page_title: Lötschberg railway
section_title: Location
hierarchical_section_title: Lötschberg railway / Location
caption_attribution_description: &#160;Switzerland, &#160;Valais, hike on Lötschberg Südrampe
context_page_description: The Lötschberg line is a railway in Switzerland, connecting Spiez in the canton of Bern with Brig in the canton of Valais. It crosses the Bernese Alps, from the Bernese Oberland to Upper Valais, through the Lötschberg Tunnel in the middle of the line. Together with the Simplon Tunnel south of Brig, it constitutes one of the major railways through the Alps and an important north-south axis in Europe. The Lötschberg axis is backed by the lower and longer Lötschberg Base Tunnel, part of the New Railway Links through the Alps project.
  The line is famous for its double loop of spiral tunnels in the Kander Valley on its northern approach to the Lötschberg Tunnel and the climb out of the Rhone Valley on a steep mountainside through numerous tunnels and viaducts on the southern approach. Its culminating point is 1,240 metres above sea level, making it the highest adhesion and standard gauge railway in Switzerland.
context_section_description: The Lötschberg line, with the 14.6-kilometre (9.1 mi) long Lötschberg Tunnel at its heart, provides a direct access from Bern to Brig, the latter city being also reachable by bypassing the Bernese Alps via Lausanne, using the Swiss part of the Simplon railway. It is the second most important north-south link through the Swiss Alps after the Gotthard railway. Together with the Simplon Tunnel and the Italian part of the Simplon line, it also connects the Swiss Plateau to Northern Italy. The more recent Lötschberg Base Tunnel cuts most of the open-air section of the mountain line and provides a faster access between Bern and Brig. Both tunnels run below the 2,690-metre (8,830 ft)-high Lötschen Pass of the Lötschberg region.
  The beginning of the Lötschberg line is in the rail node of Spiez, where it connects with the GoldenPass line from Zweisimmen and with the Lake Thun line from major rail hubs in northern Europe, including Basel and Bern, to Interlaken. From there the line runs generally due south through the Kander valley, passing through Mülenen, Reichenbach and Frutigen, where the northern portal of the Base Tunnel  is located. After the Kander viaduct, the mountain line continues towards Kandergrund and Mitholz. The line turns back to north after the loop of Mitholz and climbs out of the valley on the western flanks of the Ärmighorn. A spiral tunnel put the line back towards south, before it reaches Kandersteg, the last station on the northern approach. Two kilometres (1.2 mi) after Kandersteg, the line reaches the northern entrance of the Lötschberg Tunnel. Immediately after the southern entrance is the station of Goppenstein, in the lower part of the Lötschental valley. The line is mostly underground before it exits the latter valley and turns in an easterly direction to the southern flank of the Bietschhorn just before reaching Hohtenn Station, 450 metres (1,480 ft) above the Rhone. The lines then continues in the same direction, descending towards Brig. It crosses the wild valleys of Jolital, Bietschtal, Baltschiedertal and Gredetschtal, passing through Ausserberg, Eggerberg and Lalden. The line finally ends at Brig, where it connects with the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn from Zermatt to Disentis and the Simplon line from Geneva and Lausanne to Domodossola, and further to Milan. The southern portal of the Base Tunnel lies on the Rhone valley floor, below Ausserberg. The rest of the base line passes through Visp before it reaches Brig. The entire Lötschberg line is 74 km (46.0 mi) long and culminates at 1,240 metres (4,070 ft) above sea level. The open-air section culminates at Goppenstein at 1,217 metres (3,993 ft) and the northern approach culminates south of Kandersteg at 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). It is the highest line in Switzerland that is both an adhesion and a standard gauge railway, therefore usable by standard InterCity trains. The journey from Spiez to Brig lasts 72 minutes on the mountain line and 35 minutes on the base line.
  The Lötschberg line stretches over the Bernese Oberland region of the northern Alps and the Upper Valais region of the inner Alps. While the north side of the Bernese Alps is wet and exposed, the south side is dry and sheltered by the high mountains of both the Bernese and Pennine Alps. This results in marked climatic, topographical and cultural contrasts between the northern and southern approaches. The line, especially its southern part, lies in close proximity to the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, a largely glaciated region between the Lötschen and Grimsel passes.
caption: The Bietschtal valley and bridge (southern approach)
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