2023-06-03 04:02:51
The Bernina Express of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) celebrates its 50th anniversary this Saturday. It has been connecting Chur with Tirano (Italy) daily since June 3, 1973. It has transported nearly 10 million travelers from all over the world.
The line on which the Bernina Express train runs is ‘the highest year-round rail link through the Alps’, according to the RhB. In 2008, it received the UNESCO World Heritage label.
A rail connection between Graubünden and northern Italy already existed in the 1960s. The initial aim was to connect the regions of Zurich and Eastern Switzerland to Milan via Graubünden. On the Italian side, the Milan-Tirano line was fitted out, but it was not successful. Traveling over the Bernina Pass, on the other hand, quickly grew in popularity and the RhBs introduced direct connections between Chur and Tirano.
Target Marketing
With the timetable change of June 3, 1973, the connection between Chur and Tirano became the Bernina Express, a line marketed for tourist purposes with targeted marketing. Criticisms were raised within the RhB, because was frowned upon, but those in charge ‘continued imperturbably on this path’, recalls the railway company.
The Bernina Express is today ‘one of the best-known trains and enjoys great international renown’, say the RhB. It is of ‘great importance for the rest of Graubünden tourism and for Switzerland as a tourist destination’. Over the next few years, the RhB plans to upgrade the Bernina Express rolling stock once more or acquire additional panorama cars.
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