Bürgenstock Railway

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View of the Bürgenstockbahn from 1888

The Bürgenstock-Bahn is a meter-gauge funicular in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden on Lake Lucerne . Opened in 1888, it was the first funicular with an electric drive.

construction

The passing point of the Bürgenstock Railway in August 1990

The Bürgenstock Railway was initiated by Franz Josef Bucher- Durrer, a hotel pioneer who owned various hotels on the Bürgenstock . In order to offer his guests an easier ascent to these, he applied for a concession for a funicular railway from the pier in Kehrsiten up to the Bürgenstock, which was granted to him in December 1886.

In 1887 Bucher received the building permit and construction of the railway began immediately. The construction, which was carried out by the Bell company, presented various difficulties, as the route led from the steamship station in Kehrsiten to 434  m above sea level. M. , on the steep and rocky terrain up to the hotels at 874  m above sea level. M. Thus was created a single track line, as usual with funiculars in Switzerland with a passing place. The turnout was laid out in a curve and only after additional expertise, which determined the security of the alternative operation, the Federal Office of Transport issued the operating license.

The 944-meter-long funicular opened on July 8, 1888. To further increase its attractiveness, Bucher-Durrer had the Hammetschwand lift built in 1905 , which is located around two kilometers east of the mountain station.

technology

Site plan of the Bürgenstockbahn with drawn power supply.
The Bürgenstock Bahn wagons from 1910 are waiting to be removed in September 2016.

The drive station is located at the Bürgenstock mountain station. The wire rope winds there over two wheels, each 4 meters in size, which are arranged one behind the other and each have 3 grooves.

The railway had an electric drive for the first time. It could not be designed as a water ballast runway because the water required for it was not available in the mountain station. The contemplated drive with a steam engine or a gas engine was discarded. Right from the start, the electricity for the railway was generated in its own power station in Buochs on the Engelberger Aa , which also supplied the electricity for the Stanserhorn railway . There were Francis and Kaplan turbines in the power plant , both with an output of 165 kW. The power plant was sold in 1996 and from then on the electricity was drawn from the Nidwalden electricity works (EWN). The control center of the power plant has been preserved and is placed under protection as a category B cultural asset ; the power plant's sewer was filled in.

When it was commissioned in 1888, the Bürgenstock Railway had a rack and pinion brake system . The original wooden wagons were 1.6 meters wide and each carried 40 passengers, 18 of which were seated in three compartments with six seats. The cruising speed was 1 m / s.

In 1910 the railway was completely rebuilt. The new cars now held 80 passengers plus driver and were equipped with a caliper brake. With the strengthening of the electric drive, the speed could also be increased to 1.6 m / s, which reduced the travel time from 16 minutes to 10 minutes. The next conversion took place in 1928. The revised cars received a quick-acting brake and the drive was renewed. Now the travel time was 6.5 minutes at a speed of 2.7 m / s.

In 1980 the railway received a new electric drive and automatic control, a remote monitoring system, and a new service and safety brake . The speed could thus be increased to 3 m / s. In 2002 the wagons were overhauled and given a new wooden wagon body, and the safety control and remote monitoring system were replaced.

business

The Bürgenstock Railway ran from around mid-April to the end of October every year until 2011 and carried up to 180,000 people per year of operation. The railway has been out of service since October 23, 2011. After being shut down for several years, the cableway has been in operation again since August 28, 2017, all year round and in conjunction with a regular “shuttle” boat course between Lucerne and Kehrsiten. The railway was completely rebuilt, with new cars (the appearance of which is based on the historical car) and a new mountain station integrated into a hotel. The drive, control and pull rope have also been replaced.

The very high fare of the new Bürgenstockbahn compared to other Swiss funiculars and the fact that - unlike before 2011 - only the half-fare discount is granted with the general subscription and day tickets have led to public criticism .

Data

Old Railway (until 2011):

Kehrsiten valley station: 434  m above sea level M.
Bürgenstock mountain station: 874  m above sea level M.
Difference in altitude: 440 m
Track width: 1000 mm
Overall length: 944 m
Incline: In Kehrsiten 27%, from the middle of the route to Bürgenstock 58%
Drive: electric
Driving speed: 3 m / s
Number of cars: 2 (aerial tramway), 80 people / car
Transport capacity: 630 people / hour in one direction
Pull rope diameter: 37 mm
Cable guide pulleys: 108 straight pulleys, 94 inclined pulleys

New track (2017):

Cable car technology and overall project management: Garaventa AG
Length: 929 m
Difference in altitude: 440 m
Driving speed: 5 m / s
Delivery rate: 582 people / h
Vehicle capacity: 56 people
Number of vehicles: 2
Cable diameter: 37 mm
Track width: 1000 mm
Nominal power: 200 kW
Drive: mountain station
Vehicle manufacturer: Shiptec
Electrical control: Sisag
Rope supplier: Teufelberger

literature

  • The electric cable car on the Bürgenstock . In: Illustrated Swiss craft newspaper . 1888, doi : 10.5169 / SEALS-578120 .

Web links

Commons : Bürgenstock-Bahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Regula Werren, Peter Werren: The Bürgenstock . 2008, p. 63 , col. Left , doi : 10.5169 / SEALS-655986 .
  2. ↑ a b Cable car to the Bürgenstock . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . tape 9 , no. 4 , January 22, 1887, p. 27 ( e-periodica.ch ).
  3. ↑ Statistics of the hydropower plant in Switzerland. January 1, 1914. p. 128
  4. ↑ Statistics on hydropower plants in Switzerland. Jan. 1, 1973. pp. 110-111. Appendix No. 334
  5. ↑ Bürgenstockbahn Kehrsiten Bürgenstock. In: Funicular Railway Catalog. standseilbahnen.ch -, accessed on December 2, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Bürgenstock railway is being renovated . In: Baublatt . June 30, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  7. ↑ a b New start of the Bürgenstockbahn 2017 . In: The funiculars in Switzerland . Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  8. ↑ Bürgenstock Railway . Bürgenstock Hotels & Resort. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  9. ↑ Bürgenstockbahn: Return without Half-Fare travelcard? - That makes 50 francs . In: Regional Journal Zentralschweiz . Swiss radio and television . June 16, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  10. ↑ Bürgenstockbahn doubles the fare . In: The funiculars in Switzerland . Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  11. ↑ Doppelmayr / Garaventa: With the new funicular from the pier to the Bürgenstock Resort . Seilbahn.net - The information platform for cable car users. September 15, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2018.

Coordinates: 47 ° 0 '10 "  N , 8 ° 22' 57"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred and seventy-one thousand seven hundred eighty-two  /  206178