Record-Breaking Switzerland: From The World's Steepest Railway To The Largest Igloo

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) A Swiss train last week set a world record by travelling almost 3,000 kilometres without refuelling. But Switzerland is home to many other technological records. Here are some of the most impressive – and surprising – ones.

Born in London, Thomas was a journalist at The Independent before moving to Bern in 2005. He speaks all three official Swiss languages and enjoys travelling the country and practising them, above all in pubs, restaurants and gelaterias.

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Many of Switzerland's world records are thanks to its landscape, specifically its mountains. Whether it's going over them or through them, Swiss engineers have risen to the challenge. In 2017 the world's steepest funicular railway opened in Stoos, central Switzerland. At its steepest point the slope is 110%, about 47 degrees, but the barrel-shaped carriages rotate to maintain a level floor surface.

Just 25km away, the other side of picturesque Lake Lucerne, is the Stanserhorn mountain, home to the CabriO cablewayExternal link , the world's first – and only – open-top double-decker cable car. Hold on to your hats...

Another Alpine record which might not be for those with vertigo issues is the world's highest tri-cable car system in Zermatt, southwestern Switzerland. Dubbed the Matterhorn Glacier Ride, the system connects the Trockener Steg (2,939 metres) and the Klein Matterhorn (3,883 metres) peaks. The nine-minute ride suspends passengers at a maximum height of 198 metres. Four cabins have been designed with floors that become transparent so those onboard can enjoy the view below.

Zermatt is also where the world's largest igloo was built! More accurately, according to the Guinness World Records, the largest dome igloo made of snowExternal link , with an internal diameter of 12.9 metres and a height of 10.6 metres. It took 18 people three weeks to build the igloo in 2016 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Iglu DorfExternal link (igloo village) hotel. I spent a night in Iglu Dorf a few years ago (when I got stranded in Zermatt following a landslide, but that's another story). It was very impressive – beautiful ice sculptures are carved everywhere – but very cold. Definitely memorable though.

Also in canton Valais – and also very impressive – is the Grande-Dixence damExternal link , at 285 metres the tallest gravity damExternal link in the world (it's the seventh-tallest dam overallExternal link and the tallest dam in Europe). Another Swiss dam, the Verzasca Dam (officially the Contra Dam) in canton Ticino, is also in the Guinness World RecordsExternal link as the scene of the“highest bungee jump from a structure in a film”. At the beginning of GoldenEye (1995) the audience holds their breath as James Bond, or rather stuntman Wayne Michaels, leaps off the 220-metre structure.

When it comes to the direct route through mountains, the Swiss are in a league of their own. The Gotthard Base Tunnel is the world's longest rail tunnel. Opened in 2016 after 17 years of construction, it consists of two 57.1km single-track tunnels for freight trains and passenger trains connecting Erstfeld in canton Uri with Bodio in canton Ticino. It's also the deepest rail tunnel in the world, with a maximum depth of 2,450 metres, comparable to that of the deepest mines on Earth. Without ventilation, the temperature inside the mountain reaches 46°C.

This content was published on Aug 23, 2023 The historical, commercial and political significance of the world's longest railway tunnel.

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