The Bernina Express is a train connecting Chur (or Davos) in Switzerland with Poschiavo and Tirano in Italy by crossing the Swiss Alps. For most of its journey, the train also passes along and through the World Heritage Site known as the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes.
The train is operated by the Rhaetian Railway company, mostly for the purpose of sightseeing. It is composed of panoramic coaches in which a piped multi-lingual commentary plays. It is not an express in the sense of being a high-speed train; passengers must pay a small supplement and make a seat reservation. The train is popular with tourists, and connects in Tirano with the Post Bus service via Lake Como in Italy to Lugano in Switzerland.
The Albula line and the Bernina line on the Bernina Express route were jointly declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. The trip on the Bernina Express through this World Heritage Site is a four-hour railway journey across 196 bridges, through 55 tunnels and across the Bernina Pass on the highest point at 2,253 metres in altitude. The entire line is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) (metre gauge).
The Albula line was constructed between 1898 and 1904, and has been operated by the Rhaetian Railway ever since. The Bernina Railway built the Bernina line between 1908 and 1910, and then operated it independently until the 1940s, when the Rhaetian Railway took it over. The Bernina Express uses gradients of 7% to negotiate the difference in height of about 1800 meters from the summit at Ospizio Bernina to Tirano.
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