Elevation 1,537.7 m (5,045 ft) Address 6491 Realp, Switzerland | Connections Local buses Opened 4 July 1926 | |
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Location Bahnhofstrasse 2
6491 Realp
Uri
Switzerland Operated by Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway (nearby) Line(s) Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO)
Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway(nearby) Distance 59.39 km (36.90 mi)
from Brig Similar Alps, Furka Base Tunnel, Gross Bielenhorn, Winterstock, Muttenhorn | ||
Realp railway station is a metre gauge station serving the municipality of Realp, in the Canton of Uri, Switzerland. The station is close to the eastern portal of the Furka Base Tunnel, on the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO), which connects Brig in Valais, via Andermatt in Uri, with Göschenen, Uri, and Disentis/Mustér, Graubünden. Since 1 January 2003 (2003-01-01), the FO has been owned and operated by the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB), following a merger between the FO and the Brig-Visp-Zermatt railway (BVZ).
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Not far from Realp station is another railway station, Realp DFB, which serves the Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway, a heritage railway operating in summer over the part of the FO that was replaced by the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982.
Rail services to Realp
The MGB operates daily regional services from Visp via Brig and Realp to Andermatt and beyond, at hourly intervals.
Additionally, the MGB operates frequent car shuttle trains through the Furka Base Tunnel between Realp and Oberwald in Valais.
Every day, several Glacier Express trains, which are operated at this point by the MGB, pass through Realp without stopping, on their journey between Zermatt and either St.Moritz or Davos Platz.
Rail services to Realp DFB
Following the opening of the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982, the original FO line over the Furka Pass between Realp and Oberwald was abandoned. However, that line has been progressively reopened since 1992, as a heritage railway operated by the DFB.
The first portion to be reopened was the section between Realp and Tiefenbach, which has been operational once again since 11 July 1992 (1992-07-11), with its Realp terminus being at Realp DFB. On 30 July 1993 (1993-07-30), the DFB was extended from its then temporary terminus at Tiefenbach to Furka. It has since been further extended, through the Furka Summit Tunnel and Muttbach-Belvédère to Gletsch.
At a ceremony to be held on 12 August 2010, the rest of the superseded ex-FO line will return to operation, following the completion of another DFB extension, this time from Gletsch to Oberwald. The formal reopening of that portion of the line will follow the driving of a gold spike at a ceremony on 18 June 2010 to mark its physical reconnection.
Scheduled DFB services between Gletsch and Oberwald will then commence on 13 August 2010. From that point onwards, there will once again be a train service from Realp all the way over the Furka Pass to Oberwald and return.