Rhaetian Railway Achieves World Record

On Saturday, 29 October, Rhaetian Railway successfully made its world record attempt at being the longest passenger train in the world, travelling on the UNESCO World Heritage route from the Albula Tunnel in Preda to the famous Landwasser Viaduct near Filisur.

Rhaetian Railway first announced that it would be making such an attempt in June this year.

The train was comprised of 25 four-car Capricorn multiple units manufactured by Stadler and measured 1,906m in length. The train was assembled Friday to Saturday night before departing from Preda at 2:20pm. Shortly after 3:30pm the record-breaking train reached its destination: the spectacular Landwasser Viaduct. The total journey was just shy of 25km.

29 Oct 2022: Rhaetian Railway successfully breaks world record to run longest passenger train in the world
29 Oct 2022: Rhaetian Railway successfully breaks world record to run longest passenger train in the world

In total, the train covered 789.4m of altitude across 48 bridges and through 22 tunnels. The Landwasser Viaduct is 142m long and sits at a height of 65m. The longest tunnel on the route has a length of 698m.

A total of 4,000kWh of energy was produced during the attempt via regenerative braking.

The train travelled at 30–35km/h. It weighed 2,990 tonnes.

There were seven train drivers and 21 technicians on board to drive the train. Communication within the train was established by a field telephone almost 2km in length, which was provided by civil defence.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ officially confirmed the success of the attempt on site.

The whole event was accompanied by a railway festival attended by around 3,000 visitors who wanted to witness the attempt.

Renato Fasciati, Director of RhB, said:

“After intensive preparation, we are overjoyed to have achieved this world record. Not only did we have a wonderful railway festival here in Bergün, but we were able to present ourselves around the world as a fascinating and innovative mountain railway thanks to our dedicated partners, sponsors and incredibly dedicated team.”

The line’s normal timetable resumed on 30 October.

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