Mühleggbahn

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Mühleggbahn cabin 2004–2018

The Mühleggbahn (Mühleggbahn AG) is an inclined elevator that connects the old town of St. Gallen with the Drei Weieren recreation area and the St. Georgen district on the southern hill of St. Gallen. The railway was opened in 1893 as a water-weight cable car , it was converted into a cog railway in 1950 and an inclined elevator in 1975. The transport company of the City of St. Gallen (VBSG) is responsible for the operational management.

description

The Mühleggbahn is a funicular with a cabin that runs fully automatically between the two stations every 5 minutes. If the car is not in the station, it can be requested like an elevator at the push of a button . Most of the 316 meter long route leads through a tunnel with a gradient of 208 to 228 per thousand . The winch elevator in the mountain station pulls the cabin at a maximum speed of 4.8 m / s, whereby the cabin overcomes a height difference of 69 meters with a maximum of 30 passengers during the travel time of approx. 90 seconds . The three-phase drive runs in recuperation mode when driving downhill so that part of the electrical energy can be recovered. A short walk from the mountain station takes you to a high path that offers a view of the whole city.

In front of the Mühleggweiher, behind the mountain station of the Mühleggbahn. Recorded 1895–1900
Valley station with sign Bangor

In memory of the hermit Gallus , the namesake of the city of St. Gallen, whose hermitage is in the Steinachtobel, d. That is to say, in the area of ​​today's Mühleggbahn, the valley station of the Mühleggbahn was given the word “ Bangor ” as part of an art campaign in 1997 . The name refers to the Irish monastery Bangor , from which the Benedictine movement around Columban, to which Gallus also belonged, set out for missionary work in continental Europe. Since this label kept causing confusion, the Mühleggbahn removed it in 2011 and re-labeled the valley station as “Mühleggbahn”. Since mid-August 2012, the sign in the style of an SBB stop board has been hanging above the art space set up in 2012 at the valley station after great resistance in the city against the distance.

The project of building a hydropower plant at the valley station and laying the necessary lines in the Mühleggbahn tunnel was canceled by the city at the end of 2017 because it was not economically viable.

The 2018 cabin on the day it was installed on the rails during adjustment work. Doors on the front are clearly visible.

In 2018 the railway was extensively renovated. The tunnel, which was dilapidated in various places, had to be extensively renovated and was also slightly widened on this occasion. In addition, the cabin was replaced and provided with two entrances / exits on the front sides in order to make the access via the newly designed entrance areas suitable for the disabled. A corresponding loan was approved by the city parliament on December 5, 2017. The renovation began on April 3, 2018 with the lifting of the cabin from the rails.

The new 5.7 ton cabin was designed by a designer from St. Georgen, Andreas Bechtiger, and is only glazed on three sides, with the west side of the cabin offering a better view of the Steinach through the larger windows at the beginning of the ascent allowed. The folding seats in the previous cabin have been eliminated and replaced on the unglazed “mountain side” with so-called standing benches to lean on. In the context of the design, “Inclusion Handicap”, the umbrella organization for disabled people's organizations in Switzerland, was also consulted on the subject of disabled-friendly design. The cabin was put into the rails on October 9, 2018, and the new lift was inaugurated and put into operation on November 17, 2018, for the 125th anniversary of the Mühleggbahn.

history

Over the years, the Mühleggbahn operated in very different operating modes:

Uphill carriage (No. 2) of the water weight cable car on the iron bridge above the valley station. Recorded 1940–1950
  • 1893 Water-weight cable car : The Mühleggbahn went into operation in 1893 after a year of construction. It was built as a water weight cable car. Two cars were connected by a rope and water was poured into the car parked there at the mountain station. The weight of the water caused this wagon to go downhill and at the same time to pull the second wagon up.
  • 1950 Rack railway :
    Between 1949 and 1950 the     railway , which only ran in the summer half-year, was converted into a rack railway and could run from there all year round. The rack railway was closed on April 1, 1975.
  • 1975 Inclined elevator :
    From 1974 to 1975 there was a further renovation with an extension. Since then, the train has been operating as an aerial tramway, also known as an inclined elevator.
  • 2004:
    As part of a complete renovation in the summer of 2004, the railway received a new passenger cabin and the entrance areas of the two stations were renewed.
  • 2018 Total renovation including replacement of the rails, new cabin with front, handicapped-accessible entrances, increased capacity with max. 38 passengers, higher travel speed and new waiting areas.

Web links

Commons : Mühleggbahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ webagentur.ch, www.webagentur.ch: Technical data | St. Gallen | Mühleggbahn AG St. Gallen. Retrieved January 16, 2018 .
  2. ↑ St. Galler Tagblatt AG, Switzerland: Power plant management is not pre-financed . In: St. Galler Tagblatt . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on December 13, 2017]).
  3. ↑ St. Galler Tagblatt AG, Switzerland: Tunnel renovation will be expensive . In: St. Galler Tagblatt Online . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on March 24, 2017]).
  4. ↑ St. Galler Nachrichten: Mühleggbahn has to renovate tunnels. Retrieved March 24, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Always trouble with the Mühleggbahn cabin . In: fm1today.ch . ( fm1today.ch [accessed on March 24, 2017]).
  6. ^ St. Galler Tagblatt AG, Switzerland: Poppiger and more convenient . In: St. Galler Tagblatt . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on December 13, 2017]).
  7. ↑ Business from May 22, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017 .
  8. ↑ St. Galler Tagblatt AG, Switzerland: Free travel for the train . In: St. Galler Tagblatt . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on December 13, 2017]).
  9. ↑ St. Galler Tagblatt AG, Switzerland: Crane lifts Mühleggbähnli from the rails . In: St. Galler Tagblatt . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on April 4, 2018]).
  10. ↑ Seraina Hess: St. Galler Mühleggbahn: New cabin is on the rails | St. Galler Tagblatt . In: St. Galler Tagblatt . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on October 9, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Reto Voneschen: Mühleggbahn St. Gallen: only glazed on three sides | St. Galler Tagblatt . In: St. Galler Tagblatt . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on May 28, 2018]).
  12. ↑ Eisenbahn Amateur 5/1975, page 226.
  13. ↑ St. Galler Tagblatt AG, Switzerland: Half a year without the Mühleggbähnli . In: St.Galler Tagblatt . ( tagblatt.ch [accessed on April 4, 2018]).

Coordinates: 47 ° 25 '20 "  N , 9 ° 22' 39"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred and forty-six thousand two hundred and ninety-nine  /  254175