In 1896, there were only 20 km of standard gauge railway line in Graubünden - and 90 km of narrow gauge railways. The Federal Assembly thereby also decided against another standard gauge transit railway, and a similarly contemplated railway over the Julier Pass. It was only on 30 June 1898 that the Federal Assembly in Bern finally decided on the construction of the Albula Railway. As the Ofenbergbahn, the Engadine-Orient-Railway would also have cut a connection through to the Val Müstair. It would have passed under the Albula Alps through a 12 km long tunnel from the mouth of the Val Tisch to the Inn Valley below Bever. Zeller planned this proposed route as a standard gauge line. In 1895, the Zurich railway pioneer Adolf Guyer-Zeller presented the idea of an Engadine-Orient-Railway, which would have connected Chur, via Thusis and Engadine, and over the Fuorn Pass, with the Vinschgau and Trieste. Holsboer later had to abandon this planned Scalettabahn, in favour of a route through what was to become the Albula Tunnel. In 1890, the Davos hotelier Willem-Jan Holsboer proposed the construction of a rail link from Chur via Davos, and through a tunnel under the Scaletta Pass, to St Moritz, and then onwards via the Maloja Pass, to Chiavenna in Italy. These two changes created suitable conditions for a rapid construction of further RhB lines, which were intended to open up large parts of the Canton. Two years later, the people of Graubünden decided, in a referendum, that the RhB would come under state ownership. In 1895, the LD changed its name to Rhaetian Railway (RhB). Only the success of the Landquart-Davos-Bahn (LD) led to a turning point. Alpine transit traffic was drawn to the Gotthard Railway, so that the construction of transcontinental railways in Graubünden appeared not to be economically viable. Up until 1890, the south east of Switzerland was extremely poorly served by railways. The best known trains operating on the Albula Railway are the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express. On 7 July 2008, the Albula Railway and the Bernina Railway, which also forms part of the RhB, were jointly recorded in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, under the name Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes. With its 55 bridges and 39 tunnels, the 61.67-kilometre long (38.32 mi) line is one of the most spectacular narrow gauge railways in the world. Moritz commenced operations on 10 July 1904. Moritz in Engadine at 1,774 m (5,820 ft).Ĭonstruction of the Albula Railway was begun in September 1898, the opening took place on 1 July 1903, and the extension to St. It links Thusis on the Hinterrhein at 697 m (2,287 ft) and Filisur at 1,080 m (3,540 ft) with the spa resort of St.

The Albula Railway ( German: Albulalinie Italian: Linea dell'Albula Romansh: 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, Switzerland.

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