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The
rail network
of
Switzerland
is one of the
densest
and
spectacular
in the world.
It covers
a total
length of
5063
km
of
lines
with
3652
km
on
international
gauge
1435
mm,
1312
km
on
metre
gauge
and
68.5
km
of 800
mm or
750 mm
gauge.
Most of
the
network (98.4%)
is
electrified,
typically
15kV
- 16
2 / 3
Hz.
Many
lines
have
sections
with
rack
system and
helical
paths
to gain
altitude
or
long
tunnels.
There are two
main axis,
one
east-west
and another
north-south.
The
east-west
axis
links
Genève
(west)
and
St. Gallen
(east),
passing
major cities
like
Zurich,
Bern, Lausanne,
Olten,
etc.
There
is a lot of
internal
passenger
and goods
traffic,
the
inverse
of the
north-south
axis,
dominated
by
international travel.
The
north-south
axis
consists of
two lines
that
cross
the Alps,
one via
Lötschberg
base
tunnel
(34 km)
and the other
via
the
Gotthard
tunnel
(15
km).
The
Gotthard basis tunnel will be
the longest
in the world
with
55 km.
The
international
gauge
network
is
concentrated
mainly
in the north
while
in
the
Alps area
there are more metric gauge railways.
The main
network
in southern Switzerland is the axis
Zermatt-Brig-Andermatt-Chur/Davos/St.Moritz
axis,
where
it runs
the famous
Glacier
Express.
There
are many
turistic railways
that
climb
the mountains,
such as
rack railways
of the Rigi,
the
Pilatus,
the
Rochers-de-Naye,
or
the
Gornergrat
as well as the trains
to
Jungfraujoch
from
Interlaken.
The
Jungfraujoch
railway
station
is the
highest in
Europe
at
3454
metres above
sea level.
There
are cities
that
have
tram
networks
(mostly
gauge
of 1,000
mm) and
Lausanne
has
a small
underground
network. |
Català
Switzerland railways
Select a network
on the map or the company list:
