World's Greatest Train Journeys From Above

This is the Glacier Express, an extraordinary train journey

that winds through the mountains of Switzerland like no other.

Beginning in the south east of the country, at Saint Moritz,

it travels 290 kilometers along alpine peaks,

over treacherous gorges, and through mountain ranges,

ending underneath the world-famous Matterhorn at Zermatt.

Filmed from above,

this series showcases some of the most incredible railways on Earth.

We'll gain a unique aerial insight into these remarkable trains,

and the extraordinary landscapes they pass through,

revealing the technology that built them,

and the dedicated people who keep them running.

We'll uncover the culture, the history, and the engineering

that makes these The World's Greatest Train Journeys From Above.

Landlocked in Central Europe,

Switzerland is dominated on its southern border by the Eastern Alps.

This is Western Europe's most mountainous country,

over 200 peaks, of which 48 top 4,000 meters.

Little wonder then that tourists come from around the world

to walk, ski, and climb in this majestic scenery.

Many of them come here, to Saint Moritz.

Made famous as a spa resort in the 19th century,

due to its mineral springs and around 300 days of sunshine a year,

Saint Moritz is the birthplace of alpine tourism,

and twice hosted the Winter Olympics.

It's also the starting point for one of only four railways

in the world to be granted UNESCO World Heritage status:

The Glacier Express.

Now we have a temperature from 20 degrees minus. Very cold.

Carsten Fischer is in charge of the train today.

He will cover the first part of the eight-hour journey.

Before, I was a bus driver in Saint Moritz. I prefer driving the train.

It's a dream while I was a child. Finally I got there, and I love it.

Before the passengers board,

the engine needs to be coupled to the carriages.

So, now my colleague is controlling

if the brakes are on the wheel.

These lines are critical.

They carry hydraulic air for the brakes and power for the heating.

A failure could be catastrophic, so there's a back-up for each line.

Now we are ready for our take-off. (laughs)

Okay.

In an average year,

the train hosts up to a quarter of a million passengers,

80% of whom travel from abroad.

From above, this breath-taking route has many challenges ahead.

From Saint Moritz, the line travels 291 kilometers west,

to Zermatt, crisscrossing five alpine valleys.

Keeping the train running in all weather requires a dedicated team,

working tirelessly to ensure that nothing interferes

with passengers' enjoyment of the spectacular journey.

Preparations for today's trip

began long before the train departed from Saint Moritz.

Overnight heavy snowfall has blocked the route.

Keeping it clear at all times is the job of maintenance manager Guido Monn.

GUIDO (translated): Today, the important thing is that we clear the track well,

and that should keep it clear all day, if there is no more snowfall later.

That's the goal, and hopefully we will succeed.

13 kilometers of track are currently blocked,

so Guido is using brute force to clear them: a heavy-duty, 25-ton snow blower.

Four blades cut through the snow,

using centrifugal force to blast it away from the tracks.

But Guido has to keep a close eye on where it's redeposited.

When the trees stand like that, and lots of snow falls on them, they tilt heavily.

More and more snow means they could fall onto the overhead line

We have quite a lot of forest there,

and trees are always falling down onto the overhead line.

Virtually the whole Swiss rail network is electrified,

largely powered by renewables.

With 15% of the population relying on trains to commute to work,

keeping these tracks open is important for the economy, as well as for tourists.

This locomotive is one of the few in Switzerland that's diesel powered.

If we had an electric motor and there's a power outage, we can't drive.

Clearing these deep snowdrifts means constant vehicle maintenance.

We always have to check when the snow builds up on the roof.

It can damage the electric cable or pull it down.

It's backbreaking work,

but Guido knows it's essential for the railway and its passengers.

For tourists,

coming here and seeing so much snow is entertaining of course

but they don't know how much work is behind keeping such a route clear.

As dawn approaches, Guido and his team have cleared the line.

The men are very proud of the feat that they have to accomplish

when there is so much snow

With unhindered tracks, the Glacier Express can make headway.

It's now passing Celerina, a 16th century village which has a thriving jazz scene.

So much so, it's known as the "Swiss New Orleans."

At a top speed of just 88 kilometers per hour, this train isn't built to be fast.

Instead, its four electric motors are all about traction:

the ability to haul heavy carriages up steep inclines.

Over the route, the line climbs a combined vertical height of almost 2.4 kilometers.

It was constructed 130 years ago,

to attract tourists to the spa hotels which lined the Engadin Valley.

At the time,

few were willing to make the 14-hour horse and coach trip through the mountains.

A train could make the same journey in just two hours.

However, planning the route, engineers faced a problem:

the Crasta Mora mountain range.

It was impossible to go over, and circumventing it

would've added hours to the journey, so a bold decision was made.

We're now entering the Albula Tunnel.

To tunnel through the entire mountain.

In 1898, 1,300 men set out to dig through nine kilometers of solid rock.

One and a half kilometers in, they struck multiple underground springs,

creating mudflows that completely blocked the tunnel.

It took over a year to painstakingly divert the water through pipelines.

The work was so dangerous,

that 16 men lost their lives in its four-year construction.

A monument to the workers' perseverance,

the Albula is currently the highest mainline tunnel in the Alps.

But that's about to change.

Now because the tunnel is too old, we are building a new tunnel.

It's on the right side of our terrain.

The new tunnel is due to open in 2024.

Using modern equipment and over 700 tons of explosives,

it's nonetheless taken workers nine years to bore.

The next stretch of the journey leads down to the Albula Valley,

another massive challenge for the engineers building the line.

Along its breath-taking journey through the Swiss Alps,

the Glacier Express voyages the length of the Albula Valley.

The Albula River is a tributary to the Rhine.

These waters flow over 1,200 kilometers through Austria,

Germany, France, and the Netherlands, ending up in the North Sea.

But first, the river, and the train line,

must plummet over 400 meters in just over four and a half kilometers.

For a train, such an extreme drop puts immense pressure on brakes and wheels.

A crack or dent could cause a derailment.

Sven Moser's job is to make sure that doesn't happen.

He's responsible for testing and repairing the wheel sets for the entire fleet,

here at the main workshop in Landquart.

SVEN (translated): When they come to us, they have wear from the rails.

If a train brakes too hard, the wheel develops a flattened edge.

This means that they are no longer round.

Carriages are inspected annually,

and Sven has just an hour to service the wheels on each one.

The worst faults are actually material faults,

like cracks or bulges in the material.

There could also be chipping if you brake really hard, and the wheel gets very hot,

which makes it harder and more brittle.

In the past, a whole team was needed to remove the wheels

before they could be inspected and repaired.

Now, engineers have developed a lathe

which can measure the roundness of the wheels, identify faults, and correct them.

Now we clamp the whole bearing together here.

So that the axle is fixed in.

This means Sven can do the work singlehandedly.

Here we have a reflector sticker.

Each time the wheel revolves it's measured here by this laser

With a normal carriage,

the turning process takes on average a good 20 to 30 minutes.

The challenge is that each wheel must be identical to the opposite one.

The accuracy we achieve from wheel to wheel must be within half a millimetre.

Non-identical wheels cause uneven loading,

which can eventually lead to mechanical failure.

Then we measure the whole thing to see if it fits perfectly.

Sven is happy this carriage is safe

and ready to re-enter service for another year.

But even with the best brakes and smoothest wheels,

the Glacier Express couldn't make a direct descent down the Albula Valley.

It's simply too steep.

So, how have engineers overcome the drop in this sheer valley?

From above, the answer is partially revealed.

A gigantic, looped viaduct.

The train enters a tunnel at one height,

and exits below, moving in a different direction.

To understand the full picture of this engineering marvel,

we have to look deeper.

Hidden from view is a network of curved tunnels dug into the hill.

The tunnels wind around and down like a corkscrew,

four times across the valley.

It adds an extra seven kilometers to the journey.

But this detour reduces the gradient by half, making the descent possible.

Ahead is the village of Bergun.

Made famous as the backdrop for the silver screen adventures of Heidi.

Written in 1881, the story of an orphaned girl sent to live with her grandfather,

is one of the world's best-selling children's books,

and one of Switzerland's most famous literary characters.

Now at the bottom of the Albula Valley,

train driver Carsten Fischer slows to enter this 216-meter tunnel.

He knows that the exit opens out onto over a 65-meter drop.

Now after the tunnel, we are entering the Landwasser Viaduct.

It curved into a sheer rock face.

This curved viaduct spans 142 meters,

and is constructed from over 23,000 tons of dolomite limestone.

But building this bridge posed a problem.

The gorge below is prone to frequent flooding.

Scaffolding would have easily washed away.

To overcome this, iron frames were cemented into the ravine,

and stonework built around them, an innovation at the time.

Its daring design and rigorous engineering

embodies the Swiss reputation for precision and efficiency.

So much so that the Landwasser Viaduct has stood almost untouched

since it opened in 1902.

The tracks ahead, however, are facing an unseen force

that is threatening the existing route.

The Glacier Express is nearing the historic village of Brienz/Brinzauls.

Buildings that have stood here since the 12th century are under attack.

Christian Gartmann, spokesperson for the municipality of Albula/Alvra,

has witnessed the recent destruction.

Here you have an example of this car port,