engadine line with 11,000 volts alternating current since 1913 , emphasized the advantages of a lower voltage. In the Engadin, for example, locomotives with air-cooled transformers could be used, while those for 15,000 volts required heavy oil cooling, which would considerably increase the weight of the locomotives. In addition, if a uniform electricity system is used, the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn will be able to operate continuously without any problems. This led to the decision to also use a voltage of 11,000 volts on the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn.

A budget of CHF 1.7 million was set up for the electrification of the railway systems and the procurement of electric locomotives. The energy supply was transferred to the SBB, which contractually agreed to provide alternating current with a voltage of 15,000 volts in Visp. This was then stepped down to the required voltage. Five HGe 4/4 electric locomotives were procured from SLM , SIG and MFO to transport the trains . From October 1, 1929, all scheduled trains could finally be transported electrically. Of the eight existing steam locomotives of the type HG 2/3 , the five oldest examples could be retired, the rest remained in service as a reserve and for snow removal.

Start of winter operations

As early as 1907, the people in the valley and the Zermatt hoteliers were demanding that the Visp-Zermatt Railway also be operated in winter. However, SBB and VZ rejected this because of the resulting high costs and therefore poor profitability. The risk of accidents from avalanches and floods was also seen as an incalculable risk. In addition, for a long time VZ believed that Zermatt was not suitable as a winter sports location anyway. The Valais State Council, which was positive about winter operations, therefore examined the possibility of extending the operating obligation of VZ to the winter months at least for the section from Visp to St. Niklaus. However, since the license text was clearly formulated with regard to the operating time and a license change against the will of the owner did not seem feasible in the absence of a precedent, no further efforts were made until 1914. With the outbreak of the First World War, the requirement for continuous operation became obsolete for the time being.

Further efforts towards continuous operation were not taken up until the mid-1920s. Zermatt hotels remained open continuously for the first time in the winter of 1927/28. In the meantime, VZ had recognized the importance of Zermatt for winter sports and was more cooperative. On October 30, 1928, it started its scheduled winter service to St. Niklaus for the first time. In the following winter, a pair of trains per day ran to Zermatt for the first time, provided that the weather conditions allowed operation. This mode of operation could be maintained until the end of 1930, but in January and February 1931 numerous avalanches made regular operation impossible. It became clear that regular winter operations would not be feasible without protective structures, whereupon a contract was concluded between the canton of Valais and VZ in 1932. This provided for the continuous winter operation of the VZ, in return the canton undertook to subsidize the construction of protective structures up to 50%. These were completed on schedule in autumn 1933, and in the following winter it was possible to offer continuous winter operation on the entire route for the first time.

Second World War, the post-war period and the boom

Center entry car A 2065 from 1961

The outbreak of war in 1939 had far less dramatic effects on rail traffic than it had in 1914. Although the foreign tourists stayed away from the Mattertal this time too, Swiss day trippers, who, thanks to the previously introduced income reimbursement scheme , could still afford to travel during the war, as well as military transports, ensured that capacities were fully utilized. Thanks to electrification, the sharp rise in coal prices no longer had any impact on rail operations. Passenger numbers rose continuously during the war years and reached a new high in 1945 with 265,473 passengers.

After the end of the war, the number of passengers continued to rise sharply. In 1961 the number of passengers exceeded the million mark for the first time, but collapsed again at short notice in 1963 due to a typhus epidemic in Zermatt. Freight traffic also increased massively , particularly due to the construction of power plants in the Saas Valley and near Zermatt. VZ used the upswing to gradually modernize its rail operations: between 1958 and 1989, with the exception of the Kipfenbrücke, which was rebuilt as a steel bridge after it was destroyed by an avalanche in 1947, all larger bridges were replaced by reinforced concrete structures, which allowed the axle load to be increased.

Shuttle train Täsch – Zermatt

The rolling stock was also renewed. Most of the passenger cars with open platforms, dating from the steam locomotive era, were replaced between 1955 and 1963 by modern passenger cars made of lightweight steel with a central entrance. The locomotives from the era of electrification were supplemented by five passenger railcars between 1960 and 1965. To increase safety, a remote-controlled route block system from Brig was installed on the entire route between 1965 and 1966 .

The avalanche protection structures along the entire route have also been continuously expanded. The devastation of the Zermatt train station on January 4, 1966 gave rise to the fundamental renovation of the entire train station and roofing over it to make it safe from avalanches. In the same year an avalanche gallery was built in the northern part. The construction work on an avalanche-proof roofing of the platforms began in 1982 and ended in 1989.

The opening of the Talstrasse to Täsch in 1971 resulted in a new focus in passenger numbers. Since then, numerous tourists have been driving their own cars to Täsch, where they have to change to the BVZ trains, as the road to Zermatt is still closed to car traffic and can only be used with a special permit. To cope with the additional passenger volume, a shuttle service was set up between Täsch and Zermatt from May 1972. Since then, this has been carrying around two thirds of all passengers arriving in Zermatt.

With the commissioning of four Deh 4/4 luggage railcars in 1975 and 1976 and matching control cars , shuttle trains could be used for the first time on this important connection , and the trains on the entire route from Brig to Zermatt have since been increasingly used as shuttle trains.

Further modernization and merger with FO

The 1980s were characterized by a further increase in passenger numbers. In particular, the continued success of the Glacier Express , which has been in service all year round since 1982 , and whose passenger numbers rose from around 20,000 in 1982 to 269,830 in 2005, contributed to the utilization of the railway line and the reputation of Zermatt.

To cope with the increased volume of traffic, the Zermatt train station was fundamentally rebuilt between 1982 and 1989. All platform tracks were given an avalanche-proof roofing, and the western side of the track system has since been delimited by a massive 300 meter long avalanche wall. The station building from the opening year was torn down and replaced by a larger new building.

The second major construction project was the construction of the Glisergrund depot near Brig between 1983 and 1984, which partially replaced the cramped depot facilities at Visp train station. The Furka-Oberalp-Bahn added another maintenance hall to the site until 1998. The entire depot area today takes up an area of ​​around 50,000 m².

The Randa landslide

See also : Randa VS: Randa landslide

Debris cone of the Randa landslide, viewed from the south. On the right a BVZ train on a newly built line.

A Glacier Express crossed the Randa, which was still partially flooded, on August 10, 1991

The biggest catastrophe in the history of the BVZ occurred in the anniversary year 1991. On April 18 at 6:45 am, around 15 million cubic meters of rock broke away from the Wartfluh northwest of Randa and buried the Vispa, parts of the hamlet of Lerch and 100 meters of the railway line . No people were injured because the hamlet of Lerch was uninhabited and no train was in the affected section at the time of the landslide. However, a freight train going to Zermatt stopped a few hundred meters north of the accident site after the traction current failed due to the damage to the overhead contact line and the resulting short circuit. Passenger and freight traffic was temporarily relocated to the road that had not been damaged. Between Herbriggen and Randa wrong buses as a replacement bus service between Randa and Zermatt the trains ran in the shuttle. From April 22nd, through freight trains were again possible, for which a diesel locomotive of the type HGm 4/4 was rented from the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn . Passenger traffic was suspended for the time being as further landslides could not be ruled out.

On May 9th, large masses of rock fell again into the valley, which buried the railway line at 250 meters and also made the valley road impassable. In addition, the cone of rubble dammed up the Vispa , which slowly flooded the lower part of the village. After heavy rainfall on June 18, 1991, the train station was also under water. The planning of a new route for rail and road, which should bypass the disaster area, began immediately. The new, altogether 2860 m long railway line was opened on August 1, 1991. A heavy thunderstorm on August 8th, however, blocked the newly excavated river bed of the Vispa from debris washed up on it , which resulted in a second flooding of the station. After the water had drained off sufficiently, rail operations could be resumed on August 10th.

The total damage to the railway facilities amounted to CHF 16.5 million, of which CHF 13.59 million could be covered by natural damage aid under the Federal Railway Act . The anniversary celebrations originally planned for July 1991 had to be postponed to October due to the interruption in the route. At the same time, the Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn was renamed BVZ Zermatt-Bahn in order to emphasize the most important location on the route.

Change to the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn

Former FO locomotive HGe 4/4 II 102 with new lettering in Zermatt station

On January 1, 2003, the BVZ merged with the neighboring Furka-Oberalp-Bahn to form the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn . At the same time, the division into the business areas Matterhorn Gotthard Verkehrs AG (passenger transport license, rolling stock, maintenance, road traffic), Matterhorn Gotthard Infrastructure AG (infrastructure license, route, building) and Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG as the group management responsible for management and personnel. All group companies belong to BVZ Holding , which emerged from BVZ, as well as to the federal government and the cantons of Valais, Uri and Graubünden.

The merger of the two railways made it possible to implement numerous expansion measures. By the end of 2006, the shuttle train terminal in Täsch had been fundamentally rebuilt and the number of covered parking spaces increased to 1,700. In connection with the opening of the Lötschberg base tunnel , the Visp train station is being completely rebuilt. For this purpose, the MGB tracks have been relocated from the station forecourt next to the existing standard gauge tracks from 2005 in order to minimize the transfer routes to the SBB passenger trains.

In 2017, the two intersections Sefinot and Schwiedernen went into operation.

Route description

Brig - Visp

Brig train station with shuttle trains to Andermatt (left) and Zermatt (right)

Brig train station has been the starting point for the route to Zermatt since 1930 . Until the merger of the two railways, this was owned by the FO, so the BVZ had to pay a user fee. The station, built in 1915 by what was then Brig-Furka-Disentis-Bahn, has three platform tracks and is located on the forecourt of the standard-gauge Brig station, from where there is a connection to the BLS and SBB trains in the direction of Lötschberg , Lake Geneva and Simplon . With the opening of the Lötschberg base tunnel , a large number of travelers with their destination Zermatt and towards the Rhone Valley change in Visp . Brig is a through station , the previous status as a head station was ended with the opening of a direct exit to the east in the direction of Goms . The new route, which was used for the first time on December 1, 2007, replaced a route section with numerous level crossings by Naters . The city of Brig is striving to completely remove the system on the station square and to introduce the narrow-gauge trains into the standard-gauge station.

The FO depot facilities, which were shut down in 2001, and a car hall that was also used by the BVZ were previously located along the route to Visp. The route then crosses the Saltina on an iron bridge dating from 1930. According to this, the meter-gauge line runs largely parallel to the SBB Rhone Valley route along the southern bank of the Rhone. To the west of the Glis district of Brig are the Glisergrund depot (ex BVZ) and the Glisergrund workshop (ex FO), built between 1984 and 1998, which today house a large part of the rolling stock of the MGB. About four kilometers west of Brig is the Gamsensand passing point , which also has freight tracks for filling tank wagons. The former Gamsen stop was around 300 meters east of the siding; it was abandoned in the early 1990s after the cable car to Mund that began there was shut down.

The next stop, Eyholz, is already in the Visper district . It was created in 1999 and mainly serves to develop a nearby shopping center. The route passes the extensive Lonza industrial site and after around nine kilometers reaches the Visp train station. The covered section of the route runs on a slight incline, altogether there is a difference in altitude of around 21 meters between Brig and Visp.

Visp - Stalden

The crocodile HGe 4/4 No. 12 in the Visp locomotive shed, which was demolished in 2005

The old train station in Visp, April 2004

As in Brig, the meter-gauge station in Visp was originally located in front of the reception building of the SBB station. The extensive depot and workshop facilities of the BVZ were connected to the south of the two platform tracks. For passenger traffic, VZ only built a wooden waiting hall when operations began in 1890, as all other facilities such as toilets or waiting room were already in the Jura – Simplon reception building (until 1889, Suisse-Occidentale-Simplon).

The fundamental renovation of the station system began in 2006. Since it was foreseeable that after the completion of the Lötschberg base tunnel, the majority of passengers in Visp would change to the trains to Zermatt, narrow-gauge and standard-gauge tracks were brought closer together. Since then, MGB trains have had three platform edges available. The narrow-gauge track 3 is right next to the new standard-gauge track 4. The reception building and the entire BVZ depot area were demolished at the same time, and since then the maintenance of the rail vehicles has been carried out exclusively in the Glisergrund workshop. The grand opening of the new transfer hub took place on May 16 and 17, 2008.

The exit from the train station takes place in a tight left curve, in addition, the route turns into a steep gradient to cross under Kantonsstrasse 9. The underpass built between 1972 and 1975 also forms the lowest point on the entire line. The route now leaves the Rhone Valley and changes to the Mattertal, which has been passed through to the end point of Zermatt. The route here runs only slightly uphill parallel to the valley road on the eastern side of the valley to the village of Ackersand. The stop there is no longer served, but the station is still required as a passing point for rail operations. An adjacent hydroelectric plant possessed long time on an outgoing from the breakpoint siding .

Immediately afterwards, the railway line crosses the Vispa by means of a prestressed concrete bridge built in 1974 . Shortly afterwards, the first rack section begins, the route now climbs with a maximum gradient of 125 ‰ on the western valley flank and shortly afterwards reaches the Stalden-Saas train station . With the new crossing point Sefinot, which is on the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn network in the Vispertal between Visp and Stalden-Saas at km 12.718, the first project of the rail expansion step 2025 (AS 2025) is in Has been put into operation. The Sefinot intersection enables a stable half-hourly cycle on the heavily frequented route from Visp to Zermatt and costs around 8 million francs.

Stalden - St. Niklaus

The old Mühlebach Viaduct, which was demolished in 1959

Kalpetran train station around 1891

VZ train around 1900 in the Kipfenschlucht

The Stalden train station, located at around 800 meters above sea level, extends in an S-shape along the south-western outskirts of the village. For a long time, the station itself was of great importance as the starting point for the post bus lines into the Saas Valley and was therefore given a generously dimensioned reception building, the second largest on the route after the one in Zermatt. At the beginning of the 20th century there were plans to build another railway line to Saas-Fee , which was to branch off the existing line in Stalden; however, the First World War thwarted these plans. The importance of the train station, which has been officially called Stalden-Saas since 1931 , has decreased since the 1950s, as the post bus lines have since started in Brig. However, the buses continue to stop at Stalden station and connect to the trains to Zermatt. The valley station of the aerial cableway to Staldenried is also located directly next to the tracks . The two tracks have been equipped with racks throughout since 1986, as there are inclined sections directly in front of and behind the station.

The rack section that begins at Ackersand continues behind Stalden for a few hundred meters. The route then runs comparatively flat on the right side of the increasingly narrowing valley, while the Vispa flows around 150 meters deeper through a narrow gorge. The following section has the first relatively short tunnel sections and the largest bridge on the route. The 67 meter long Mühlebach Viaduct spans the eponymous body of water at a height of 43 meters. The original iron truss structure was replaced by a prestressed concrete arch bridge in 1959.

The Kalpetran train station is finally reached at kilometer 19.8 . The actual place has only a few buildings, the most important facility at the train station is the cable car that starts here to the mountain village of Embd . Behind the station, the railway meets the Mattervispa again and changes to the left side of the valley. The Kipfenbrücke that was built for this purpose had to be renewed several times: The original 30-meter-long iron truss construction was destroyed by an avalanche in 1945. A temporary solution built in was replaced in 1947 by a steel fish-belly girder bridge, which in turn was destroyed again by an avalanche in 1999. A steel girder installed as a replacement was replaced in autumn 2007 by a 146-meter-long concrete bridge built further downstream, which also takes up the road to Kalpetran. With the opening of the 1.2 km long new line, the last remaining curved track with a curve radius of 80 meters was removed.

The second rack section begins a few meters behind the Kipfenbrücke. The following route through the Kipfenschlucht is considered the most scenic section of the entire route. The railway line and Vispa run right next to each other in a very small space. The entire section of the route was damaged several times by floods and avalanches. To avoid further damage, the Vispa was therefore increasingly regulated from the end of the 19th century and the railway line was protected by massive masonry. In 1999, the fully automatic Kipferwald crossing was set up in the middle of the gorge. The upper end of the Kipfenschlucht is marked by the Sellibrücke , on which the Vispa is crossed for the third time. Shortly afterwards the rack ends and the route leads along the right side of the widening valley to St. Niklaus, 1126 meters above sea level . A total of 327 meters of altitude has been overcome since Stalden.

St. Niklaus - Randa - Täsch

The Randa landslide seen from the north

St. Niklaus station

Herbriggen station around 1891

The St. Niklaus train station extends along the western edge of the town and has two platform tracks and a siding with a loading ramp. The station building corresponds to a standardized type that was also present in a similar form in Täsch. The train station is the starting point of the post bus line to the holiday resort of Grächen , which extends over the left side of the valley on a high plateau and is connected to the valley by a serpentine road.

The next rack section begins shortly after the train station. This leads up to the Blattbach tunnel , a 130 meter long avalanche protection structure built in 1931. The open route that originally existed at this point had to be abandoned because the railway bridge over the Blattbach had been destroyed several times by avalanches and floods since it was built. In order to bypass the problematic area, the tunnel vault was created using the open construction method and then covered with earth. At the same time, the exit of the third rack section could be protected from the weather.

The railway line then changes sides of the valley again and passes the equalization basin of a hydroelectric power station near Herbriggen. The Mattsand crossing station, located in the immediate vicinity, was built in 1956 for the construction of the power plant and has been used for train crossings since 1964. The nearby Herbriggen train station has two platform tracks as well as a siding for a substation of the power plant. The original station building no longer exists, it was replaced by a new building in 1966.

The following section of the route to Randa is mainly characterized by the landslide of 1991, which buried the existing route over 250 meters and required extensive construction of new routes. After Herbriggen, the route initially follows the course of the Vispa in the middle of the valley. Shortly before the debris cone, however, the route describes a sharp left curve and runs together with the valley road on the outermost edge of the valley floor in order to circumvent the terrain threatened by further landslides as widely as possible. South of the debris cone, the route merges into a gradient of 120 ‰ and returns to the original route along the Vispa. The entire bypass route is equipped with racks. Since 1991, this is where the only incline in the direction of Zermatt has been that requires racks.

The railway line runs at Randa along the western edge of the village. The station has two platform tracks and one freight track, the station building dates from the opening year 1891 and has only been slightly modified to this day. To the south of Randa, the line crosses the hamlet of Wildi , where there was a loading siding for the Grande Dixence power station from 1960 to 1966 . Afterwards it meets the Mattervispa again and on the further route to Täsch runs directly parallel to it along the valley floor.

Täsch station

Shuttle train to Zermatt in the old Täsch station

The Täsch train station has been of particular importance since the 1970s as the end point of the Talstrasse, which is accessible by motor vehicles. Originally a simple two-track crossing station, the site was expanded in 1975 with a separate platform track for shuttle trains to Zermatt. The station building from 1891 also received a modern extension that housed the ticket counters, while the meadows around the station were converted into parking spaces. From 2005, the entire station complex was fundamentally rebuilt, a three-story car park with 2000 parking spaces was created under the name Matterhorn Terminal Täsch , which also includes the ticket counters. The previous station building and the shuttle train platform were demolished. The new station facility has two tracks for through traffic and a double-track platform hall for the shuttle trains. To the east of this is a covered parking lot for coaches.

Täsch - Zermatt

Passenger train with ABDeh 8/8 in the Kalter Boden passing point

After Täsch, the railway line initially follows the course of the Mattervispa. Immediately in front of the concrete Täschsand Bridge , which was built in 1964 and over which the route changes to the right side of the valley for the last time, the crossing point of the same name is passed, which was set up in the summer of 2007 to increase the line capacity. Then the fifth and last rack section begins to conquer the final meters in altitude to Zermatt. While the river increasingly disappears into a gorge, the route runs along the right slope of the valley. Between Täsch and Zermatt, most of the route is protected from avalanches by galleries; 2221 meters of the 5612 meters are covered by barriers and tunnels.

About halfway there is the Kalter Boden junction , which was put into operation in 1972 parallel to the opening of the shuttle train service , and this is where the last rack section ends. Almost all trains have to wait for the crossing with a counter train due to the heavy load on the section of the route.

After around two kilometers, the route finally reaches the northern outskirts of Zermatt. Here is a loading platform for concrete and other building materials, which is used to supply the Zermatt construction yard. The subsequent short Spissfluhtunnel crosses under the Air Zermatt heliport , and shortly afterwards the railway line reaches the Zermatt train station.

Zermatt train station

The Zermatt train station around 1900

Zermatt station square and reception building

Station concourse

The appearance of the Zermatt train station is shaped by the renovations carried out in the 1980s. In order to protect passengers and rolling stock from avalanches, a massive concrete roof was built up to 1989, which spans a total of six tracks of the station. Track 1, located on the western edge of the station, has an inspection pit and is not open to the public; this is where the shuttle trains in particular are serviced. Track 2 was set up for shuttle traffic to Täsch and, based on the principle of the Spanish solution , has platforms on both sides to enable rapid passenger changes. Tracks 3 to 5 are used for regular train traffic to Brig and each have a platform. Track 6 is mainly intended for general cargo traffic and ends at the baggage hall of the station building. It is shorter than the rest of the tracks, but also has a shared platform with track 5.

The current station building was built in the early 1990s in the regional timber construction style. Its proportions are reminiscent of the former station building from 1891 and is divided into three areas. The southern part includes the station restaurant, while the ticket counters and baggage claim are located in the middle part of the building. To the north is the concrete baggage hall. The Gornergratbahn train station is on the opposite side of the street; it has a connecting track to the MGB train station in order to be able to handle goods transports and vehicle transfers.

To the north of the station concourse there are extensive track systems that are mainly used for freight traffic and for parking vehicles. The station entrance was built over with a massive avalanche gallery after the avalanche of 1966. The so-called Schafgrabengalerie has two tracks and also enables vehicles to be parked safely. To the east of it are open sidings, which can only be used to a limited extent in winter due to the hazard outlined above.

Timetable

The 2007 timetable provided for 15 daily train pairs between Brig and Zermatt. With the exception of the early morning and late evening trains, there was an hourly service in both directions, and the trains stopped at all stations.

After the Lötschberg base tunnel went into operation in December 2007, Visp became the main transfer point from all directions. The timetable was condensed and expanded in the evening; on winter Saturdays there is an almost continuous half-hourly service in the Visp – Zermatt section. The travel time here is 63 to 69 minutes. During the high season from May to October, four Glacier Express trains run in addition to the normal train services , which only stop in Zermatt, Visp and Brig, and some also in St. Niklaus; in the winter season there is a daily pair of trains. Since 14 December 2014 there has been a half-hourly service between Zermatt and Brig (and on to Fiesch) between 7.30 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Shuttle trains with compartments for luggage trolleys run between Täsch and Zermatt between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m., every 20 minutes until 10 p.m. There is continuous operation from Friday to Sunday.

Freight transport

Four-axle freight car from 1906

What is unusual for a narrow-gauge railway is the very intensive freight traffic that is still today. However, this is limited to the supply of Zermatt, which can still only be reached by trucks to a limited extent. Since the remaining municipalities of the Mattertal can be supplied with trucks via the Talstrasse, rail traffic does not play a role for them. The only major exception for a long time was the transport of the so-called Embder stone slabs , which are used in the region as a traditional material for covering roofs. These came via material ropeways from the quarries near Embd to two loading tracks in the Kipfenschlucht, from where they were transported by train to Visp.

The most important goods to be transported to Zermatt are food, building materials and heating oil , but also kerosene for Air Zermatt . Other consumer goods are also transported by train, as well as tourist luggage. Reloading facilities exist at Visp train station, where containers are reloaded from trucks and standard-gauge freight wagons onto narrow-gauge transport vehicles. In Gamsensand, between Visp and Brig, there are facilities for filling tank wagons. The Zermatt train station has had partially underground facilities for the transshipment of mineral oil products since 1983, the unloading point for jet fuel is down the valley at the height of the helicopter base.

Most of the goods are transported in standardized containers, for which four- and two-axle wagons are available. Freight not transported in containers is reloaded into sliding wall wagons in Visp and delivered to the recipient in Zermatt by means of electric vehicles. There are several open freight cars of various types for goods that are not sensitive to moisture. The oil is transported in four or two-axle tank wagons . Classic box wagons no longer play a role in normal operation. During the high season, up to three freight trains per day run in both directions, plus other freight wagons attached to passenger trains.

Some of the freight wagons are suitable for use on the Gornergrat Railway. Using two special type Bhe 4/4 railcars, goods can be transported to the Gornergrat without reloading.

Rolling stock

Locomotives and railcars

HGe 4/4 II No. 1

The basis of the operation formed four steam locomotives of the type HG 2/3, which were put into operation in 1890 . Four more machines were added between 1893 and 1908. With the electrification of the line in 1929, the five oldest examples could be retired, while three locomotives were retained as a reserve for the time being. After 1941, only locomotive no. 7 remained in the inventory as a catenary-independent reserve; today it is used as a museum locomotive.

For electrical operation, a total of five four-axle HGe 4/4 I electric locomotives were procured in 1929 and 1930 , and in 1939 a sixth locomotive with a newly designed superstructure was added. The six machines were supplemented in 1960 and 1965 by a total of five double railcars of the types ABDeh 6/6 and ABDeh 8/8 . In 1975 and 1976 four heavy Deh 4/4 baggage cars arrived in the Mattertal.

The commissioning of five modern electric locomotives of the type HGe 4/4 II in 1990 enabled the outdated HGe 4/4 I to be phased out, only locomotives 15 and 16 remain as museum vehicles and in reserve. A further modernization has been carried out since 2003 with the procurement of low-floor articulated multiple units from Stadler . The first four BDSeh 4/8 railcars have been in shuttle service between Täsch and Zermatt since 2003 and 2005 respectively. Five more units, set up for Visp – Zermatt traffic, were put into operation in 2007/08; two of them as three-part ABDeh 4/8, three as four-part ABDeh 4/10.

Passenger cars

Passenger car C ⁴ No. 32 from 1890

Right from the start, the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn exclusively procured four-axle passenger cars of all three classes , which were manufactured by the Swiss Industrial Association (SIG). Some modernizations were carried out before the First World War by building new car bodies. In 1931, VZ acquired the first two passenger cars with closed platforms for use on the Glacier Express .

After the Second World War, extensive modernization began. A total of 26 passenger cars with center entry made of light metal were put into operation between 1955 and 1963. They represent a shortened variant of a type of wagon originally used on the Brünigbahn , in 1990 they were supplemented by wagons of the original type acquired second-hand from the Brünigbahn.

Between 1968 and 1975 a further increase in capacity followed through the procurement of so-called standard wagons, here too a wagon type previously procured by the Brünigbahn was chosen. In combination with the four luggage railcars acquired between 1975 and 1976 and compatible control cars, a shuttle train service could be offered for the first time .

The latest innovation is the panorama car, acquired in 1993 together with the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn , which is mainly used in the Glacier Express. After the merger to form the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway, the concept was further expanded and a total of 24 additional panorama cars were procured for the 2006 season in cooperation with the Rhaetian Railway .

Coloring

The steam locomotives were originally painted black. The HG 2/3 No. 7 museum locomotive has had a green and black paint job since the late 1980s. The passenger cars, electric locomotives and railcars were initially painted in a single color in a dark red tone, which was gradually lightened over time. Since 1982, a narrow silver stripe running lengthways below the window was also common. In the anniversary year of 1991, the company gave itself a new logo that was gradually applied to the vehicles, on the passenger coaches within about five years, but on the HGe 4/4 ″ only in 1999/2000. After the conversion to the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, the side wall below the windows of passenger cars and railcars was covered in white. The locomotives and luggage railcars have been painted uniformly red since then. When repainting vehicles, the slightly lighter MGB red is used with the same color division.

There is no uniform color scheme for freight wagons. However, wooden vehicle parts are usually painted dark brown, while components made of rustproof light metals remain unpainted. Tank cars are given a dark gray paint job on the tank . The smooth side surfaces of modern sliding wall wagons are often used for advertising.

List of locomotives

Steam and electric locomotives, railcars

No.	Surname	Type	Manufacturer	Construction year	Discarding	Remarks
1	Matterhorn	HG 2/3	SLM	1890	1929
2	Monte Rosa	HG 2/3	SLM	1890	1929	1913 conversion to superheated steam
3	Mischabel	HG 2/3	SLM	1890	1929	1926 conversion to superheated steam
4th	Gornergrat	HG 2/3	SLM	1890	1929
5	St. Theodule	HG 2/3	SLM	1893	1929	1916 conversion to superheated steam
6th	Weisshorn	HG 2/3	SLM	1902	1941	1925 conversion to superheated steam, 1941 at Ems-Chemie Chur, 1988 at DFB , operational
7th	Breithorn	HG 2/3	SLM	1906		1921 conversion to superheated steam, 2001 new boiler and light oil firing, since 2010 on loan from DFB, not operational, will be converted back to coal firing
8th	Lyskamm	HG 2/3	SLM	1908	1935	1915 conversion to superheated steam
11	-	HGe 4/4 I.	SLM, MFO , SWS	1929	2005
12th	-	HGe 4/4 I.	SLM, MFO, SWS	1929	2004
13th	-	HGe 4/4 I.	SLM, MFO, SWS	1929	2002
14th	-	HGe 4/4 I.	SLM, MFO, SWS	1929	1992
15th	-	HGe 4/4 I.	SLM, MFO, SWS	1930		Operational museum vehicle
16	-	HGe 4/4 I.	SLM, MFO	1939		Prototype for HGe 4/4 I of the FO, 1951/52 reconstruction after an accident, 2007 to the DFB
2031	-	ABDeh 6/6	SIG , SLM, SAAS	1960	2006
2032	-	ABDeh 6/6	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1960	2005
2041	Brig	ABDeh 8/8	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1965	2011
2042	Visp	ABDeh 8/8	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1965	2014
2043	Zermatt	ABDeh 8/8	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1965	2008
21	Stalden	Deh 4/4	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1975
22nd	St. Niklaus	Deh 4/4	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1975
23	Randa	Deh 4/4	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1976
24	Bag	Deh 4/4	SIG, SLM, SAAS	1976
1 II	Matterhorn	HGe 4/4 II	SLM, FIG	1990
2 II	Monte Rosa	HGe 4/4 II	SLM, FIG	1990
3 II	Dom	HGe 4/4 II	SLM, FIG	1990
4 II	Täschhorn	HGe 4/4 II	SLM, FIG	1990
5 II	Mount Fuji	HGe 4/4 II	SLM, FIG	1990		original name Dent Blanche
2051	Castor	BDSeh 4/8	Stadler	2003		Delivered to MGB
2052	Pollux	BDSeh 4/8	Stadler	2003		Delivered to MGB
2053	Albatross	BDSeh 4/8	Stadler	2005		Procured by MGB
2054	eagle	BDSeh 4/8	Stadler	2005		Procured by MGB
2011		ABDeh 4/10	Stadler	2007		Procured by MGB
2012		ABDeh 4/10	Stadler	2007		Procured by MGB
2013		ABDeh 4/10	Stadler	2007		Procured by MGB
2021		ABDeh 4/8	Stadler	2008		Procured by MGB
2022		ABDeh 4/8	Stadler	2008		Procured by MGB

Shunting and diesel locomotives, railway service vehicles

No.	Surname	Type	Manufacturer	Construction year	Retirement	Remarks
2961	-	Xmh 1/2	Asper	1928	1981	Motorized trolley, rebuilt by BVZ in 1957 and 1974
2921	-	Tm 2/2	RACO	1957	1993	Delivered as no. 301, renumbered 2921 in 1959, retired after an accident
2922	-	Tm 2/2	RACO	1959		Equipped with hydraulic crane since 1981
71	-	Gm 3/3	Moyse	1975
72	-	Gm 3/3	Moyse	1975
73	-	Tm 2/2	Schöma , Deutz	1980		Year of construction 1972, takeover by BVZ in 1980, ex construction site Arlberg road tunnel
2962	-	Xmh 1/2	Steck / Deutz	1982
74	-	Tm 2/2	Ruhrthaler	1958		ex Kerkerbachbahn , takeover by BVZ in 1991
75	Niklaus	HGm 2/2	Stadler	2002		Approved for operation on the Gornergratbahn
76		HGm 2/2	Stadler	2011		Procured by MGB, approved for operation on the Gornergratbahn

literature

• Wolfgang Finke: The vehicles of the Zermattbahnen in over 1100 vehicle drawings (a book on DVD). Tram-tv publishing house, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-9813669-0-7
• Jutta Giese, Carl Asmus: Railways on the Matterhorn. More than 100 years of Brig-Visp-Zermatt . In: Eisenbahn-Journal , Special 2/91, Merker-Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck 1991, ISBN 3-922404-18-9
• Beat Moser, Urs Jossi: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (part 1) . In: Eisenbahn-Journal , Special 1/2006, Verlagsgruppe Bahn, Fürstenfeldbruck 2006, ISBN 3-89610-157-9
• Remo Perren, Luzius Theler, Thomas Andermatten (photos); Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (publisher): Zermatt-Bahn. From the valley to the mountain . Rotten-Verlag, Visp 1991.
• Theo Stolz, Dieter Schopfer: Brig-Visp-Zermatt. History and rolling stock . Theo Stolz, Wabern 1983, ISBN 3-907976-00-2
• Bernard Truffer (Ed.): The Rockslide of Randa 1991. A documentation . 2nd Edition. In: Communications from the Oberwallis Natural Research Society , Volume 2. Upper Valais Natural Research Society, Brig 1999.
• Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (publisher): 75 years of Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn . 3. Edition. Imprimerie Vaudoise, Lausanne 1979.
• Ilona Eckert and collective of authors: 100 years of Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn. Adventure railroad: Gornergratbahn . In: Eisenbahn-Kurier Special number 22, EK-Verlag, Freiburg in Breisgau 1991.
• 100 years of Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn . In: LOKi 1, Spezial , Fachpresse Goldach Hudson, Goldach 1991

Web links

Commons : Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
• BVZ Holding AG
• Electrification of the Visp-Zermatt rack railway. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . Volume 94 (1929), Issue 16 (E-Periodica.ch, PDF; 3.3 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The kilometrage corresponds to the version currently used by the MGB. The original mileage was based on Visp and Brig.
2. ↑ Zermatt Railway: From the valley to the mountain , p. 13
3. ↑ EJ special issue Eisenbahnen am Matterhorn, p. 15
4. ↑ Zermatt Railway: From the valley to the mountain , p. 22
5. ↑ Zermatt Railway: From the valley to the mountain , p. 23
6. ^ EJ special issue Eisenbahnen am Matterhorn, p. 26
7. ↑ Zermatt Railway: From the valley to the mountain , p. 32
8. ↑ Zermatt Railway: From the valley to the mountain , p. 40
9. ↑ Zermatt Railway: From the valley to the mountain , p. 41
10. ↑ Annual Report 2005 . ( Memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) BVZ Holding, p. 9
11. ↑ EJ special issue Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (Vol. 1) p. 70
12. ↑ The Randa landslide . 1991, p. 90
13. ↑ For a detailed presentation of the organization, see the 2003 Annual Report ( memo of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) of BVZ Holding, p. 7
14. ↑ Media release BVZ Holding September 2017
15. ↑ EJ special issue Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (vol. 1) p. 53
16. ↑ MGB media release: "More train thanks to additional crossing point", October 24, 2007, page no longer available , search in web archives:
17. ↑ Official timetable 2007 (PDF; 133 kB)
18. ↑ Timetable 2011 (PDF; 140 kB)
19. ↑ Timetable 2011 (PDF; 82 kB)
20. ↑ EJ special issue Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (Vol. 1), p. 76

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on July 24, 2007 in this version .