About this journey

Champéry station sits at 1,049 metres in the Swiss Alps, the upper terminus of a metre-gauge line that descends 645 metres over 23.14 kilometres to reach Aigle station in the Rhône valley below. The railway is operated by the AOMC under the umbrella of the Transports Publics du Chablais, running on 850 V DC overhead electrification and assisted over 3.66 kilometres of the descent by the Strub rack system, which allows the line to negotiate gradients of up to 13.5%.

The route has its roots in two separate concessions: one awarded on 6 February 1899 for the Aigle–Monthey section, and a second on 22 June 1899 for the extension to Champéry. The lower portion opened on 3 April 1907, and the upper section through to Champéry followed on 30 January 1908. The two predecessor companies merged on 1 January 1946 to form the AOMC. At Aigle station, where construction work between 2006 and 2007 consolidated the narrow-gauge platforms alongside the main line, the AOMC connects directly with the standard-gauge Simplon line of Swiss Federal Railways. The journey thus moves from a high Alpine resort terminus, through rack-assisted mountain gradients, to a valley interchange where mountain railway and national network meet.