Station 5 Meet the Sheep Trail
Discover the breathtaking Matterhorn on Gornergrat Railway which has been providing spectacular views of the mountain for 125 years. Find out interesting facts about the railway and discover the latest train, the “POLARIS”.
Enjoy the breathtaking view of the majestic Matterhorn. But from its summit, the view would probably be even more unique. The first lucky ones to experience this view were Edward Whymper, Reverend Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas and Douglas Robert Hadow, all from England, Michel Croz from Chamonix, as well as the mountain guides Peter Taugwalder senior and Peter Taugwalder junior from Zermatt.
But back to the view of the Matterhorn! You will experience the most spectacular views of this landmark on the trip from Zermatt to the Gornergrat ridge and from the top of the Gornergrat ridge. Gornergrat Railway has been taking people to the top for 125 years. Here, sooner or later, next to this info point, you will see one of the trains passing by, perhaps even one of our latest trains, the “POLARIS”, which has been in operation since autumn 2022.
Facts and figures about Gornergrat Railway:
Route: Zermatt 1,605 m.a.s.l. – Gornergrat 3,089 m.a.s.l.
Length of route: 9,339 m all with cogwheel, Abt system / dual track 3,790 m
Track width: One-metre gauge track (1,000 mm) / (normal-gauge track 1,435 mm)
Stations and stops: 6 (Legendär, Findelbach, Riffelalp, Riffelberg, Rotenboden, Gornergrat)
Number of bridges: 2 – Getwing Bridge (24 m) and Findelbach Viaduct (93 m)
Longest / highest bridge: Findelbach Viaduct (93 m)
Longest tunnel: Land Tunnel (179 m)
Longest gallery: Riffelbord protective gallery from Rotenboden to Riffelberg (792 m)
Steepest incline: 200‰ (average 185‰)
Travel time: 33 minutes
Speed: uphill max. 30 km/h / downhill max. 20- 27 km/h
Interesting facts about the Polaris trains:
More than 93.5 tonnes of steel (5 vehicles) were used
More than 300,336 individual pieces of various materials were ordered from 306 companies
9.15 tonnes of paint are required for painting
The drives have a total output of 1,320 kW on the cogwheel, which corresponds to more than 7 Tesla S models with an output of 175 kW each
The vehicle has about 21,530 electrical connections and a total of 7,608 electrical components were installed
Total length of all cables per vehicle is approx. 50 km
• Total length of all cables for 5 vehicles is approx. 250 km