Lauterbrunnen- Grütsch Funicular in Jeopardy !!

Lauterbrunnen, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, April 2005.This is not a scoop… the funicular Lauterbrunnen- Grütsch is in Jeopardy! When I visited it in July 2000 it was already in Jeopardy. The ground is unstable and moving. _Consequently, the track is distorted as you can see_ on the picture below.

September 2005, I went back again to visit it… the ground is still moving ! The death threat is stronger than in 2000!

A solution must be agreed upon by the end of 2006.

Three options are being examined :

– a new surface funicular instead of the present one (CHF 29 Millions),

– a new underground funicular on another site (CHF 47 Millions),

– an aerial cable car on the same site as the present funicular (CHF 20 Millions)… The top station would be the same Grütsch station.
It means that the extraordinary machine which presently takes charge of the freight transshipment between the funicular and the Grütsch – Mürren train will be retained for the pallet transshipment between the aerial cable car and the train !

The company Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen – Mürren (BLM) is for the aerial cable car solution, which is the less expensive. The Lauterbrunnen Town Council and the people of Mürren are for the rebuilt of the funicular but this solution is too expensive for BLM.

A decision must be taken before the end of 2006.


Lauterbrunnen bottom station. (April 2005)


Track diformity (September 2000)

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