World's longest passenger train in Swiss Alps
A Swiss railway company claimed the record for the world’s longest passenger train Saturday with a trip on one of the most spectacular tracks through the Alps.
The Rhaetian Railway company ran the 1.9-kilometre-long train composed of 100 coaches along the Albula-Bernina route from Preda to Bergün.
The route was designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 2008 and leads through 22 tunnels, some of which spiral through mountains, and across 48 bridges, including the curved Landwasser Viaduct.
"We have this railway line with a lot of viaducts and this spiral of tunnels... It's a viaduct with a radius of 100 metres, and then the line goes directly into a rock face, into a tunnel and this is really fantastic" said Fasciati.
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.
Some 3,000 people who had snapped up coveted tickets, watched the trip on a giant screen set up near Bergun, at the halfway-point in the historic journey.
Others lined the mountain roads and paths, cheering as the giant train slowly snaked between autumn-coloured trees.
It wound through 22 helical tunnels and crossed 48 bridges along the way, including the majestic Landwasser Viaduct, towering 65 metres over the ravine below.
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.
