The Glacier Express is a panoramic train between Zermatt and St. Moritz that crosses the Swiss Alps in about 8 hours, covering 291 km over 291 bridges and through 91 tunnels. Run jointly by the Rhaetian Railway and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, it is marketed as the world's slowest express train — and the map below shows every metre of the track it actually follows.
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 most photographed spot on the Rhaetian Railway: a curved stone viaduct 142 m long and 65 m high that dives straight into a tunnel cut in a vertical rock face, shortly before Filisur. Side to sit: right travelling Zermatt → St. Moritz (official operator guidance).1
Rhine Gorge (Ruinaulta). Between Reichenau and Ilanz the line threads the "Swiss Grand Canyon", carved by the Rhine through the debris of the Flims rockslide about 10,000 years ago.8
Oberalp Pass. The summit of the journey at 2,033 m; Lake Toma, the recognised source of the Rhine, lies just above the pass.1
Albula Line. Between Preda and Bergün six viaducts and five spiral or helical tunnels overcome 400 m of height — part of the UNESCO World Heritage railway.1
Matter Valley. The first 25 km from Zermatt run beneath 29 four-thousand-metre peaks — starting at the foot of the 4,478 m Matterhorn — past the highest vineyards in Europe.1
Stations on this route
Zermatt
Brig
Andermatt
Chur
Filisur
St. Moritz Bahnhof
The steepest stretch climbs at 125‰ using 31.9 km of cogwheel track, and the longest tunnel — the Furka tunnel at 15.4 km — is what made winter operation possible when it opened in 1982. The Albula and Bernina lines the train uses have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina Landscapes) since 2008.
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