Swiss Funiculars?
 

On another post we were talking about the demise of funiculars in Switzerland and were wondering how many are left.

A funicular is something that runs on tracks but is pulled up by a cableand operates on the principal that there are two equal weight cabins, one on each end of the cable and as one climbs the other descends - an equilibrium or such - gravity or such (i'm not a scientist) helps move one up and the other down - and of course the cable is powered by motors.

Funiculars seem to be biting the dust in favor of aerial cableways - like the Lauterbrunnen-Grutschalp on in the Berner Oberland - the old funicular that ran for decades was decided to be unsafe because of soil settling so a spiffy new aerial cable car has replaced it

In Lausanne the funicular to Ouchy, lakeside, is now part of the town's metro system and a proper train, not funicular.

Ones in Lucerne have stopped running for whoever knows the reason

But Q - what funiculars do you know are still running.

1- the Sierre to Montana (Crans-Montana) one still runs - extremely long and in two stages i think.

2- In Lucerne up to the hilltop hotel/restaurant - is it still running as i think hotel folded its tent?

Sunnegg (?) Zermatt maybe has an underground funicular - or is it a train?

But i really can't think of any other funiculars - must be plenty in towns?

Any you know of?

We rode the one that goes up San Salvatore above Lake Lugano.

I went up the Stoos funicular last year (near Schwyz) and the Ritom (in Tessin) funicular last month. The latter is one of the steepest I've ever been on.

http://www.bahn-bus-ch.de/bahnen/fpr/index.html

Actually there are three in Lugano if you count the funicular from the city centre to the train station.

In Lugano, there's also a still working funicular to Monte Bre and a funicular to take your from the train station to the "ground" level of the city (and back).
http://www.montebre.ch/index_en.html

Plus when my husband's aunt and uncle lived in the hills outside Bellinzona, they had their own funicular that took them from their garage up to the house. It's still working for the current home owners. There are quite a few funiculars serving private residences in the area.

Sunnegga (in Zermatt) is definitely a funicular---the cars are "stepped" just like the old Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp one. One track with a split to 2 tracks in the exact middle, where the two cars pass each other. It goes very fast! And since it is underground, it was not a fun ride for me---no views, nothing to see but the tunnel.

I can think of some others.

- Fribourg, from lower to upper town,
- Bern (Marzili),
- Bern (Gurten, not sure, but it runs on the ground),
- Lac de Bienne, saw one from the boat, running up the vineyards,
- Neuchatel going up to Mt. Chaumont,
- Interlaken Harder Kulm (and what about Heimwehfluh?)
- Upper Engadin Muottas Muragl,
- Zürich Polybahn?

and I believe there are quite some more all over Switzerland ...

Ingo

Here's a map of all operating funiculars in Switzerland.
http://www.funimag.com/suisse/Funimag-Suisse.htm

Great website, Schuler. I'm going to print this out and take it with me when I travel on business. I often have a weekend or Sunday when I'm at "loose ends" and looking for something fun to do. My goal: Ride all the Swiss funiculars!

There is one in Vevey that goes up to Mont Pélerin - it's a very steep ride and the cars are especially designed for it - they are stepped inside. Great views on the way up too.

Schuler - merci for that wonderful web site - there are indeed many traditional funiculars running throughout Switzerland.

thanks