The world’s longest passenger train consisting of 100 connecting coaches stretched for more than a mile as it snaked through the Swiss alps.
The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) said it had beaten the world record for the longest passenger train at an event marking the 175th anniversary of Switzerland’s famous railway system.
The 6,266-foot train, made up of 25 multiple-unit trains and carrying 150 passengers, travelled through the Alps in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubunden.
RhB chief Renato Fasciati said the locomotive was ‘Swiss perfection’ as it wound through the mountains.
Although there are freight trains that are longer – with some lengthier than three kilometres – the ‘Alpine Cruise’ is the longest passenger train to ever run.
The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) announced it had beat the world record for the longest passenger train, at an event marking the 175th anniversary of Switzerland’s famous railway system
The 6,266-foot train, made up of 25 separable multiple-unit trains and carrying 150 passengers, travelled through the Alps in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubunden
RhB chief Renato Fasciati said the locomotive was ‘Swiss perfection’ as it snaked through the mountains
Although there are freight trains that are longer – with some measuring over three kilometres – the ‘Alpine Cruise’ is the longest passenger train to ever run
The immense vehicle was several hundred metres longer than the Belgian train which held the unofficial world record in the 90s, an RhB spokesman said.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the ‘Alpine Cruise’ took the spiraling route from Preda to Alvaneu in less than 45 minutes.
Figures showed that 3,000 people watched the historic event on a giant screen set up at the halfway-point in the journey near Bergun.
It was several hundred metres longer than a train that held the unofficial previous record, in Belgium in the 1990s, an RhB spokesman said
It took the spectacular, spiralling Albula/Bernina route, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, covering the nearly 25 kilometres from Preda to Alvaneu in less than 45 minutes
Statistics show that 3,000 people watched the train on a giant screen set up near Bergun – the halfway-point in the journey
Swiss media broadcast aerial footage showing the train at several levels simultaneously, with its snout exiting one tunnel as carriages further back were sliding through others
It wound through 22 helical tunnels and crossing 48 bridges along the way, including the majestic Landwasser Viaduct, towering 65 metres over the ravine below
It wound through 22 helical tunnels and crossed 48 bridges along the way, including the majestic Landwasser Viaduct.
Swiss media broadcast aerial footage showing the train at several levels simultaneously, with its nose leaving one tunnel as carriages further back slide through others.
The road up to the various look-out points was closed off to traffic, but many hiked or biked up the mountainside seeking out the best view.
The road up to the various look-out points was closed off to traffic, but many hiked or biked up the mountainside seeking out the best view
As the train made its way down one mountainside, a flock of people on bikes tried to follow alongside it on a parallel path
Few countries have a rail network as dense as Switzerland with approximately 196 miles of track per 1,000 square miles, according to Railbookers
Tourists sit down and lounge in the sun as the observe and film the red ‘Alpine Cruise’ winds through the Swiss alps
And as the train made its way down one mountainside, a flock of people on bikes tried to follow alongside it on a parallel path.
Few countries have a rail network as dense as Switzerland, which has 196 miles of track per 1,000 square miles of land, according to Railbookers.
The wealthy Alpine country saw the departure of its first train service on August 9, 1847, linking Zurich with Baden, 23 kilometres to the northwest – a trip which took 33 minutes.