The Samedan–Pontresina railway is a Swiss

metre-gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

railway, which is operated by the

Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Cantons of Switzerland, ...

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

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine (;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 ''Gidegna'' ...

e and connects

Samedan Samedan (, locally ) is a town and municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Maloja Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Grisons. It is served by Samedan railway station on the Rhaetian Railway network and ...

with

Pontresina Pontresina () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Maloja Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. History and name Pontresina was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as ''ad Pontem Sa ...

and provides a link between the

Albula Railway The Albula railway line (; ; ) is a Single track (rail), single track metre gauge railway line forming part of the core network of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It links Thusis (Rhae ...

and the

Bernina Railway The Bernina railway line (; ; ) is a Single track (rail), single-track railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, with the tow ...

. 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 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 electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

. The Samedan–Pontresina line was electrified with 11 kV 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 Panorama Express (PE) train connecting Chur to 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 Rhaetian Railway in the Albula ...

from to

Tirano Tirano (; ) is a town and (municipality) in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy (northern Italy). It has 9,053 inhabitants (2016) and is adjacent to the Italy–Switzerland border. The river Adda (river), Adda flows through ...

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