Map of the Bernina Express Route — Chur to Tirano via the Albula Line and Bernina Pass Loading interactive map…

Bernina Express Route

Bernina Express Route

Chur → Tirano via the Albula Line and Bernina Pass

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The Bernina Express is a panoramic train from Chur to Tirano operated by the Rhaetian Railway, crossing the Alps in about 4 hours over 196 bridges and through 55 tunnels. It summits at Ospizio Bernina, 2,253 m — the highest railway crossing in Europe, climbed by adhesion alone with no rack — on a line that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.

Route facts

Duration≈ 4 h Chur–Tirano (St. Moritz–Tirano ≈ 2 h 15)1
Distance148 km, with 196 bridges and 55 tunnels2
Highest pointOspizio Bernina, 2,253 m — highest point of the RhB network3
GradientUp to 70‰ (7%) with no rack — one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world3
OperatorRhaetian Railway (RhB)1
ReservationsCompulsory on train and connecting bus; CHF 36 high season / CHF 32 low season (2025/26)2
Fares (2025/26)Chur–Tirano CHF 96 (2nd) / CHF 164 (1st); last-minute offers from CHF 79 incl. reservation. Book at rhb.ch4
SeasonYear-round; connecting Bernina Express Bus to Lugano runs March–October4
Line opened5 July 1910; UNESCO World Heritage since 7 July 20085

Terrain along the route

7001,4002,100 Chur — 585 m, km 0Filisur — 1,080 m, km 50St. Moritz — 1,777 m, km 89Tirano RhB — 428 m, km 154 2,403 m 0 km 154 km
Terrain elevation sampled along the line — tunnels appear as the ridges they pass beneath. Highest station: St. Moritz at 1,777 m. Computed from Trainmap's route geometry and AWS Open Data terrain tiles.

Scenic highlights

  • Landwasser Viaduct. The signature structure of the UNESCO Albula line: the train sweeps out of a cliff-face tunnel directly onto the curved, 65 m-high stone viaduct near Filisur. Side to sit: right heading south, left heading north (Seat 61).4
  • Montebello Curve. Near Pontresina the line turns to face the Morteratsch Glacier beneath the Bernina massif.6
  • Ospizio Bernina & Lago Bianco. The summit of the line at 2,253 m, running along the shore of the Lago Bianco reservoir on the Bernina Pass. Side to sit: right heading south (Seat 61).3
  • Alp Grüm. At 2,091 m, the start of the steep descent into Val Poschiavo, with views over the Palü Glacier.4
  • Brusio Circular Viaduct. A 116 m spiral viaduct that exists purely to lose altitude — the train loops over itself on the final descent to Tirano.5

Stations on this route

  1. Chur
  2. Filisur
  3. St. Moritz Bahnhof
  4. Tirano RhB

UNESCO inscribed the Albula and Bernina lines in 2008 as "exemplary of the use of the railway to overcome the isolation of settlements in the Central Alps" — per the World Heritage listing, the 61 km Bernina pass line alone counts 13 tunnels and galleries and 52 viaducts and bridges. It runs year-round: green meadows and open-air panoramas in summer, deep Alpine snow in winter.

“Perhaps the most scenic Alpine train ride… although the Glacier Express competes for the title.”

— Mark Smith, The Man in Seat 614

Related routes

Sources

  1. rhb.ch
  2. myswitzerland.com
  3. rhb.ch
  4. seat61.com
  5. en.wikipedia.org
  6. myswitzerland.com

Facts last verified 2026-07-18 · About Trainmap · All iconic routes

Rail data: signal.eu.org/osm
Stations: Trainline, Nominatim
Maps: Carto, OpenStreetMap, Stamen, Stadia Maps
3D Terrain: AWS Terrain Tiles, Mapzen
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