Switzerland is a scenic country in the Alps. It is also one of the wealthiest countries in Europe.
It is famous for its chocolates, watches, and banks.
But another aspect of Swiss excellence, which is lesser known, is railway engineering.
The Gotthard tunnel, 57 kilometers long, is the world’s longest underground railway tunnel. It is the deepest transport tunnel in the world.
Last week, they added another feather to their cap – a Guiness Record for the longest passenger train. The entire effort was spearheaded by Rhaetian Railway of Switzerland.
Here are some key numbers:
The train consisted of 25 compositions, each with four carriages of the new Capricorn railcars, and had a total length of 1,906 metres.
– The world-record route from Preda to Alvaneu is 24,930 metres long.
– The train covered a difference in altitude of 789.4 metres (Preda = 1,788.7 m a.s.l.; Alvaneu = 999.3 m a.s.l.).
– The world record-breaking journey crossed 48 bridges and went through 22 tunnels.
– The largest viaduct on the world record route is the world-famous Landwasser Viaduct just after Filisur with a length of 142 metres and a height of 65 metres.
– The longest tunnel on the world record route is the Greifenstein Tunnel just before Filisur which is 698 metres long.
– The attempt to break the world record generated 4,000 kWh of braking energy (recuperation).
– The world-record train travelled at a speed of 30 to 35 km/h.
– The record-breaking journey took around an hour.
– The weight of the record-breaking train was around 2,990 tonnes.
– Communication within the train was ensured by means of a field telephone almost two kilometres long from the Civil Defence.
– In addition, 7 train drivers and 21 technicians were at work on the train to ensure its operability.
All images and video in this news are courtesy Blick.tv or CC0.
There are some freight trains that are much longer – even going up to 3 kms in length, but this is the longest passenger train at the moment.
BERGUEN, 29OKT22 – Flugaufnahme vom Weltrekordversuch mit dem laengsten Reisezug auf der UNESCO Welterbestrecke ‘Albula-Linie’ am 29. Oktober 2022 im oberen Albulatal in Graubuenden (Schweiz).
swiss-image.ch/Philipp Schmidli
BERGUEN, 29OCT22 – Aerial photo of the world record attempt with the longest passenger train on the UNESCO World Heritage route ‘Albula’ on October 29, 2022 in Beguen in Graubuenden/Switzerland.
BERGUEN, 29OKT22 – Impression von der Weltrekordfahrt des mit 1,91 Kilometer laengsten Reisezuges der Rhaetischen Bahn auf der UNESCO-Welterbestrecke ‘Albula-Linie’ am 29. Oktober 2022 in Graubuenden.
swiss-image.ch/Mayk Wendt
BERGUEN, 29OCT22 – Impression of the world record run of the Rhaetian Railway’s longest passenger train (1.91 kilometers) on the UNESCO World Heritage route, the alpine Albula line, in Graubuenden on October 29, 2022