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Rhaetian Railway

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Rhaetian Railway

46°24′32″N 10°1′11″E / 46.40889°N 10.01972°E / 46.40889; 10.01972

The Rhaetian Railway (German: Rhätische Bahn; Italian: Ferrovia retica; Romansh: Viafier retica), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Swiss canton of Grisons, except for the line from Sargans to the cantonal capital, Chur, which are operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), as well as the line from Disentis/Mustér to the Oberalp Pass and further on to Andermatt, Uri, which is operated by Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB). Inaugurated in 1888 and expanded from 1896 onwards in various sections, the RhB network is located almost entirely within Grisons, with one station across the Italian border at Tirano.

The Rhaetian Railway serves a number of major tourist destinations, such as St. Moritz and Davos. One of the RhB lines, the Bernina Railway, crosses the Bernina Pass at 2,254 metres (7,395 ft) above sea level and runs down to Tirano, Lombardy in Italy.

In 2008, the RhB section from the Albula/Bernina area (the part from Thusis to Tirano, including St. Moritz) was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Albula-Bernina line is the first rail line in the world to be photographed and put on Google Street View. The line also operates several historic trains on the network.

The establishment of the Rhaetian Railway traces back to Willem Jan Holsboer, a Dutchman who owned a hotel in Davos. He proposed a railway line from Landquart to Davos in 1888. Holsboer founded the Landquart-Davos AG to begin construction of a standard-gauge line, but the mountainous terrain lacked sufficient space. On 29 June 1888, a ground-breaking ceremony took place for a narrow-gauge railway instead. By 1890, the railway line served Davos.

In 1895, Holsboer changed his company's name to the Rhaetian Railway (Rhätische Bahn) to reflect his plans for network expansion. By 1896 the lines Chur–Landquart and Chur–Thusis were operated. In 1897, a referendum was held for the Rhaetian Railway to bid on operations of the Graubünden/Grisons State Railways.

This was followed by the Albula line in 1903 and the series of expansion projects carried on until 1922. In 1903 the Albula line reached Celerina, and in 1904 also St.Moritz was able to be served. During the years 1907 to 1910, the Rhaetian Railway, in collaboration with the federal and cantonal governments, undertook a large-scale expansion of its network.

All RhB lines are 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) metre gauge wide and electrified:

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