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How to Travel on The MGB Railway (The Matterhorn – Gotthard Bahn)
An introduction to traveling on the Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn railway in Switzerland including images taken from the trains on the beautiful journey
Simon HarperShare
How to travel on the MGB railway:
The Matterhorn – Gotthard Bahn (MGB) takes its name from the fact that it links the resort of Zermatt, at the base of the Matterhorn mountain, with the canton of Graubünden, the location of the Gotthard Pass.
The MGB also operates a short route between its junction at Andermatt and Goschenen station, which is is served by trains which follow the Gotthard Railway, between Basel/Zurich and Locarno.
The MGB routes:
Winter:
The regular MGB train services operate HOURLY on these routes:
1: Zermatt* – Visp
2: Zermatt* – Visp – Brig – Feisch
3: Visp – Brig – Feisch – Obenwald - Realp – Andermatt
4: Andermatt – Oberalppass – Sedrun – Disentis/Muster
5: Andermatt – Göschenen
*Additional trains operate between the car park at Täsch station and Zermatt
Summer:
The regular MGB train services operate HOURLY on these routes:
1: Zermatt* – Visp – Brig – Feisch
2: Visp – Brig – Feisch – Obenwald - Realp – Andermatt
3: Andermatt – Oberalppass – Sedrun – Disentis/Muster
4: Andermatt – Göschenen
*Additional trains operate between the car park at Täsch station and Zermatt
In the summer some trains operate direct between Brig and Göschenen.
Travelling the full MGB route:
Regular MGB trains don't have any on board catering facilities.
The Glacier Express is the only direct train that travels the entire MGB route in both directions, between its western extremity, Zermatt and its easternmost station at Disentis/Muster.
Therefore taking the journey the length of the MGB line by its regular trains between Zermatt and Disentis/Muster usually requires 2 x changes of train in either Feisch or Brig and then in Andermatt.
Scenic Highlights:
Between Zermatt and Visp the trains travel along a series of valleys and there are fabulous views from either side of the train, sit on one side of the train when travelling to Zermatt and on the other when travelling back to Visp.
The Zermatt <> Visp route is featured on SMTJ's list of the 15 Most Beautiful Swiss Train Journeys.
The most spectacular part of the entire MGB network is the view of the Oberalp Pass between Andermatt and Disentis/Muster, which is also featured on **the Top 15 Most Stunning Swiss Journeys** in second place!
See at its best from the right of the trains when heading east from Andermatt to Disentis/Muster; and from the left when heading west.
Ski resort access:
The network of cable cars and lifts in Aletsch Arena skiing area can be most easily accessed from Mörel and Betten stations,
The Saas Fee and Saas Grund skiing areas have bus connections from Visp station
The Andermatt - Gemsstock - Nätschen winter sports area has lift access from Amdermatt and Natschen stations.
The cable car that gives access to the Disentis winter sports area is a 5 - 10 min walk from Acla Da Fontauna station, the stop before Disentis on the Andermatt - Disentis/Muster trains, but there are also buses from Disentis/Muster station.
Connections with other railways:
Connections are available with the national (SBB/SOB) trains at Brig*, Göschenen* and Visp.
*The MGB station at Brig is named ‘Brig Bahnhofplatz’ and it is located on the forecourt of the mainline station.
Brig, Visp and Goschenen are all served by direct trains from Basel and Zurich, while Goschenen also has direct trains from Luzern, Bellinzona and Locarno, both Brig and Visp also have direct trains from Bern, Geneve and Lausanne.
At Realp station (between Brig and Andermatt) connections are available with the Furka Railway which operates steam trains between June 25th and October 2nd, on the former high-altitude section of the MGB line between Realp and Furka.
At Zermatt, a popular resort town that can only be reached by train, passengers can connect to GGB trains, which provide amazing views of the Matterhorn.
At Disentis/Muster connections are available to trains operated by Rhätische Bahn/ Rhaetian Railway (RhB).
Those RhB trains operate in both directions on a Disentis/Muster - Reichanau-Tamins – Chur – Landquart – Klosters – Scuol Tarasp route.
Connect at Reichanau-Tamins for St Moritz, connect at Klosters for Davos.
Using tickets and rail passes:
Eurail = free travel
InterRail = free travel
Swiss Travel Pass/Saver Day =free travel
Note that Eurail passes and InterRail passes are now valid on MGB trains, until a few years ago Eurail and InterRail users were only entitled to a 50% discount .
If you have a rail pass a highly recommended day trip is to follow this route:
- Basel or Zurich to Chur
- Chur to Disentis/Muster
- Disentis/Muster to Andermatt
- Andermatt to Goschenen
- Goschenen to Basel or Zurich
Tickets between SBB stations and MGB stations can be booked on the SBB booking service.
MGB also sells tickets online here - though the ticket office staff at Visp station were exceptionally helpful!
MGB tickets aren't discounted if you book in advance on the website.
Simon Harper
I wanted to share my passion for train travel and explain how anyone can take the fantastic journeys I have taken.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
