About this journey

The journey begins at Brig station, which opened in 1878 as the eastern terminus of the Simplon Railway and today serves as the southern gateway for the metre-gauge Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. From here the 44-kilometre Brig–Zermatt line climbs the Mattertal, threading through the Rhône Valley junction at Visp before ascending toward the car-free resort of Zermatt.

The line's origins trace to the Visp-Zermatt-Bahn, which began operations between Visp and Zermatt in 1890–1891. The extension north to Brig opened on 25 June 1930 — the same day the Glacier Express made its inaugural run. Zermatt had already drawn as many as 12,000 tourist visits per year by the 1880s, driven in part by Edward Whymper's ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, yet remained accessible only on foot or by mule until the railway arrived. To manage gradients up to 12.5%, engineers incorporated six Abt rack sections totalling 7,450 metres. Year-round winter operations across the full route became possible only after avalanche shelters were completed in 1933. The BVZ and Furka Oberalp Bahn merged in 2003 to form the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, which operates the line today. At Zermatt station, the Gornergrat Railway — opened in 1898 — continues onward into the high Alps, offering a direct onward connection from the valley terminus.