to saint moritz, the elegant and extravagant ty, alpine resort town in switzerland has long been a favorite among those who can afford it. it's a cradle of winter holiday fun. oh and it keeps traditions like the al, torn alive. oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh, some visitors stay just one night, a stop over so to speak, to be at the railway station in the morning. sunk. moritz promotes itself as top of the world. and it's up here that one of the world's most famous train journeys begins the glacier express was set on the rails in 1930. it followed and still follows the tradition of pre world war. one luxury trains quickly but clear with common in glassy x in black, samsung snake hook devin hello. the warm welcome to the glacier express. the slowest fast train in the world brochure, a definite eval douglas, $600.00 pre owned. you mold. the train takes its time. it needs about 8 hours to travel, 300 kilometers. but speed isn't the point. those who bored the glacier express aren't in a hurry. they want to enjoy every moment of the journey. the route winds through the splendid alpine world of switzerland along the umbrella line, 2 cor. from down in the ryan valley, the train makes a slow climb up to descent us under mud, and brig. our further stations before the glacier express reaches its destination so much by the matterhorn. especially in winter, passengers can catch a glimpse of life in the mountains through the windows. the direct journey has existed for more than 88 years. after half an hour, the train reaches some aiden, one of the main towns in the inner dean region. back in the days when temperatures still drastically dropped in winter, some aiden was consider one of the coldest places in switzerland. over the years, the attraction of the glacier express has somewhat paled. in particular, fewer german passengers come because of the strength of the swiss franc. in winter, the train is the only means to travel through the umbrella pass, which is otherwise closed from november to june. the train goes beneath it in spin us the route passes by the construction side for the new album or tunnel. the old tunnel opened in 19 o 3 at an altitude of around 1800 meters, which made it one of the highest tunnels. going through a mountain in europe. parallel to the old tunnel at a distance of about 30 meters. construction of the new algola tunnel has been ongoing since 2015 miners work in a 3 shift system. the main method being used for advancing the tunnel is blasting. mm. a bit further up, the track lies what's known as the most beautiful spot in switzerland. swiss television viewers gave this monica to the mountain lake. the lider pipe worn ya in 2007 ah, for passengers. this is the 1st of many highlights along the glacier express route set within this glorious alpine panorama, several spiral loops and tunnels or helical tunnels, help the train lose about 400 meters of altitude. this is done with such grace that the uh, the law section is considered a masterpiece of railway construction. even those who aren't trained experts are impressed. train routing that's in perfect harmony with the landscape sites. why does the elbow, la root has been a eunice, go world cultural heritage side since 2008. and we're really proud of that. the entrance to the spiral tunnel is up above and the exit further down. this happened several times along the route. the i, bola valley is always remote, but especially during winter when a pass is closed. idealized alpine life almost seems to be reality in the region like here in the swiss village of beg, june. there is no daily rush, just time and quiet. ah stunning scenery. and cow burned an architecture. at times, the good can nearly look to it delicate. ah, ah, the gentle downward glide of the glacier express sits right in front of her. do really try to drive the glacier express, especially smoothly so that nothing slides off the table during lunch, give me consultant for all of it, or that's a give it for send with you as long as the train is on time, hopeless. we're allowed to slow down as we pass scenic points with his tongue to give people a chance to take nice vote awesome so far and also in the fold. those numbers are gaming, so there's been train driving with a personalized touch and there's a lot worth photographing. the breathtaking scenery, or particularly on the upper last section of the track. one of the many beautifully designed railway structures. one of the most famous is the curved land fuss a via doctor. it said to be the most frequently photographed railway bridge in switzerland. if not the world looking out of the panoramic windows, it's easy to see why unesco made this a world cultural heritage site. the organization describes it as an architectural and civil engineering achievement in harmony with the landscapes. 60 kilometers further, the world cultural heritage root ends in to sis a special passenger sits at platform 2. she's a genuine cow brendan resident and has been waiting for the glacier express since 1995. 0 wow. ah, the artist, the whole that enamel at created the lady at his studio nearby. ah, when it kinda me for when my children ask, where's mom i tell them she's at the station in to see some help. i use my wife as a model because i've traveled with her a great deal for you guys. been as my mom here for october, my husband asked me if i would sit for him as a model. i picked out an old long dresser that i was dro hat and a few old suitcases. and then we set off out and i sat myself down. don't seem to be lost, gets old will be not me, fungus heads. and there she still patiently sets, watching for the glacier express. after tuesdays the route is almost flat. but the winter mountain panorama continues even when its already spring in the valley. during this stretch, the posterior ryan keeps the glacier express company. castles, bear witness to the areas historical significance as a transit route. before long passengers have reached another highlight of the journey, the source of one of europe's lifelines, the rhine. ah, at hi chanelle. 2 tributaries, the posterior rhine and the anterior rhine join to become the alpine rhine. ah, right next to the river stanza high, you know castle. the property has been in the hands of one family for 7 generations, except for a few interruptions. ah, a good 10 minutes later the glacier express rolls into the oldest town in switzerland, koya. it's the capital of the canton of co, brendan. now people have been living in the fertile valley of the alpine rine for 3000 years. who has a pleasantly quaint atmosphere perhaps because of the many fountains, pubs, bars and cafes for a city of less than $40000.00 residence. there is quite a lot on offer here. the fountains contribute to that you know that i've been staff can, we've got wonderful drinking water in this alpine town which can be drunk from a 135 fountains. i cord is rich and that we have a lot of fountains and the water contains lots of minerals, medallion, and tit. there is now plenty of water aboard the glacier expressed to the train is divided here and takes on its final sequence of cars. many glacier express passengers only board the train in corps at $1126.00. it sets off 4 and i'm at the trains galley is now working at full steam. the chef has little time and little space to prepare a great number of meals. i'm sometimes we are serving 150 males of the same time. so for about one or 2 hours, we're really working quite hard. this time the glacier express, travels in the opposite direction to cross the bridge over the posterior rhine near . hi chanelle. for the driver and everyone else on board. this marks the start of the unique journey through the who we now it up, which is what locals here. call the rhine gorge between high canal and illinois. for 13 kilometers the glacier express winds its way along the anterior rhine tourists dubbed it the swiss grand canyon. it's a sight even the driver never grows tired of opening in terms of construction and nature. this is one of my favorite sections. it's hard not to appreciate this part of the journey also for the passengers, who at this point have completed a 3rd of their alpine trip in the glacier express. ah, but the train also crosses political and cultural borders. if it goes through 3 can tones and grub london laurie and valid, oh and we've got the languages, rita romance and german boy. so it's a train that goes through several language re genuine fed. at this point, we're still in the canton of col, boonton in the sore silva area, which in rita romantic means above the woods. the tracks continue to run next to the interior. ryan, the trip is genuinely spectacular. the gorge is up to 400 meters deep. many places can only be reached on foot or via the railway. decent is most terr was stair comes from the latin word for monastery. monastery of the town has always been important for the glacier express. the rails of the re sheehan or i'll buller railway and here and the train gets a local motive from the matter horn. got our bond from here the ascent to the oba. i'd pass the 1st cock. we'll section begins with hello muzzle massey ah. the train will now climb 900 meters of altitude. by mid day, the train is above the snow line. there's an interruption in operation towards the oba. i'd pass even for the glacier expressed a few times a year. the section becomes impassable and the snow has to be removed with special equipment. we joined as snow removal team as they set to work at 5 am. we're still we'd. oman is responsible for safety on this part of the route. this number on me seduce me yesterday we had quite a bit of snow between 50 and 70 centimeters up on the mountain honda bigger than because of the avalanche risk that was a bit too dangerous to her home to live in guns and bus. that's why we couldn't give the all clear for the whole pass this to get my mouth will drive up to the dangerous section and see how things look. then i'll be the will analyze the avalanche threat and then we'll see if we can open the past today. i did the boss, i gave him a rail yard at the over i passed as being cleared at 2033 meters above sea level. these tracks crossed the highest point on the route. the look up there, that's the 1st dangerous spot. the snow removal equipment from under much in the canton audi has also arrived rather than in a moment at around 8 am will make a reconnaissance flight with the helicopter, but then we'll do some safety blasting. and after that, we'll decide when we can reopen the section, i gave him coding. ensuring safety up here isn't easy. a team of specialists looks for dangerous spots that could pose a threat to the railway. any that are located are blasted. avalanches are intentionally triggered out for me. those the section from net tional to shimoda can now be open to blue skies and plenty of snow. perfect weather for a trained journey through the alps. untouched nature. during winter time, only the train crosses the border here between the cantons of ca, brendan, and early we are approaching under mat. from here you can see the game stalks key area at an altitude of nearly 3000 meters. under mat lies further down. what's hidden from view is that the mountains here and the god pass, i like swiss cheese. countless bunkers and tunnels, have been drilled into them. ah, just passed and i'm at. the austin valley begins the prolific german poet and writer johan voice conference router, said that among all the places he knew it was his favorite and most interesting the fork. a base tunnel starts emily at the tunnel was opened in 1982 after that operations on the 4 come mountain rail route, which turns off here were suspended with hinds. zeiler forgot drove the glacier express back when it still followed the fork . our mountain route. he's also a model train enthusiast. the former engine man can't get enough of trains, hubert stricken. you've novels look for you to be for the mountain route that i used to drive as an engineer could only be used from the end of may until mid or late october 8th. and the rest of the year it was closed for the winter because of the huge amounts of snow into scary involved as i could also name asi louis, india, south of that's on the forecast war. that would be june or early july on phones. you will go leaked, emma not even then there was still a little snow, says to our humble, that's one of the mountain phenomena here. but you can also have snow in some on margin a game con this can pose a threat with on him. then i was driving a commuter train with the engine in front when i drove into an avalanche and derailed and flies back in lee, i have a year after operations were suspended on the mountain route. the association for the for come mountain route, steam railway, also known by the initials d, f. b was set up in 1983. it's aim was to maintain and run the railway. most of those taking part our volunteers known as foreigners. ready they work without pay, but with plenty of passion. ah ah ah, ah. my passengers are welcomed on the steam railway line from lee. i've to over fight. 7 on the journey has been possible since 2010. it took the railway fans about 3 decades to get the entire fork a mountain group ready? a proof of the saying patience pays off. many of the volunteers are real railway professionals. the swiss engine is from vintage to up at over 100 years old. the steam locomotive is part of the mountain roots inventory, but it was sold to vietnam in 1940. so in the early 19 nineties, the df be brought it back. the rails on the stefan bar bridge have become shorter again. for income from fairs covers only about half of the operating costs. so donations are always welcome. the summer season up here is just 3 months long. still around $30000.00 railway fans enjoy this alpine steam experience each year. the highlight is the forecast sun, a tunnel at 2163 meters when the glacier express 1st took to the rails in the 19 thirty's passengers could see the wrong glacier from the train. that's no longer possible. ah, this is the wrong glacier to day you should hear number on this were standing at the edge of the rhone glacier, the glacier that gave its name to the glacier express. express like thought in 2012, the tongue of the glacier was still down here by the lake's outflow. we'll get saw the see the letter since then. it's lost more than 170 meters and like, ah, during the summer of 2017 alone the glacier last 8 meters in thickness. by the end of the century, it's estimated that only 10 percent of the glaciers will be left in switzerland. get all done. okay, give me the slogans in the future. we're going to have less precipitation here in the swiss alps in the summer, on the fish that will have a range of impact. loss of you have the ground water level will sink down in the rolling valley. you'd open up and we'll have less water for farming, energy supply, and for tourism dolphin. then today's most around 90 years ago, the glacier express still rolled alongside the roan glacier. today there's only grey stone to see a century and a half ago the rhone glacier extend it to here. tourists could easily walk to it from the hotel by foot. 3 down in the oba vite, the mouth down to the train journey reaches the boundary of the canton of venice. this is also where the glacier express exits the 15.4 kilometer long, 4 cub base tunnel. ready and comes back into daylight. here. the rogue river is called the rotten ah the area is known as gums. next, the train travels over the grandiose via duct and further down towards brick. the town is an international railway hub. par excellence ah, but the town itself doesn't look like it. ah, yet bricks, central location brought affluence. this is most evident at stuck up our palace. it said to be the largest, privately owned baroque building in switzerland. it's named after the man known as the foot of the alps, cas busch, dock, eyebrow. he recognized briggs central transportation function and used it for trade . the content play was looking for transit routes to crossed the alps and found them here. the great sun, bernhard, and simpler passes in, ah, during the 30 years war, the simpler past was a key artery between the great powers to day casper struck about would be described as a war profiteer. he accumulated immeasurable wealth. in the mid 17th century, he even had a monopoly on salt, and he increased his fortune through speculation. struck about, lived by the sang suspects, luke ra carpet. god's favorite shall skim the prophets to day, his family line no longer exists. the shock up a palace isn't far from the train station where the glacier express is already waiting. ah ah, ah. our trip on the slowest express train in the world now takes us along the rhone valley in switzerland train have also always been important for tourism. ah, england middle france also did the english and the french, some of whom came on the simpler orient, express, express, wanted to get to the best. and of course, to surmount animal. and so so a steam train was built from fisk to zermatt, relatively early on in 1891, not terrible. that drew mountaineers leaf. they went on holiday up there and climbed the peaks on the bed keepers, teegan, home, trains and tourism have long existed in a 2 way relationship as the route from brig to them up features really diverse landscapes. the facebook, the river is always flowing alongside the train, and there are many bridges and tunnels. down here, the train moves along quite quickly. the no book bridge is a popular subject among photographers. a short while later, the train driver has to reduce the speed. the steepest section of the glacier express route starts between us and, and she died in the cogs and gauge during the ascent special wine glasses are used it's a steep incline with a rise of 125 meters per kilometer. above the rail line in this bet, amena lies the highest vineyard north of the main alpine rich ah grapes grow here at an altitude of up to 1150 meters that are on board and just put that in mind making as a very old tradition here and vis for tammy and almost every family in the village has one or more parcels of land that are distributed over the entire rine regions. i'm from down below and to write up talking to the reverend biscuit, the holborn. the grape variety is called haida in malaysian german. that means something like old an odd, but the wine is produced in a modern cooperative winery. the grapes are small and don't yield much in marketing speak. the wine that is made from them is called the pearl of the alpine wines. the hi debra reek is special. it ages for up to 5 years in these original 225 leader oak barrels from france. the hydro wine, aboard the glacier express ages here in good ears. it contests at up to $100.00 on the extra scale. it frequently has an alcohol content of up to 14 percent, which is why hide a wine is also known as the bone breaker. drinking it is said to lead to feeling as if you can speak cleverly without end. are very happy and rich and have the strength of a giant and the glacier express. keeps on climbing. here is just a place to grow. good. wine is also home to its own breed of cattle, the very sure footed elena. tripe walkers also have to be good on their feet. hello, hi mr. i'm checking a section and the section is from sarah march to fis, please. ne, the at luncheon has another source of income besides his job with a railway. he moonlights as a farmer and breeds cattle that are typical of venice. the animals are strong, nimble, and well suited for the mountainous terrain cow fights where the cattle compete or a tourist attraction. but the cows are also very trusting and gentle with people. these days it's almost impossible to live just from raising animals live, and we're continuing our journey on the glacier express. like a model railway, the train rules over bridges, along valleys and through tunnels. the train is still an important tourist attraction. pre pandemic, more than 200000 passengers used it in a year. but the numbers have been dropping slightly. of advisor for valuable travel behavior has changed on before most would do the whole route from sun moritz to them out. it's all the other way around. now the trend is to do shorter sections like because people just don't have that much time site. we call it the world slowest express train. so it's there to help people slow down. more and more people have no time to take time anymore. above styled in the glacier express rolls on 425 kilometers through the matter valley to summit. untamed and craggy. this sections been immortalized in the guinness book of records. you can't see it from the train, but the matter valley is the deepest valley in the alps. it's surrounded by 33 mountains that rise up to heights of 3900 meters above sea level. a short way up the slopes. there's plenty of tranquillity to be found in another picturesque swiss village. toby is at an elevation of 1500 meters. tourists are rare here. oh, ah. our train ride takes us further through the matter valley we're just about 10 kilometers from summit. mm hm. the landscape becomes spectacular again. and the matter of ispa shows tourists, it's wild side near ronda, there were devastating rock slides in 1991, which also damaged the glacier express railway. it's estimated that mass is a rubble with a volume 13 times that of the great pyramid of gisele slid into the valley, burying among other things, the rail line, which was then rebuilt in another place. some say worsening global warming is posing a growing threat to the railway as well. a problem that isn't exclusive to the alps . one thing that shouldn't be missed on a trip is especially port grappa. wow. i oh, on the glacier express continues to climb higher. once past tash, the railway has a monopoly on transport to some of the town has been close to private automobile traffic since 1931. meaning the railway helps protect the nature here. this was a wise decision because without the train, mass tourism would never have been possible here. after 300 kilometers the glacier express has reached its final destination. the train has climbed 1000 meters in elevation since it left click. summit is located at an elevation of nearly 1610 meters. lou appear. the so called cathedral of rock. the matter horn is very close for ah, these small vans are almost as typical ford, so much as the view of the matter horn. there have reportedly been electric cars here since 1947. the electric bus business grew in the 1970s. before that horse drawn carriages were used to transport people. the usual auto traffic associated with mass tourism would simply be unimaginable here. the most photographed mountain in the world is ever present in summit. its majestic appearance has always had a magical pool on people. when the mountain was 1st climbed in 1865, a chaplain was part of the team of mountaineers, yet tragically together with 3 other climbers, he fell to his death. since then, partly a year has passed without a fatal mishap on the matter horn. yearly of 23000 people try to summit on its unique peak, its mass tourism at an elevation of 4478 meters to get even closer to the matter horn. those who know recommend taking a ride on the corner grot, with a corner garage railway. the station manager joins the 1st trip in the morning for many taking the corner. grot is the natural continuation of the journey on the glacier express. window spots can be hard to come by. the corner grouch railway was opened in $1898.00, and after the young fowl railway, it's the 2nd highest in europe. in just half an hour, the narrow gauge railway transports passengers into another world. if you're lucky, you may even get to see sham law from up close. ah ah, even from the train, the view of the matter horn is divine and moving forward. ah, the matter horn is switzerland's biggest tourist attraction ah ah. ringback the gone, our garage railway climes 9 kilometer is at a slope of up to 20 percent. after all, there are about 1500 meters of elevation to surmount. located almost above the clouds, the governor garage railway was the 1st fully electrified cog railway in switzerland. it made a significant contribution to the development of so much for any one who can visiting this world of alpine glaciers, at least once, is well worth the trip. ah, and a trip on the glacier express should either begin or end with this view of the matter horn. also called god's pyramid, ah ah ah ego africa, industrial fishing, a danger to the rich marine life and what tom and thousands of dolphins have fallen victim to its knights. research is a gathering, freshest day. do you better understand and protect them? thank you for in 30 minutes on d, w ah, with she w's crime fighters are back africa's most successful radio drama series, continues them 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