A Swiss railway company broke the record for the world’s longest passenger train on Saturday as part of celebrations marking the 175th anniversary of railways in the country. The train consisted of 4,550 seats spread over 100 cars. The world record journey was organized by Rhaetian Railway and lasted about an hour. Rail enthusiasts filled the valley to watch the train wind its way through the Alps for about 25 km.
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Where was the Longest Passenger Train Journey?
Namely, the 1,910m long passenger train traveled along the UNESCO World Heritage Albula/Bernina route from Preda to Alvaneu and over the Landwasser Viaduct. This is considered one of the most spectacular train routes in the world thanks to the magnificent Alpine scenery. It glides through many quaint mountain towns and crosses dozens of viaducts and bridges. According to Dr. Renato Fasciati, CEO of Rhaetian Railway, the world record attempt was organized to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Swiss railways and at the same time to show the world the beauty of Swiss train journeys.
“We had some troubles in the corona crisis (COVID 19 pandemic), so we lost 30 percent of our turnover for guests on the train, and so we tried to find a good event to raise awareness of the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage. So this world record attempt is a great reason and a great tool for us to show the world this beautiful railway.”
And how did the journey take place?
Fasciati says that with such a long vehicle, controlling the wagons is crucial:
“When you put 25 trains together, the signal had to be enough for the last train to actually get information from the first train. Also the train is not made for this process and so we had to find a safe but very pragmatic solution that really helped us to make this wonderful train.”
And for the train, which was almost 2 km long, communication on the train was very important but difficult. A field telephone was installed almost 2 km long. 7 train drivers and 21 technicians worked on the train to keep things running smoothly. The train will now be divided into separate parts and used for regular traffic.