Rhatische Bahn
When the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO added the Albula and Bernina line of the Rhaetian Railway serving the Canton of Graubunden in southeastern Switzerland, to its world heritage list it brought the country’s number of UNESCO World Heritage sites and Biospheres to 10. On the Bernina line (built in 1903) the railway crosses 52 bridges and passes through 13 tunnels, while the Albula line (built in 1910) travels over 144 bridges and through 42 tunnels.
The Rhaetian Railway is an excellent example of the “Golden Age” of railroad architecture, and is the highest-altitude trans-Alpine line in Europe. It also boasts one of the steepest gradients in the world without the use of rack and pinion technology.