About this journey

Göschenen station sits at the northern mouth of the Gotthard Tunnel, where the standard-gauge Gotthard railway meets the metre-gauge network of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. From here, the Schöllenenbahn — a metre-gauge branch just 3.75 kilometres long, operated by the MGB — descends into the valley toward Andermatt, linking the Gotthard main line to the broader southern metre-gauge system. The importance of the Göschenen junction diminished after the Gotthard Base Tunnel opened in 2016 and the Ceneri Base Tunnel followed in 2020, shifting the principal north–south traffic onto the new low-level routes.

The journey follows MGB Line 610 south through the Alpine terrain to Realp, a station close to the eastern portal of the Furka Base Tunnel. The MGB itself was formed on 1 January 2003, when the former Furka-Oberalp Bahn merged with the Brig-Visp-Zermatt railway. Realp retains a particular historical layering: the Furka Base Tunnel replaced the original high-mountain FO route in 1982, and the Furka Steam Railway now operates over that displaced mountain section in summer. The Glacier Express passes through Realp without stopping, having ceased calling there in late 2015. Car-shuttle trains run frequently through the Furka Base Tunnel to Oberwald, keeping Realp a working junction even as the grander passenger services pass it by.