A Swiss railway company has claimed the record for the world's longest passenger train on the weekend, with a trip on one of the most spectacular tracks through the Alps.
On Saturday, local time, the Rhaetian Railway company conducted its world record attempt.
Here are four things to know about the new record:
How long was the train?
The Swiss train comprised 100 carriages measuring a total length of 1.9 kilometres.
With dazzling sunshine reflecting off its shiny, silver roof — and with a digital destination sign on the front reading "Alpine Cruise" — the train carried 150 passengers.
For comparison, an average Sydney passenger carriage is about 20 metres in length — in a typical, eight-carriage train, that's just over 160m, including space for the driver.
The Swiss world record train was almost 12 times that length.
Where did the train go?
The train ran the along the Albula-Bernina route from Preda to Berguen, which is located about 172 kilometres south-east of Zurich.
Its nearly-25-kilometre route was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2008.
Taking about an hour, the train's journey led through 22 tunnels, some of which spiral through mountains, and across 48 bridges, including the curved Landwasser Viaduct, which towers 65m above the ravine below.
Thousands of rail enthusiasts lined the valley to watch the train's sections wind their way through the Alps.
Why did they attempt to break the record?
Rhaetian Railway company director Renato Fasciati said the record attempt was intended to highlight some of Switzerland's engineering achievements and to celebrate 175 years of Swiss railways.
Holding up the Guinness World Record diploma, he said there had been significant challenges to ensure such a long train could travel safely.
The seven train drivers and 21 technicians onboard had to make sure "that all 25 trains do the same, accelerating and braking" at the same time, and were all "guided by the first … driver," he said.
Few countries have a rail network as dense as Switzerland, which is famous for having punctual trains.
The wealthy Alpine country saw the departure of its first train service on August 9, 1847, linking Zurich to Baden, 23 kilometres to the north-west, a trip that took 33 minutes.
What was the previous world record?
While there are freight trains that are longer — with some measuring more than 3km — Saturday's event featured, by far, the longest passenger train ever run.
The previous record was held by the National Belgian Railway Company for a 70-carriage train measuring 1.7km in length.
That train set the record on April 7, 1991, travelling from Ghent to Ostend in Belgium's north-east in a 1-hour, 11-minute, 62.5km journey. That record attempt aimed to fund the Belgian Cancer Fund.
The Swiss train was at least 200m longer than the Belgian one.
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