About this journey

Rothenbrunnen lies on the Landquart–Thusis line, one of the earliest arteries of the Rhaetian Railway network. The line between Chur and Thusis opened in 1896, part of a rapid expansion that followed the ground-breaking ceremony of 29 June 1888, when metre-gauge construction began after the mountainous terrain ruled out the originally planned standard-gauge route. All RhB lines share the same 1,000 mm gauge and are electrified at 11 kV 16.7 Hz AC, a consistent engineering standard that binds 385 kilometres of line, 102 stations, and 10 routes into Switzerland's largest private railway network.

From Rothenbrunnen the line follows the course of the Rhine northward through the Domleschg Valley, a corridor shaped by the river and enclosed by the surrounding ranges. Hauling the train is a Ge 6/6 I — the Rhaetian Crocodile — one of the most recognised locomotives associated with the RhB. The journey ends at Chur station, which opened on 30 June 1858 and serves as the principal railway junction of the canton of Graubünden. In 1896 the Swiss Federal Council required the RhB to integrate into that existing station rather than construct its own, making Chur the point where the RhB's metre-gauge network meets the broader Swiss rail system — a contrast between the valley's unhurried riverside approach and the convergence of lines at the terminus.