Lötschen Pass
| Lötschberg | |
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| Lötschen Pass | |
The Lötschen Pass (left) from the glacier
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| Elevation | 2,676 m (8,780 ft) |
| Traversed by | Trail (2,690 m) Railway tunnels |
| Location | Berne/Valais, Switzerland |
| Range | Bernese Alps |
| Coordinates | 46°24′58″N 7°42′59″E / 46.41611°N 7.71639°ECoordinates: 46°24′58″N 7°42′59″E / 46.41611°N 7.71639°E |
| Topo map | Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo |
 Location in Switzerland
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The Lötschberg is an Alpine mountain massif and usually associated with a major, historically important transit axis of the Alps in Switzerland with, at its core, the Lötschen Pass (German: Lötschenpass, Swiss German: Lötschepass). The mountain pass, which culminates at nearly 2,700 metres above sea level, are part of the eastern Bernese Alps, whose main crest straddles the border between the cantons of Berne and Valais. The valleys concerned by the Lötschberg are those of the Kander in the Berner Oberland, with Kandersteg at the head of it, and a secluded side-valley of the Upper Valais, the Lötschental, with Ferden at the valley's entrance and at the bottom of the pass.
Although the Lötschberg is one of the main north-south axes through the Alps, it is not on the main chain of the Alps, the Pennine Alps, further south, making up the main water divide. As a main north-south axis through the Alps, the Lötschberg is thus completed by the Simplon, between Brig and Domodossola in Italy. The Lötschberg alone constitutes an important shortcut from the Swiss Plateau to the Upper Valais, the alternative route involving a long detour via the lower Rhone Valley (Monthey) around the western end of the Bernese Alps.
The Lötschberg is crossed by two railway lines and tunnels. The first line, the Lötschberg railway line was opened to traffic in 1913. It has at its centre the 14.6 kilometre-long Lötschberg (Culmination) Tunnel, with portals in Kandersteg (BE) and Goppenstein (VS). It culminates at a height of 1,240 metres and is the highest railway on the main Swiss network. The second line uses, since 2007, the 34.6 kilometre-long Lötschberg Base Tunnel, which has its portals in Frutigen (BE) and Raron (VS). The maximum height of the new railway is 828 metres. Both railways are connected to the Simplon railway, which runs from Lausanne to Domodossola (and further to Milan) via the Simplon Tunnel.
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Wikipedia