Gurtenbahn
| Gurtenbahn Bern AG
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Corporation |
| ISIN | CH0005051021 |
| founding | 1898 |
| Seat | Bern , Switzerland |
| management | René Schmied (Management) Marie von Fischer Lehmann ( Chairman of the Board of Directors ) |
| Number of employees | 29 |
| sales | 4.49 million CHF |
| Branch | Transport company |
| Website | gurtenbahn.ch |
| Status: 2017 | |
The Gurtenbahn is a single-track funicular railway with an alternative section ( Abtsche Weiche ) in the middle of the route. It connects Wabern near Bern with the Gurten .
The construction of the railway was finished in July 1899, but it could not run because there was no electrical energy on site. Operations finally started on September 12 and by the end of the year 33,500 people had already been transported.
| Wabern – Gurten | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route length: | 1.059 km | ||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 343.4 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
Technical specifications
Track 1966-1999
- Valley station: 572.6 m above sea level M.
- Mountain station: 833.1 m above sea level M.
- Length: 1160.6 m (driving length)
- Difference in altitude: 260.5 m
- Incline: 21.97-33%
- Track width: 1000 millimeters
- Car body inclination : 26%
- Capacity per car: 100 people
New track (since 1999)
- Valley station: 572.6 m above sea level M.
- Mountain station: 839.5 m above sea level M.
- Length: 1059 m (driving length)
- Difference in altitude: 266.9 m
- Incline: 21.97-34.34%
- Track width: 1000 millimeters
- Car body inclination: 30%
- Capacity per car: 120 people
history
On December 12, 1885, the first concession for the construction of a funicular on the Gurten was granted. But this project was never realized.
On December 22nd, 1893, a second concession for a funicular from Wabern to Gurten was granted, which was granted to the director of the Berner Tramway Gesellschaft (later Bern City Transport Company ) . On December 17, 1897, the license was transferred to Fritz Marti von Winterthur, who founded the electric Gurtenbahn on October 15, 1898 by a federal resolution . On December 27, 1898, the construction plans were approved and construction began immediately. At the beginning of July 1899, the construction work was completed, but since no electrical energy was available on site, the railway could not yet be opened.
On September 7th and 9th, 1899, the complete auditing of the plant was carried out and the operating license was issued. On September 12, 1899, the railway was able to start operating. On January 1, 1926, the city of Bern acquired the Gurten property and a majority of the Gurtenbahn shares. The previous Board of Directors resigned as a whole. In 1927 new statutes were adopted and the name changed to Gurtenbahn Bern AG .
In 1931 the cars were overhauled and the valley station renovated. In 1932 a new drive was installed, which shortened the travel time from 9 to 7 minutes. In 1943 it was decided to procure new cars.
In 1944, after 45 years of operation, a fundamental renovation of the facilities was tackled. The old carriages with a capacity of 60 people were replaced by light metal ones with a capacity of 100 people. The travel time could be reduced from 7 to 5 minutes. The valley station has also been redesigned.
In 1949 the mountain station was also redesigned and the 50th anniversary was celebrated. In 1952 the driving ban for motor vehicles came into force on the Gurten. In 1960 a children's playground and the miniature railway on the Gurten were built together with young people .
From March 14th to May 21st 1966 the facility was closed and was rebuilt. After that, automated one-man operation was possible and, in the case of burst operation, even a driving time of only 3½ minutes. In 1970 a parking garage was built next to the valley station. The first Gurten Festival took place in 1977 .
On June 25, 1995, the citizens of Bern accepted the proposal for the “Gurten 2000” project with a large majority of almost 90 percent yes-votes. In addition to the increase in the share capital of the Gurtenbahn and a stake of Migros in the Gurtenbahn, elements of the vote were in particular the establishment of the Gurten-Park im Grünen foundation . The purpose of the fourth Park in the Green Foundation of the Migros Culture Percentage is "to maintain and expand the Gurten local recreation area, establish a culture and meeting center and promote cultural events on the Gurten", for which around 30 million francs from the Culture Percentage provided.
As part of the “Gurten 2000” project, the lift was rebuilt again in 1999: the mountain station was completely rebuilt, the drive replaced and new panorama cars with a capacity of 120 people were put into operation. On July 1, 1999, the rebuilt lift was ceremonially reopened. As of July 8, 1999, private individuals were able to acquire shares in Gurtenbahn for the first time. The share capital, which was increased to CHF 6.4 million in mid-1996, was divided into 54,000 registered shares and 10,000 new bearer shares. The so-called “Gurtenpark” was finally opened on November 19, 1999.
The share capital was increased to 7.1 million francs in mid-2000 and now divided into 36,000 registered shares, 8,000 ordinary bearer shares and 27,000 bearer preference shares, which was given up just under a year later and again into 54,000 registered shares, and now 17 '000 bearer shares was changed. The last share capital increase to 8.26 million francs was carried out in mid-2002, for which 11,600 new bearer shares (totaling 28,600) were issued. For reasons of transparency, the bearer shares, which were only introduced in 1999, were relinquished in mid-2015; since then, the share capital has consisted of 82,600 registered shares of 100 francs each.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the Gurtenbahn closed its operations on March 14, 2020, 8 p.m. until further notice.
Companies
The Gurtenbahn Bern AG (GB) is a joint stock company by the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR). Although all of the facilities are located in the municipality of Köniz , the company is based in Bern , at the domicile of the management of the Bern Municipal Transport Authority (SVB), which is responsible for the management.
According to the 2017 annual report, the UK shareholders consisted of four anchor shareholders: the City of Bern with 76.03% (62,800 shares), the Migros Aare Cooperative (GMA) with 6.05% (5000 shares), the Migros Cooperative -Bund (MGB) with 6.05% (5000 shares), and the municipality of Köniz with 1.29% (~ 1065 shares); around 10.58% of the share capital (~ 8735 shares) are in private free float.
The five-person board of directors (BoD) is elected by the general assembly (GV) for three years each, with the major shareholders usually sending a permanent representative - the city of Bern the incumbent finance director, Migros a representative of the GMA management.
The three-person management (GL) is elected by the administrative board, with the acting director of the SVB traditionally acting as chairman of the management, while the two departments “Operations and Marketing” and “Finances and Human Resources” each have a manager who is independent from the SVB.
For 2017, the annual report showed 29 employees who shared around 19 full-time equivalents .
literature
- Agathon Aerni: The Gurten and its Railway , Volume I: The development of Bern's local mountain , Verlag Stämpfli, Bern 1989
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gurtenbahn Bern AG in the commercial register of the Katon Bern; accessed on March 15, 2019
- ↑ Information on the coronavirus In: gurtenpark.ch , accessed on March 15, 2020.
- ↑ a b Gurtenbahn Annual Report 2017