Scenic route
Bernina Express
Chur → Tirano · Switzerland · Italy
Bernina Express in pictures
Photographs by their authors, hosted on Wikimedia Commons · tap through for the licence
- Distance
- 144 km
- Fastest time
- ≈ 4 h
- Average speed
- 36 km/h
- Top speed
- 70 km/h
- Operator
- RhB ↗
- Train
- Allegra panorama
- Countries
- Switzerland, Italy
- In service since
- 1910
- Highest point
- 2,253 m
- Riders per year
- ≈ 400k
- Runs
- 1× daily year-round, 2× in summer
Figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
A UNESCO World Heritage railway: 7 % grades with no rack, the Brusio spiral, and the highest rail crossing of the Alps at 2,253 m.
In about four hours the scenery runs from glacier to palm tree, a compression no other Alpine crossing manages. The Allegra units haul out of Chur through castle-studded Domleschg, thread the Albula’s helical tunnels above Bergün, then breast the open Bernina Pass where Lago Bianco lies chalk-blue beside the track. On the far side the line clings to Alp Grüm’s balcony and corkscrews down into Italian-speaking Val Poschiavo, finishing among Tirano’s espresso bars.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 20796925 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 30 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 10 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of PE BEX
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Along the way
- Domleschg castle country
- Albula spirals above Bergün
- Morteratsch Glacier views
- Lago Bianco at Ospizio Bernina
- Alp Grüm balcony
- palm-fringed Tirano
How long is the Bernina Express?
The Bernina Express runs 144 km from Chur to Tirano. It runs through Switzerland and Italy.
How long does the Bernina Express take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 4 h for the 144 km. That is an average of 36 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 70 km/h.
Who runs the Bernina Express?
RhB, with Allegra panorama.
How old is the Bernina Express?
The line has been in service since 1910. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How high does the Bernina Express climb?
2,253 m above sea level at its highest point.
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More train routes in Switzerland · Italy.