Realp railway station

Realp

Realp with its station in the centre
Location Bahnhofstrasse 2
6491 Realp
Uri
Switzerland
Coordinates 46°35′56″N 08°30′14″E / 46.59889°N 8.50389°E / 46.59889; 8.50389Coordinates: 46°35′56″N 08°30′14″E / 46.59889°N 8.50389°E / 46.59889; 8.50389
Elevation 1,537.7 m (5,045 ft)
Operated by Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway (nearby)
Line(s) Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO)
Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway(nearby)
Distance 59.39 km (36.90 mi)
from Brig
Connections Local buses
History
Opened 4 July 1926 (1926-07-04)
Electrified 1 July 1942 (1942-07-01)
Location
Realp
Location within Switzerland

Realp railway station is a metre gauge station serving the municipality of Realp, in the Canton of Uri, Switzerland. The station is close to the eastern portal of the Furka Base Tunnel, on the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO), which connects Brig in Valais, via Andermatt in Uri, with Göschenen, Uri, and Disentis/Mustér, Graubünden. Since 1 January 2003, the FO has been owned and operated by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB), following a merger between the FO and the Brig-Visp-Zermatt railway (BVZ).

Not far from Realp station is another railway station, Realp DFB, which serves the Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway, a heritage railway operating in summer over the part of the FO that was replaced by the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982.

Rail services to Realp

The MGB operates daily regional services from Visp via Brig and Realp to Andermatt and beyond,[1] at hourly intervals.

Additionally, the MGB operates frequent car shuttle trains through the Furka Base Tunnel between Realp and Oberwald in Valais.[2]

Every day, several Glacier Express trains, which are operated at this point by the MGB, pass through Realp without stopping, on their journey between Zermatt and either St.Moritz or Davos Platz.[3]

Preceding station   Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn   Following station
toward Visp
Regional services
Swiss timetable 142
Hospental
toward Göschenen
Terminus
Furka car shuttle train
Swiss timetable 1982
Terminus

Rail services to Realp DFB

Following the opening of the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982, the original FO line over the Furka Pass between Realp and Oberwald was abandoned. However, that line has been progressively reopened since 1992, as a heritage railway operated by the DFB.

The first portion to be reopened was the section between Realp and Tiefenbach, which has been operational once again since 11 July 1992, with its Realp terminus being at Realp DFB. On 30 July 1993, the DFB was extended from its then temporary terminus at Tiefenbach to Furka. It has since been further extended, through the Furka Summit Tunnel and Muttbach-Belvédère to Gletsch.

At a ceremony to be held on 12 August 2010, the rest of the superseded ex-FO line will return to operation, following the completion of another DFB extension, this time from Gletsch to Oberwald.[4] The formal reopening of that portion of the line will follow the driving of a gold spike at a ceremony on 18 June 2010 to mark its physical reconnection.[5]

Scheduled DFB services between Gletsch and Oberwald will then commence on 13 August 2010.[6] From that point onwards, there will once again be a train service from Realp all the way over the Furka Pass to Oberwald and return.

Preceding station   Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway   Following station
toward Oberwald
Heritage railway
Operated by steam engines
Terminus

See also

References

Notes

  1. Swiss timetable 142.
  2. Swiss timetable 1982.
  3. Swiss timetable 144.
  4. Opening Gletsch-Oberwald 2010 (German) (accessed 2010-07-11)
  5. News:Spike driven, line goes through (German) (accessed 2010-07-11)
  6. Opening Gletsch-Oberwald 2010 (German) (accessed 2010-07-11)

Further reading

External links

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