Between the railway pioneers of the 19th century and the modern high-performance Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn lie over a hundred years of ground-breaking developments. The success stories of the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn AG and the Furka Oberalp Bahn AG led to today’s new adventure railway in the Alps, the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn.

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn

Alpine Adventure Railway

To place the young success story of the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway under "History" would be almost inappropriate. Rather, it is its future stories which will mark a new, impressive milestone in Swiss railway history. On 1 January 2003, BVZ Zermatt-Bahn AG and Furka Oberalp Bahn AG merged to form a joint railway undertaking: the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway. Ambitious journey of success
Representing a pioneering event in Alpine transport, the journey of success by the most important metre gauge railways from the Upper Valais, Uri and Surselva in the Grisons has culminated in a modern railway: the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway. In the medium term, the newly merged railway undertaking wants to win the market leadership in public transport in the Upper Valais, the Urserental valley and in the Surselva region. In the long term, the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway has set itself the target of being some day t h e "Alpine Adventure Railway". The omens for this are good, the first measures have already been initiated: The re-orientation of the Glacier Express with the purchase of new rolling stock in 2005 and the introduction of the new operating concept are two major steps on this path. With attractive services on offer, the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway will create additional benefit for its passengers, staff, owners and customers. Key projects set signals
The ambitious will to achieve the utmost and aim for innovative strategic targets stems from the two merged railways' strong roots. Major projects, such as the Täsch Top Terminal, Visp railway station as a full-scale junction, as well as the high-level station in Brig with an eastern exit are the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway's key projects in den coming years. The expansion in regional transport and a simultaneous further development to become a tourist railway create the basis for improvements in quality and higher efficiency. Approx. 500 qualified and motivated employees make their own contribution to the smooth running of the complex train service. Imposing route mileage
The newly merged railway extends over 144 km from Zermatt to Disentis, and from Andermatt to Göschenen, and is located at the middle of the Alpine area. It overcomes a total of some 3300 metres' difference in altitude, runs through 33 tunnels and galleries, crosses 126 bridges and links 47 stations en route. Several million guests use the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway annually; 1.2 million of them with Zermatt as their destination.