Its 44-kilometre-long (27 mi) line links the communities of Brig and Visp in the Rhone Valley with Täsch and the car free holiday resort of Zermatt in the Mattertal.

From then onwards, the number of overnight visitors rose steadily, even though the village itself was only reachable by a lengthy march on foot through the barren valley of Zermatt.

On 21 September 1886, the Swiss Federal Council granted the banking house Masson, Chavannes & Co. in Lausanne and the Basler Handelsbank an initial concession.

Planning and construction of the line was entrusted by the participating banks to the railway company Suisse Occidentale-Simplon (SOS), which, in the summer of 1887, conducted extensive survey work in the Mattertal.

The work was entrusted to the western Swiss contractors Julius Chappuis, while the SOS undertook the purchase of land and the procurement of rolling stock.

The Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (VZ) transferred the management of the line to the Suisse Occidentale-Simplon, as under that arrangement there was the possibility of using its staff elsewhere during the annual winter service interruption.

This management agreement was approved by the SOS's successor company, the Jura-Simplon-Bahn (JS) and retained finally also by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) until 1920.

The entry into operation of the Furka Oberalp Bahn revealed a disadvantage, namely the gap between the end point of the VZ in Visp, and that of the FO in Brig.

Additionally, since the opening of the Lötschbergbahn in 1913 passengers arriving from the direction of Bern had had to change trains in Brig as well as in Visp; a circumstance that was perceived as cumbersome.

In 1919, the hotelier Alexander Seiler applied for a concession for a metre gauge tramway from Visp to Brig, which, if built, would serve to open up the small settlements between the two towns.

In 1928, the committee presented a correspondingly modified concession application, which was approved on 28 September 1928, subject to a condition that one intermediate halting point be included.

As prices of copper and the necessary electrical systems were still extremely high in the immediate aftermath of the war, the electrification plan had to be abandoned in view of the still ailing financial resources of the VZ.

Consideration was also given to adopting completely the SBB system of 15 kV AC railway electrification without alteration, but that idea quickly had to be abandoned.

Additionally, the use of a single phase current system would make problem free through traffic possible in the event of electrification of the Furka Oberalp Bahn.

[7] Responsibility for the supply of energy was transferred to the SBB, which was contractually obliged to make alternating current available in Visp, at a voltage of 15,000 volts.

Although this time once again foreign tourists stayed away from the Mattertal, there were nevertheless Swiss excursioners who, thanks to the previously introduced income compensation, could afford to travel even during the war, along with military transport to secure the full utilisation of capacity.

Also goods traffic increased, especially to serve the construction of power stations in the Saas Valley massive rises in demand in Zermatt.

With the commissioning of four baggage railcars Deh 4/4 in 1975 and 1976, and their matching driving cars, it was possible, for the first time, to introduce shuttle trains on this important connection.

However, a goods train heading for Zermatt was left standing a few hundred metres north of the incident site, after its traction failed due to damage to the overhead line and the resulting short circuit.

As from 22 April, it was again possible to operate through goods trains, for which a diesel locomotive of type HGm 4/4 was hired from the Furka Oberalp Bahn.

However, a heavy thunderstorm on 8 August led to a blockage of the newly excavated river channel of the Vispa by washed up glacial rubble, which meant a second flooding of the station.

Beginning in 2005, the MGB lines were moved from the station forecourt to points adjacent to the existing standard gauge tracks so as to minimise the walking distances for transferring passengers.

For passenger traffic, the VZ had already erected a wooden shelter by the start of operations in 1890, and, even at that point, all of the other necessary facilities, such as toilets or a waiting hall, were provided within the standard gauge station building of the Jura-Simplon (until 1889, the Suisse Occidentale-Simplon).

This soon leads the formation along the western flank of the valley at the maximum gradient of 12.5 percent, and the line quickly reaches the station at Stalden-Saas.

The original uncovered stretch of line at this point had to be abandoned, as the railway bridge over the Blattbach had been destroyed many times by avalanches and flooding since it was first constructed.

Track 2 has been set up for the shuttle traffic to Täsch, and is used according to the Spanish solution, with both sides equipped with platforms to allow a rapid exchange of passengers.

As the remaining municipalities in the Mattertal can be supplied by trucks using the valley road, rail transport of goods generally plays no role for them.

Freight not transported in containers is loaded at Visp into sliding wall box cars, and later delivered to recipients in Zermatt by electric road vehicles.

Passenger cars, electric locomotives and railcars were painted at first in one colour, a dark tone of red that gradually lightened over time.

Wooden parts of vehicles are usually painted dark brown, while components made of stainless light alloys usually remain unpainted.