Switzerland will put the world's longest passenger train into service on Saturday as part of the 175th anniversary of the founding of the railways. There are a total of 2 seats on the 1950-car train, which is approximately 25 kilometers (4 m) long. The one-off journey by the Rhaetian Railway will take about an hour.
Which route will the longest passenger train take?
The train journey will travel from Preda to Alvaneu and via the Landwasser Viaduct along the country's UNESCO World Heritage-listed Albula/Bernina route.
The route, which is considered one of the most beautiful routes in the world, will pass through many charming mountain towns, more than 48 bridges and 22 tunnels accompanied by Alpine scenery.
Rhaetian Railways Hill Manager Dr. Renato Fasciati states that they aim to show the beauty of the country's train journeys to the world, as well as to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Swiss railways with the record attempt.
“We had some difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the CEO says.
Underlining that the journey brought with it many technical difficulties, Fasciati says, “When you put the 25 wagons together, the signal should have been enough for the last part to really get information from the first part.”
Fasciati said, “The train was not built for this operation. That's why we had to find really pragmatic solutions to make this wonderful journey."
An additional communication line was installed on the train, which is almost 7 kilometers long, in order to establish communication between the 21 drivers and 2 technicians who will work on the train.
After the journey is completed, the wagons will be separated and will continue to be used for normal train journeys.
Who holds the current record for the longest passenger train?
The current world record was set in 1991 in Belgium by the National Railway Company.
The train was 732,9 meters long and consisted of 70 wagons. A one-time trip for the benefit of a Belgian cancer research association traveled 62,5 km from Ghent to Ostend.
The longest freight train record was broken in Australia in 2001. The length of the train, which belonged to the mining company BHP, was 7.24 km. On the day the record was broken, the train's total tonnage was an astonishing 90. (euronews)
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