THE PASS ..Lake Bianco

The Bernina Express is an express train connecting Chur (or Davos) in Switzerland with Poschiavo and Tirano in Italy, by crossing the Swiss Alps from north to south. 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. It is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train, but, rather, in the sense that it provides a one-seat ride for a long duration trip. The Bernina Express itself is composed of panoramic coaches with a piped multi-lingual commentary, and a small supplement and seat reservation are both obligatory. 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 4 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 1908-1910, and then operated it independently until the 1940s, when the Rhaetian Railway took it over. The Bernina Express uses gradients of 7% to achieve a difference in height of about 1800 meters from the summit at Ospizio Bernina to Tirano. SWITZERLAND AUTUMN 2012 See where this picture was taken. [?]