About this journey

Brig station, opened in 1878 as the eastern terminus of the Simplon Railway, is where the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn metre-gauge tracks begin their 44-kilometre climb into the Mattertal. From here the line runs south through the Rhône Valley, joining the original Visp–Zermatt alignment that first reached Zermatt on 18 July 1891, with the northward extension to Brig following on 5 June 1930 — the same year the inaugural Glacier Express departed Zermatt on 25 June 1930.

The route is a mixed adhesion and rack railway engineered against persistent alpine hazards: six rack sections totalling 7,450 m allow gradients of up to 12.5%, while avalanche shelters — subsidised at 50% by the Canton of Valais from 1932 and completed by autumn 1933 — keep the line operational through winter. Between 1958 and 1989 the major bridges were progressively rebuilt in reinforced concrete to carry heavier axle loadings. The line is electrified at 11,000 volts AC, 16⅔ Hz, with full electric working in place from 1 October 1929. Since 1 January 2003, operations have been managed by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, formed by the merger of the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn and the Furka Oberalp Bahn. The journey ends at the car-free resort of Zermatt, where the Gornergratbahn — opened in 1898 — connects onward into the high mountains above the town.