About this journey

Realp station in the Canton of Uri sits close to the eastern portal of the Furka Base Tunnel, the metre-gauge bore that links Uri with the Canton of Valais through the heart of the Swiss Alps. The tunnel opened in 1982, at which point the original Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) line over the Furka Pass between Realp and Oberwald was abandoned for regular service. The FO itself was later absorbed into the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB) on 1 January 2003, following a merger with the Brig-Visp-Zermatt railway.

The locomotive hauling this journey is the FO HG 3/4 4, built by SLM in 1913 — a reminder that the mountain corridor between these two stations has a long and layered railway history. Alongside the modern base tunnel, volunteers progressively restored the old high-mountain route over the Furka Pass as a heritage line, reopening the first section on 11 July 1992 and completing the full connection from Realp to Oberwald by 2010, when Oberwald became a heritage stop on 13 August 2010. The base tunnel also carries frequent car shuttle trains, allowing vehicles to cross the mountain year-round, while the heritage Furka Steam Railway (DFB) operates over the pass only between June and October. Oberwald station, near the western portal, marks the crossing into Valais and the end of this underground transit through the Alps.