Items11The creator’s order
  1. 1Jungfrau RailwayJungfrau RailwayThe headline ride, and priced like one. From Kleine Scheidegg the line tunnels through the Eiger and Mönch to Jungfraujoch at 3,454 meters, the highest railway station in Europe, with a brief stop at Eismeer to look out from inside the mountain. At the top, the Sphinx terrace looks down the Aletsch…0
  2. 2Pilatus RailwayPilatus RailwayThe engineering pilgrimage. Opened in 1889, it is the steepest rack railway in the world, with a maximum gradient of 48% on its climb from Alpnachstad on Lake Lucerne to Pilatus Kulm at 2,073 meters. It uses the Locher system, a horizontal double rack laid between the rails, and the 4.6-kilometer…0
  3. 3Gornergrat RailwayGornergrat RailwayThe Matterhorn trip, and the strongest rival to Jungfraujoch for one big summit day. Climbing from Zermatt to 3,089 meters, it is the highest open-air railway in Europe, so the views build all the way up instead of arriving at the end of a tunnel. The operator counts the Matterhorn, 28…0
  4. 4Vitznau–Rigi railway lineVitznau–Rigi railway lineThe best value on this list for many visitors, because the Swiss Travel Pass and the GA travelcard cover the Rigi railways outright. The Vitznau line opened in 1871 and bills itself as Europe's first mountain railway, though a quarry rack line near Bern beat it by a year. It climbs from the shore…0
  5. 5Wengernalp RailwayWengernalp RailwayThe ride most Jungfrau visitors take without noticing it is a sight in itself. At just over 19 kilometers, from Lauterbrunnen through Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg and down to Grindelwald, it calls itself the world's longest continuous rack railway. Wengen has no public road access, so the train is…0
  6. 6Schynige Platte RailwaySchynige Platte RailwayThe vintage ride. Opened in 1893, the line climbs from Wilderswil, just outside Interlaken, to Schynige Platte at about 1,987 meters. Its electric locomotives were built between 1910 and 1914, and it still keeps one of its original steam locomotives. The reward at the top is a view of the Eiger,…0
  7. 7Brienz Rothorn RailwayBrienz Rothorn RailwayThe steam railway. Unusually for Switzerland the line is not electrified, and most trains are still pulled by steam locomotives, pushing up gradients of up to 25% from the lakeside at Brienz to 2,244 meters. The smoke, the noise and the slow, working climb are the experience, as much as the…0
  8. 8StoosbahnStoosbahnNot a rack railway but a funicular, and here for one reason: at a maximum gradient of 110%, it is the steepest in Europe, and the operator, backed by Guinness World Records, calls it the steepest funicular in the world. Opened in December 2017, it rises 744 meters in about 1.7 kilometers to the…0
  9. 9Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway lineMontreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway lineThe pick for anyone based on Lake Geneva rather than in the Bernese Oberland. The rack line climbs straight out of Montreux, past Glion, to the Rochers de Naye at about 1,970 meters, with views over Lake Geneva and across to the French Alps. Its strengths are convenience and a year-round…0
  10. 10Monte Generoso railwayMonte Generoso railwayThe Italian-speaking south's mountain train, and a different kind of view. The 9-kilometer rack line has run up from Capolago on Lake Lugano since 1890, and the summit at 1,701 meters looks out over the Lombardy Plain rather than over glaciers. At the top is the Fiore di Pietra, a summit building…0