Zermatt gained major recognition in 1865 when the English illustrator, climber and explorer Edward Whymper became the first to ascend the Matterhorn. News of his exploit quickly spread and the village soon became a major attraction and as a result overnight visitor numbers rose steadily. At that time access was difficult and trying as there were no road or railway links. Zermatt was only reachable by a lengthy trek on foot through the valley of Zermatt. Even a basic mule ride as far as St Niklaus took a long time. Nevertheless by the 1880?s there were as many as 12,000 tourist visits a year.

To promote tourism in the valley, and especially in Zermatt itself, plans soon emerged to build a railway line intended to connect the now thriving Zermatt to the outside world.The railway was at the outset to be operated only from the beginning of June to the end of September, as the investors did not wish to take on the risks of operating the line in an Alpine winter. There were considerable avalanche risks and heavy snowfalls to content with, operating in winter was considered a non starter. It was only in summer that there were prospects of significant numbers of passengers, as in those days winter tourism was still of no great importance. It seems hard to imagine now that Zermatt was not considered to be viable as a winter resort.

Construction of the railway from Visp, way down the valley to Zermatt began in November 1888. Acquisition of the necessary land turned out to be a nightmarish undertaking, particularly in the municipalities of Stalden and St Niklaus as the local population was not interested in selling, the original NIMBY?s. Tedious compulsory

purchase order procedures became necessary. That was if owners could be traced. Land in the entire valley was divided into a myriad of tiny plots, and usually the actual owners of the plots were not recorded in official documents. Once these issues were settled and construction began the absence of a road made it necessary to transport the building materials almost exclusively over the already completed parts of the railway tracks to the construction sites. All obstacles overcome the railway was built, a triumph of engineering. In July 1891 the last link was completed and the entire line from Visp to Zermatt was ready for it?s first paying customers.

In the early years lack of profitability, avalanche, flood and bankruptcy threatened the line but nevertheless the railway was considered a success, with some reservations. However the valley population and the Zermatt hoteliers thought they were on to a good thing and as early as 1907 there were calls for the Visp-Zermatt- Bahn to operate all year round. The owners refused to conduct such operations due to the high costs that would result, and the consequent lack of profitability. With the outbreak of World War I, the clamour for continuous operations died down, for the time being. The hoteliers and local population persisted but had a long wait, it wasn?t until 1933 that continuous operations became possible and feasible. Since then the line has gone from strength to strength, passenger numbers increasing to unthought of numbers. In 1930 the Zermatt to Visp section linked all the way to St Moritz and became known as the Glacier Express, the “slowest express in the world”.

Zermatt is a car free zone. Unless special permission is obtained visitors have to park their vehicles in Tasch and complete their journey by rail. Many SkiBoutique clients arrive this way, the short hop is quite spectacular and is a great introduction to this most charming resort. Pause for though and consider how difficult it must have been for tourists before the line was built.