About this journey

The descent begins at Gornergrat station, perched at 3,089 m above sea level — the highest open-air railway terminus in Europe — where 29 Alpine peaks above 4,000 m surround the ridge on clear days. The Gornergratbahn, which opened on 20 August 1898, was the first electric rack railway built in Switzerland and held the title of highest railway in Europe until 1912. Built to metre gauge and running on the Abt rack system across its full 9,339 m length, the line descends 1,469 m to reach Zermatt at 1,604 m.

The railway's engineering remains unusual: it is one of only four lines in the world powered by three-phase electricity, requiring two overhead conductors with the running rail forming the third. That system has been in place since the line opened, electrified from the start before many mountain railways anywhere had considered it. Year-round operation came gradually — extended to the lower section in 1929 and to the summit only in 1941. The journey ends at Zermatt, a car-free resort where combustion-engine vehicles are not permitted, making the railway one of the principal means of access to and from the valley below.