The Rhaetian Railway is attempting a world record on Saturday: it is sending an almost two-kilometer-long passenger train onto the Albula line. It will be the longest passenger train in the world to date.
A total of 25 of these four-car Capricorn multiple units – here on the Landwasser Viaduct – are linked together for the record run.
As part of the 175th anniversary celebrations of the Swiss railways, the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) is attempting to run the longest passenger train in the world on Saturday (29 October). The 1,910 meter long train with 100 carriages will travel down the valley from Preda to Bergün and then over the Landwasser Viaduct to Filisur on the Albula/Bernina UNESCO World Heritage route. In 46 minutes, the 1.9-kilometer train is to cover the distance of almost 25 kilometers, as the Rhaetian Railway announced. The difference in altitude from start to finish is 789 meters.
The RhB wants to receive the Capricorn multiple units on Friday evening in Samedan in the Engadin from 7:30 p.m. and reprogram their systems for the world record by around 3 a.m. When the trains are ready, they will be lined up in the Albula Tunnel like a string of pearls.
The giant train is scheduled to start in Preda at 2 p.m. on Saturday. It will take around four minutes just to roll out of the tunnel. It should then move down the valley over the 48 bridges and through the 22 tunnels at a speed of 30 to 35 kilometers per hour.
The train is scheduled to make a ten-minute stop in Bergün at around 2:25 p.m. The trip over the spectacular Landwasser Viaduct is planned for 3 p.m. The train is due to arrive in Alvaneu at 3:15 p.m.
At the destination in front of the station in Alvaneu, the train is dismantled into its individual parts. Then the Capricorn multiple units will be handed over to regular traffic.
All information about the world record attempt can be found here.
The train is made up of 25 new four-car Capricorn multiple units manufactured by Stadler Rail. The record train consists of a total of 100 cars. The Capricorn compositions will be acquired by the Rhaetian Railway by 2024 as part of the largest procurement of rolling stock in its history. They should give the Bündner Bahn a boost in modernization.
The individual four-part partial trains are connected with a fully automatic coupling. Four trains are controlled by one engine driver. Between every four Capricorn trains, there is mechanical and air pressure coupling, but not electrical coupling. For this purpose, additional control lines are laid between the trains.
According to the RhB, one of the biggest challenges is braking the train on the descent. The train, which weighs almost 3,000 tons, is braked completely by means of electrical “recuperation”. With this system, the current generated during the braking maneuver is returned to the catenary. Because of the length of the train, 25 locomotives are delivering electricity at the same time, and the voltage on the line is in danger of increasing too much. To counteract this, among other things, the maximum speed was limited to 35 kilometers per hour. The energy is supplied with 100 percent Graubünden hydropower.
Seven additional train drivers and a total of 21 technicians ensure that the journey runs smoothly. They face a big challenge, because they have to accelerate and brake all 25 trains at the same time. The employees communicate with a field telephone over the train length of around two kilometers, the operational capability lies with the civil defense.
The journey is controlled from the operations center in Landquart. It has to ensure that the signals, but also the level crossings and customer information, are triggered at the right moment.
The corresponding tests for technical feasibility and to ensure security have taken place in the past few months.
In addition to the train staff, there are only 150 passengers on the train during the record attempt. They are mainly invited guests and media professionals.
Around 3000 guests are expected on site, who can follow the record attempt live. The RhB has set up a festival area in Bergün for onlookers. A total of 3000 tickets for the public event in Bergün were sold within a few days at the beginning of August. Tickets can no longer be purchased now. In addition to concerts, there is also the Graubünden comedian Flurin Caviezel. On the festival grounds, the model railway manufacturer Märklin is showing the world record train with 25 Capricorn LGB model trains.
The world record attempt can be followed in a live broadcast in the “BlueCinema” in Chur and in the “railway hall” of the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.
The Albula Tunnel will be closed to rail traffic for around 12 hours. From Sunday, October 30th, the normal timetable will apply again. A special timetable will apply on the RhB Albula line on 29 October. This one is up www.rhb.ch/weltrecord shown and published in the online timetable. Travelers to and from the Engadine are routed via the Vereina line via Prättigau. For guests from the Engadin and from the south, special buses are also in use via the Julier Pass.
At the same time, the Albula Pass road will be closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. between Filisur and La Punt – with the exception of residents. Drone flights along the railway line are prohibited between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. for safety reasons.
On April 27, 1991, the longest passenger train in the world hit the tracks in Belgium. The 70 coupled cars with a total length of 1732.9 meters are still an unbeaten record in the world of railways. The Rhaetian Railway now wants to beat this 30-year-old record.