Swiss punctuality
Switzerland is a country where passenger transport is very well organised. Trains actually always run on time, come rain or shine, and cable cars ensure that you are neatly delivered to the top of the mountain. Ski tourism is somewhat less developed in Switzerland than in France and Austria, so there are fewer cable cars.
Statistics cableways Switzerland
There were a total of 2,434 lift installations in Switzerland in early 2022. Of these 2,434 lifts, 1,522 are in the drag lift, child lift or conveyor belt lift category. These are the seasonal lifts installed and used only in winter. There are a total of 912 real cable cars, including funicular railways. More than 61% of all these lifts are in the cantons of Valais, Graubünden and Bern.
Facts
- 753 drag lifts
- 470 child lifts
- 352 chairlifts
- 299 conveyor belt lifts
- 252 small cable cars
- 139 circular cable cars
- 115 pendulum cable cars
- 54 funicular railways
Source: www.seilbahnen.org
The number has fallen slightly in recent years as a number of drag lifts have disappeared, among other things. A number of new cable cars have been added but these were mainly to replace old cable cars.
Decline in number of cable cars
In the 1990s, Switzerland had its biggest peak in terms of lift installations. Since then, the number has dropped again but that is because many drag lifts have been converted to chairlifts, circular and pendulum cableways. Whereas before you needed 3 drag lifts to get up a mountain you could then make do with just 1 cable car. The number of cable cars has remained fairly constant since the 1990s. However, the number of people using the cable cars and the capacity of these lifts has increased enormously since the 1990s.
Whereas the capacity in the early 1990s was 450,000 persons per hour, in 2018 it was around 900,000 persons per hour. So a doubling in capacity with roughly the same number of cable cars. This means that in the period from 1990 to now, investments have been made mainly in cable cars and chairlifts with greater capacity. In the 1990s, the use of 2-person chairlifts was still the order of the day. Today, an 8-person chairlift is quite common.
As chairlifts also increasingly use detachable grips, speed can be pushed up. A chairlift with a fixed grip always moves at the same speed because people do need to be able to get in and out normally. By using the detachable grips, the chair is taken off the cable and can rotate through the station slowly. This allows the eight people to sit in the chair nice and easy. The chair is then reconnected to the cable and the ride up can continue at a brisk pace.
The same naturally applies to circular cable cars with cabins. Larger cabins or gondolas can also be used to increase the maximum capacity per hour. Larger cabins used on pendulum cable cars also help for more capacity per hour, of course.
Records
Switzerland does hold the record for cable cars. You will find cable cars that can spin around like the Titlis Rotair. There are also two-storey cable cars where you can stand on the roof of the cabin, such as the Cabriobahn on the Stanserhorn. However, these are not cable cars that have set records. Meanwhile, revolving and double-decker cable cars have also been built in other countries.
So what Swiss records are there:
- The longest staircase in the world can be found at the Mülenen - Niesen Kulm funicular. This staircase consisting of 11,674 steps can possibly be used as an escape route if something goes wrong at the funicular itself.
- The steepest funicular is the Stoosbahn near Stoos, canton of Schwyz. This funicular has a gradient of as much as 110%.
- The highest cable car station is at 3,820 metres. This is the cable car station on the Little Matterhorn (Matterhorn Glacier Paradise).
- The 8-seater chairlifts at Les Crosets-Marcheuson and Prodalp-Prodkamm, on Flumserberg, can both carry 4,000 people per hour. This is a Swiss record.
Rail network
Switzerland has a large number of cable cars that allow you to visit many high mountains. The cantons of Valais, Graubünden and Bern have the most cable cars. The big difference with countries like France and Austria is that Switzerland also has a very extensive rail network. Of course, many trains also run in the aforementioned countries, but Switzerland has the busiest rail network in the world. These train connections ensure a good connection between cable car and train.
In the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau region, for example, you can easily reach Lauterbrunnen by train from Interlaken. From the station in Lauterbrunnen, you can transfer to the cable car to Grütschalp. Here, another train is then waiting to take you to the village of Mürren. From here you can reach the Schilthorn by cable car or take the cable cars via Gimmelwald back to the valley where Lauterbrunnen is located. Once back at the station, you can take the train to Wengen. From Wengen, you can then continue by train to Grindelwald or up the Jungfrau. You can also take the cable car to the Männlichen and on the other side of the mountain take the cable car to Grindelwald. In short, everything is really perfectly connected.
If you want to travel by as many cable cars as possible, go to Engelberg. You will find several cable cars in the valley from Stans to Engelberg, and there are also some nice ones in Engelberg itself. Engelberg, by the way, is again easy to reach by train.
