Furka DFB railway station is a

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

railway station at the eastern portal of the

Furka Summit Tunnel The Furka Summit Tunnel (german: Furka-Scheiteltunnel) is a long railway tunnel in southern Switzerland. It lies at an altitude of . The summit tunnel was completed in 1925, and first opened on 3 July 1926. It links the Furka railway station, in ...

, in the Canton of

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The station was opened in 1926. It was then owned and operated from that point until 1981 by the

Furka Oberalp Bahn The Furka Oberalp Railway (german: link=no, Furka Oberalp Bahn) is a narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of . It runs in the Graubünden, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003, it is part of the Matterhorn Gott ...

(FO), which connects

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

, via

Andermatt Andermatt ( rm, ) is a mountain village and municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. At an elevation of above sea level, Andermatt is located at the center of the Saint-Gotthard Massif and the historical ce ...

in Uri, with

Göschenen Göschenen (German, it, Casinotta, rm, Caschanuttais) a village and municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. It sits at the northern end of the Gotthard tunnel. The Göschenen riots (1875) saw Urner troops opening fire on Italian miners ...

, Uri, and

Disentis/Mustér Disentis (German) or Mustér (, Romansh), with its official name Disentis/Mustér is a village and a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The skiing and summer tourism resort high up in the Rhine valley is th ...

, Graubünden. In 1982, the original portion of the FO between

Oberwald Oberwald is a village in the municipality of Obergoms in Goms District in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is situated at an elevation of 1,377 m and had a population of 277 in December 2007. It is located at the end of the Goms, directly ...

in Valais and

Realp Realp (archaic : ''Frialp'') is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History Realp is first mentioned in 1363 as ''Riealb''. Geography Realp has an area, , of . Of this area, 41.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.3% i ...

in Uri, including the Furka railway station, was replaced by an FO line passing through the then new

Furka Base Tunnel The Furka Base Tunnel is a Swiss railway base tunnel on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn's Furka–Oberalp line, an east-west railway connecting the cantons of Valais and Uri. Its west portal lies east of Oberwald (VS), at above sea level and its ...

. The superseded portion of the FO line was abandoned. Since , the abandoned portion of the FO line has been progressively reopened from Realp, as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

operated by the

Furka Steam Railway The Furka Steam Railway (german: Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke (DFB)) is a largely volunteer-operated heritage railway which operates a partially rack and pinion-operated line across the Furka Pass, between Realp in Canton of Uri, Uri and Oberwald ...

(DFB). On , the DFB was extended from its then temporary terminus at Tiefenbach to Furka via the Steinstafel Viaduct, and the station at Furka was reopened. The station building, reconstructed for the reopening, houses a small restaurant, public conveniences, and a modern block system to control safeworking in the Summit Tunnel. On , the DFB was extended further, from Furka to

Gletsch Gletsch () is a hamlet in the German-speaking half of the canton of Valais, located in the upper Rhone valley, called Obergoms ('Upper Goms'), , southeast below the Rhone Glacier's mouth and itself the headwaters of the Rhône. It is called Gle ...

, via the

. Furka is the summit of the DFB line, as well as the highest railway station in the canton of Uri. As a general rule, DFB

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s travel downhill with the driving cab facing in the direction of travel, to optimise water levels in the locomotives' boilers. A DFB

operating a train between Realp and Gletsch therefore usually needs to be turned on Furka's restored turntable, in preparation for its descent. DFB Stationsgebäude Furka 2021-08-20.jpg, station building (2021)

References

* * * * {{in lang, en

External links

Furka Steam Railway

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn

Official timetable of Switzerland
Railway stations in the canton of Uri Railway stations in Switzerland opened in 1926

See also

References

External links