The Samedan–Pontresina railway is a Swiss

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, which is operated by the

Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (german: Rhätische Bahn; it, Ferrovia retica; rm, Viafier retica), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB ...

(''Rhätischen Bahn''; RhB). The line runs through the Upper

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ' ...

e and connects

Samedan Samedan (, ) is a town and municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. It is served by Samedan railway station on the Rhaetian Railway network and by the Samedan Airport. History Samedan is first mentioned in 1139 as ''Sa ...

with

Pontresina Pontresina ( rm, Puntraschigna) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. History and name Pontresina was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as ''ad Pontem Sarisinam'' in 1137 and ''de Ponte Sa ...

and provides a link between the

Albula Railway The Albula Railway (german: Albulalinie; it, Linea dell'Albula; rm, Lingia da l'Alvra) is a single track metre gauge railway line forming part of the so-called core network of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerla ...

and the

Bernina Railway The Bernina Railway (german: Berninalinie; it, Linea del Bernina; rm, Lingia dal Bernina) is a single-track railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the canton of Graubünden, Switze ...

. The line is also often considered to be part of the Engadine line from Bever to Scuol-Tarasp with which it is closely linked operationally. The Samedan-Pontresina railway line is part of the RhB mainline network, so the kilometrage (chainage) has its zero point in Landquart.

History

The railway line was opened by the ''Berninabahn-Gesellschaft'' (Bernina Railway Company) together with the Pontresina–

Morteratsch Morteratsch refers to several locations in the Graubünden canton of Switzerland: *Morteratsch Glacier *Piz Morteratsch, a mountain (3751 m) * Val Morteratsch, a valley *Morteratsch railway station Morteratsch railway station is a railway stati ...

section on 1 July 1908. It was the only connection until 1 July 1909 between the RhB trunk network and the Bernina Railway, which was already electrified but with

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

. The Samedan–Pontresina line was electrified with 11 kV 16⅔ Hz AC in 1913.

Operations

Pontresina station is a two-system station. The trains from Samedan uses tracks 1 and 2 and the trains on the Bernina Railway use tracks 4 to 7. Track 3 has a switchable overhead line and is used for example by the

Bernina Express The Bernina Express is a train connecting Chur (or Davos) in Switzerland to Poschiavo in Switzerland and Tirano in Italy by crossing the Swiss Engadin Alps. For most of its journey, the train also runs along the World Heritage Site known as the ...

from to

Tirano Tirano ( lmo, Tiràn, german: Thiran) is a town in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio in northern Italy. It has 9,053 inhabitants (2016) and is adjacent to the Switzerland-Italy border. The river Adda flows through the town. Main ...

and the so-called ''Heidiexpress''. This allows the entry and exit of trains under the required power system as well as changing system used in the station.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * (

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

for the 100-year anniversary of the line) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samedan-Pontresina railway Railway lines in Switzerland Rhaetian Railway lines Metre gauge railways in Switzerland Railway lines opened in 1908 1908 establishments in Switzerland Samedan Pontresina