Bernina Express Route

Chur → Tirano via the Albula Line and Bernina Pass

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The Bernina Express is the Rhaetian Railway's panoramic train from Chur to Tirano. It crosses the Alps in about 4 hours, over 196 bridges and through 55 tunnels, and tops out at Ospizio Bernina, 2,253 m, the highest railway crossing in Europe. The whole climb is made by adhesion, with no rack, on a line that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.

Poster of the Bernina Express — **On your wall**The Bernina Express on the Atlas map, as a 50 × 70 cm poster. The style, size and words are yours to change.

Route facts

Duration	≈ 4 h Chur–Tirano (St. Moritz–Tirano ≈ 2 h 15)¹
Distance	148 km, with 196 bridges and 55 tunnels²
Highest point	Ospizio Bernina, 2,253 m; the highest point of the RhB network³
Gradient	Up to 70‰ (7%) with no rack, among the steepest adhesion railways in the world³
Operator	Rhaetian Railway (RhB)¹
Reservations	Compulsory on train and connecting bus; CHF 36 high season / CHF 32 low season (2025/26)²
Fares (2025/26)	Chur–Tirano CHF 96 (2nd) / CHF 164 (1st); last-minute offers from CHF 79 incl. reservation. Book at rhb.ch⁴
Season	Year-round; connecting Bernina Express Bus to Lugano runs March–October⁴
Line opened	5 July 1910; UNESCO World Heritage since 7 July 2008⁵

Height along the route

The height of the track, from AWS Open Data terrain tiles along Trainmap's route. Through tunnels and over bridges, which come from OpenStreetMap, the line runs straight from one end to the other. The highest station is Pontresina, at 1,780 m.

Scenic highlights

Landwasser Viaduct. The best-known structure on the Albula line, near Filisur. The train leaves a tunnel in the cliff face and runs straight onto the curved stone viaduct, 65 m high. Side to sit: right heading south, left heading north (Seat 61).⁴
Montebello Curve. Near Pontresina the line turns to face the Morteratsch Glacier below the Bernina massif.⁶
Ospizio Bernina & Lago Bianco. The highest point of the line, at 2,253 m, where the track runs along the shore of the Lago Bianco reservoir on the Bernina Pass. Side to sit: right heading south (Seat 61).³
Alp Grüm. At 2,091 m, where the steep descent into Val Poschiavo begins, with views over the Palü Glacier.⁴
Brusio Circular Viaduct. A 116 m spiral viaduct built only to lose height. On the last descent to Tirano the train loops round and crosses over its own track.⁵

Stations on this route

Chur
Filisur
Samedan
Pontresina
Tirano RhB

UNESCO inscribed the Albula and Bernina lines in 2008 as "exemplary of the use of the railway to overcome the isolation of settlements in the Central Alps". According to the World Heritage listing, the 61 km Bernina pass line alone has 13 tunnels and galleries and 52 viaducts and bridges. Trains run all year, through meadows in summer and deep snow in winter.