Matterhorn Gotthard Railway
| Matterhorn Gotthard Railway | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Basic information | |
| Company headquarters | Brig-Glis |
| Web presence | http://www.matterhorngotthardbahn.ch/ |
| owner |
BVZ Holding Confederation Cantons |
| Seat | Brig |
| Managing directors | Fernando Lehner |
| Employee | 647 full-time employees (as of 2020) |
| Lines | |
| Gauge | 1,000 mm |
| railroad |
Zermatt - Visp (- Brig ) Visp - Brig - Andermatt - Göschenen Andermatt - Disentis Glacier Express Zermatt - Disentis (- St. Moritz RhB) |
| bus |
St.Niklaus - Grächen Fiesch - Ernen - Binn |
| number of vehicles | |
| Locomotives | 22nd |
| Railcar | 23 |
| other vehicles | 28 control cars 30 car transport cars 121 passenger cars 106 freight cars |
| statistics | |
| Passengers | 7.08 million (as of 2018) |
| Stops | 44 |
| Length of line network | |
| Railway lines | 144 km |
The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB, spelling: Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn ) is a narrow-gauge railway in Switzerland with a gauge of 1,000 mm . It has a route network of around 144 km in length in the cantons of Valais , Uri and Graubünden , on which regional transport and on sections of freight transport as well as car loading are offered. The Deutsche Bahn's best-known train service is the Glacier Express , which it operates together with the Rhaetian Railway .
history
The railway was created in the early summer of 2003 through the merger of Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ) and Furka-Oberalp-Bahn (FO) on January 1, 2003. As early as September 2002, the General Assemblies passed a corresponding decision in principle. On January 23, 2003, the Board of Directors announced the new name.
The MGB has had a partnership with the Japanese Fujikyuko Railway , which leads to the northern edge of Mount Fuji , since 1991 .
On July 23, 2010 a Glacier Express derailed shortly before Fiesch . Because the engine driver accelerated the train too early when exiting the curve, the last car on the curve tipped outwards. In the process, he also tore the two cars in front from the rails. A Japanese tourist was killed and 42 people injured.
Company building
The Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn consists of three companies: Matterhorn Gotthard Verkehrs AG (MGB) was created by renaming BVZ, Matterhorn Gotthard Infrastructure AG (MGI) is the former FO and a new stock company Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGM) functions as Management roof. The MGB has taken over the transport area of the FO and assigned the BVZ infrastructure to the MGI. MGB is majority owned by BVZ Holding AG (which in turn is the owner of Gornergrat Bahn AG (GGB)), MGI shares are owned by the Swiss Confederation and the cantons , and MGM is held equally by BVZ Holding and the public sector.
| BVZ Holding AG | Public authorities CH , VS , UR , GR |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BVZ Asset Management AG | Gornergrat Bahn AG (GGB) | Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn AG (MGB) | AG Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGM) Management company, manages companies with a red background |
Matterhorn Terminal Täsch AG (MTT) | Matterhorn Gotthard Infrastructure AG (MGI) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Participation | BVZ Asset Management | GGB | MGB | MGM | MTT | MGI |
| BVZ Holding AG | 100% | 100% | 75% | 50% | 34% | - |
| Public hand | - | - | 22% | 50% | ? | 99% |
| Private | - | - | 3% | - | ? | 1 % |
| Share capital | 10 million CHF | 8 million CHF | 15 million CHF | 250,000 CHF | CHF 10.5 million | 11.46 million CHF |
Rail network
The 144 km long rail network extends from Disentis in Graubünden over the Oberalp Pass to Andermatt in the canton of Uri (with a branch line down to Göschenen , the originally independent Schöllenenbahn ), via Realp , through the Furka base tunnel to Oberwald in Valais (see: Furka for the route) -Oberalp-Bahn ), Brig and Visp up to Zermatt below the Matterhorn (for route see: Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn ).
In Disentis there is a connection to the Rhaetian Railway , with which MGB jointly operates the Glacier Express between Zermatt and the Graubünden destinations of St. Moritz , Davos and Chur .
Between Realp and Oberwald there is still the Furka mountain route, which no longer belongs to the MGB, which crosses under the Furka Pass at a summit height of 2162 m with a 1874 m long summit tunnel (for comparison: summit height of the base tunnel 1564 m above sea level). The Rhone glacier can be seen from the Furka mountain route . This scenic route is now used by the DFB-Dampfbahn-Furka mountain route.
In 2007, the new east exit at Brig station went into operation. As a result, the former terminal station of the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn was converted into a through station. At the same time, the old 3.2 km long route with 20 level crossings was repealed by the municipality of Naters .
Rack sections
The track is a mixed cogwheel and adhesion track . On 13 rack sections with a total length of 28.8 km (around 20% of the total network), a rack from the Abt system with two lamellas is installed. There are gradients of up to 9% (along the Rotten between Betten valley station and Fürgangen-Bellwald valley station), 11% (over the Oberalp Pass between Disentis and Andermatt), 12.5% (on the route between Visp and Zermatt) and 17, 9% (on the route from Andermatt down to Göschenen) overcome. The remaining 116 kilometers of the route are driven in adhesion mode without a rack and have lower gradients (up to 4%).
| No. | section | opened by |
Length after |
Length today |
Inclination after |
Direction of incline |
comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disentis-Segnas | FO | 1735 m | 1797 m | 70 ‰ | / | original incline 90 ‰, new construction of the Disentiser tunnel 1996–1999 |
| 2 | Dieni – Tschamutt – Oberalp Pass | 6118 m | 6488 m | 110 ‰ | / | ||
| 3 | Oberalpsee - Nätschen | 2879 m | 2879 m | 65 ‰ | \ | ||
| 4th | Nätschen – Andermatt | 4193 m | 4173 m | 110 ‰ | \ | ||
| 5 | Göschenen – Andermatt | SchB | 2529 m | 2560 m | 181 ‰ | / | |
| 6th | Realp – Tiefenbach | FO | 2609 m | - | 110 ‰ | / | Hired in 1981, today DFB |
| 7th | Tiefenbach – Furka | 2982 m | - | 110 ‰ | / | ||
| 8th | Muttbach-Belvedère-Gletsch | 3459 m | - | 110 ‰ | \ | ||
| 9 | Gletsch-Oberwald | BFD | 4440 m | - | 110 ‰ | \ | |
| 10 | Fürgangen-Bellwald-Fiesch | BFD | 1498 m | 1486 m | 90 ‰ | \ | |
| 11 | Lax-Grengiols | 2052 m | 2025 m | 90 ‰ | \ | ||
| 12 | Grengiols – Betten valley station | 1240 m | 1240 m | 67 ‰ | \ | ||
| 13 | Ackersand – Stalden / Saas – Mühlebach | VZ | 2064 m | 125 ‰ | / | ||
| 14th | Kalpetran – Kipferwald – St. Niklaus | 2459 m | 126 ‰ | / | |||
| 15th | St. Niklaus – Mattsand | 693 m | 104 ‰ | / | |||
| 16 | Herbriggen – Randa | 2897 m | 120 ‰ | / \ | with counter slope (bypass rockfall Randa 1991) | ||
| 17th | Täschsand – Kalter Boden | 942 m | 124 ‰ | / |
Explanations: SchB stands for what was then Schöllenenbahn , BFD for what was then Brig-Furka-Disentis-Bahn and VZ for what was then Visp-Zermatt-Bahn .
Power supply
MGB uses single-phase alternating current with a voltage of 11 kV and a frequency of 16.7 Hz to drive its electrically powered vehicles , which is fed as usual via contact lines . The MGB and the Rhaetian Railway , which is connected to the MGB rail network in Disentis, use the same electricity system. The frequency corresponds to that of the SBB , while the voltage is 4 kV lower.
In contrast to the Rhaetian Railway, the energy is obtained from the SBB, which operates its own high-voltage network in Switzerland for 16.7 Hz traction current with a network voltage of 132 and 66 kV. The transformation to the driving voltage of 11 kV takes place in substations in Herbriggen , Massaboden , Ulrichen and Andermatt . In addition, an emergency supply in Göschenen is possible (e.g. if the plant in Andermatt is temporarily shut down) . The substations in Herbriggen and Massaboden supply the western part of the route network to Oberwald , the Andermatt substation the part east of Oberwald.
business
The MGB operates the following train services:
- Regional trains Zermatt - Visp , partly to / from Fiesch
- Shuttle trains with luggage trolley Täsch – Zermatt
- Regional trains Visp - Andermatt - Göschenen and consolidations on sections
- Regional trains Andermatt– Disentis
- Sports trains (winter season) Sedrun – Dieni
- Car trains Oberwald – Realp (Furka tunnel) and Andermatt – Sedrun in winter
- Glacier Express together with the RhB .
Freight traffic only takes place between Visp and Zermatt on a larger scale (2012: 42,200 t). Until 2012, the supply of the NEAT construction site in Sedrun also ensured intensive traffic from Disentis (2012: 32,900 t, 2011: 73,200 t).
Traction vehicles
Because of the rack sections distributed over the entire route network, almost all rail-mounted locomotives have a gear drive in addition to the adhesion drive. The only exception are the two Ge 4/4 , which were procured for the transport of car trains through the Furka Base Tunnel, which can be used in adhesion mode. All scheduled train services are provided with electric traction vehicles.
In contrast, no gear drive is required for shunting locomotives and shunting tractors. These vehicles are or were used in the train stations Zermatt, Visp, Brig (including the Glisergrund and Ölumlad Gamsen workshops), Andermatt and Sedrun. With the exception of the Te 4926 (1946), which shunted in Brig until 2007, all shunting locomotives are diesel-powered. MGB also has an accumulator tractor for shunting within the workshop.
MGB owns two diesel locomotives of the type HGm 4/4 from 1968 and two modern HGm 2/2 (2002, 2011) for track maintenance, snow removal and as an operating reserve that is independent of the contact wire . There are also two diesel-hydraulic catenary trolleys with gear and adhesion drives.
Steam locomotives: HG 2/3 · HG 3/4
Electric locomotives: HGe 2/2 · VZ HGe 4/4 11–15 · VZ HGe 4/4 16, FO HGe 4/4 31–37 · HGe 4/4 II · Ge 4/4
Diesel locomotives: Gm 3/3 · Gm 4/4 · HGm 4/4 · HGm 2/2
Railcar: CFm 2/2 · BDeh 2/4 · ABDeh 6/6 · ABDeh 8/8 · BDSeh 4/8 · Komet · Deh 4/4 21–24 · Deh 4/4 51–55 · Deh 4/4 91 -96 · Orion
Passenger carriages: Control car · SIG central entry car 2061–67 / 2161–63 / 2261–76 · central entry car ex Brünig · FFA standard car I 4263–72 · FFA standard car II 2241–42 · SIG standard car I · SIG standard car II · ACMV -Unit wagon II 4171 ... 82 · Luggage trolley / low-floor wagon 2231 ... 37 · R + J panorama car 4011–14 · Breda panorama car 4021–34 · Stadler panorama car 4040–45 / 4061–68 / 3833–35 ·
photos
HGe 4/4 II with Glacier Express
two BDSeh 4/8 as a Zermatt shuttle
Ge 4/4 with car transport through the Furka base tunnel
Glacier Express shortly before the Oberalp pass summit
Baggage railcar Deh 4/4 22 (ex BVZ) with regional train on Oberalpsee
Xmh 1/2 of the MGB on the Oberalp pass summit
Regional train above Andermatt with a view of the Urseren Valley
Andermatt train station
literature
- Peter Schulijk: Merger and new plans. BVZ Zermattbahn / Furka-Oberalp-Bahn . In: LOK MAGAZINE . No. 259 / Volume 42/2003. GeraNova Zeitschriftenverlag GmbH Munich, ISSN 0458-1822 , p. 24.
- Wolfgang Finke: The vehicles of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn - Part 1: Locomotives and freight cars. Tram-TV, Cologne 2020, PDF on DVD-ROM, ISBN 978-3-943846-52-2 .
- Wolfgang Finke: The vehicles of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn - Part 2: Passenger and company cars. Tram-TV, Cologne 2020, PDF on DVD-ROM, ISBN 978-3-943846-53-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zermatt deepens friendship with Japan. In: Walliser Bote / Redaktion 1815.ch. Mengis Medien AG, November 20, 2015, accessed on May 10, 2016 .
- ↑ Discontinued railways in Switzerland
- ↑ See for example Hans Schweers, Henning Wall, Manfred Wessels, Thomas Würdig: Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz . Schweers + Wall, 2012, ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7 , pp. 34, 35, 45, 46, 56 .
- ^ Werner Heuberger, Hansrudolf Schwabe, Rudolf Werder: FO Brig – Furka – Disentis. Pharos-Verlag Hansrudolf Schwabe AG, Basel 1981, ISBN 3-7230-0312-5 , page 44
- ↑ Hans G. Wägli: Rail network Switzerland / Réseau ferré suisse - rail profile Switzerland CH + / Le rail suisse en profile CH +. AS Verlag, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9
- ↑ For the supply by the SBB, see for example Strategic expansion of the electricity transmission network required by 2015. (pdf) Federal Department for the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication DETEC, March 20, 2007, p. 20 , accessed on April 10, 2013 : “With the exception of the Rhaetian Railway, which operates its own 66 kV high-voltage network (16.7 Hz) and is currently supplied by Rätia Energie, all other 16.7 Hz AC trains are supplied by SBB ” .
- ↑ The substations and the separation of the network in the west and east are in the map in Heinz Voegeli: Unconventional improvement of the traction power supply Visp - Zermatt of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn . In: eb - electric railways . No. 04-05 , 2011, ISSN 0013-5437 , p. 184 . shown.
- ↑ Annual report 2012 of BVZ-Holding AG
- ↑ compare the explanations in the article motor vehicle