Visp-Zermatt-Bahn
| BVZ Zermatt-Bahn | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Contrasting railcars at Zermatt station.
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| Overview | |||
| Type | Heavy rail | ||
| System | Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn | ||
| Status | Open | ||
| Locale | Mattertal, Valais, Switzerland | ||
| Termini |
Brig Zermatt |
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| Stations | 9 | ||
| Services | Rhone Valley and Mattertal | ||
| Website |
Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn BVZ Holding AG |
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| Operation | |||
| Opened | 3 July 1890 / 18 July 1891 | ||
| Owner | |||
| Operator(s) | Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn | ||
| Depot(s) | Glisergrund | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 43.985 km (27.331 mi) | ||
| Number of tracks | Single track | ||
| Track gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) | ||
| Minimum radius | 80 m (260 ft) | ||
| Electrification |
Overhead catenary, 11 kV AC 16 2/3 Hz |
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| Highest elevation | 1,605.2 m (5,266 ft) above sea level |
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| Maximum incline | Adhesion 2.5% Rack rail 12.5% |
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| Rack system | Abt | ||
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The Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ) – officially known between 1991 and 2002 as the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn – is a metre gauge railway in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. Its 44 kilometre long line links the communities of Brig and Visp in the Rhone Valley with Täsch and the car free holiday resort of Zermatt in the Mattertal. The BVZ also forms part of the much travelled and admired route of the Glacier Express between St. Moritz and Zermatt. Opened in 1891 as the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (VZ), the BVZ merged on 1 January 2003 with the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) to form the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB).
The Gornergratbahn (which was opened in 1898) is connected with the BVZ (and therefore the MGB) at Zermatt.
The mountain village of Zermatt first gained major recognition in Europe in light of the inaugural ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper in 1865. From then onwards, the number of overnight visitors rose steadily, even though the village itself was only reachable by a lengthy march on foot through the barren valley of Zermatt. Even the simple mule ride as far as St. Niklaus took a long time. Nevertheless, by the 1880s there were already as many as 12,000 tourist visits to Zermatt each year. To promote tourism in the valley, and especially in Zermatt itself, plans soon emerged to build a railway line intended to connect the emerging spa with the Rhone Valley.
On 21 September 1886, the Swiss Federal Council granted the banking house Masson, Chavannes & Co. in Lausanne and the Basler Handelsbank an initial concession. The original request was for a 750 mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in) narrow gauge railway from Visp to Zermatt, using a mixture of adhesion and rack railway line. At the insistence of the Bundesrat, the gauge was finally altered to metre gauge. The railway was at the outset to be operated from the start of June to the end of September, as the promoters did not wish to take on the risks of operating the line in an alpine winter. Additionally, it was only in summer that there were prospects of significant numbers of passengers, as in those days winter tourism was still of no great importance. Nevertheless, the Bundesrat reserved the right to extend the operating season, and similarly stipulated that concessionary fares be offered to locals.
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Wikipedia