Sonnenbergbahn

Route length:

0.839 km

Gauge :

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

Maximum slope :

424 ‰

Minimum radius :

200 m

Top speed:

5 km / h

Legend

		Sonnenberg	704 m above sea level M.


		To the Farm	583 m above sea level M.
		Kriens (Waldheimstrasse 11)	505 m above sea level M.

The Sonnenbergbahn , or KSB for short , is a funicular in central Switzerland . It leads from Kriens near Lucerne to the Sonnenberg , which gives the railway its name .

Infrastructure

With a length of 839 m, the funicular overcomes an altitude difference of 210 m. The mountain railway starts in Kriens and runs practically without bends with a maximum gradient of 42.4% up to above the Hotel Sonnenberg. The route has a tunnel 88 m long and two bridges. Immediately below the with abtschen turnout executed turnout fork things Strasse is located before crossing the middle station Zumhof . This was originally built for the Gabeldingen asylum .

history

Registered share for CHF 500 of the AG Sonnenbergbahn from August 8, 1901 with a representation of the Sonnenbergbahn and the Grand Hotel

In 1857 a health resort opened on the Sonnenberg , which at first could only be reached on foot or by horses and donkeys. After the Lucerne tram started running from Lucerne to Kriens in September 1900, construction work on the funicular, which lasted around three quarters of years, began in 1901. The local machine works Theodor Bell & Cie. The completed Sonnenbergbahn finally went into operation on May 5, 1902, the valley station was right at the end of the tram line.

With the outbreak of the First World War , tourism collapsed, which is why the operation of the railway was greatly reduced and in some cases completely stopped. Even with the conversion of the Grand Hotel on the Sonnenberg into a refugee home in May 1916, the situation did not change. In the 1920s, the hotel resumed operations, but operations were no longer economical and there were several changes of ownership. Due to the Second World War , the hotel was finally empty and rail operations were stopped in 1941. Between 1942 and 1952, first refugees lived in the run-down hotel, then war returnees and returnees, for whom rail operations were temporarily resumed from 1946.

As early as 1947, due to the lack of a turning loop , the tram no longer ran to the valley station of the Sonnenbergbahn, but instead turned at the Kreuzbäckerei in the center of the village. When the Grand Hotel was blown up in 1955, the railway finally lacked its raison d'être, which is why the municipality of Kriens, together with the Bell machine works and the National Insurance Company, bought 95% of the shares in order to prevent the railway from being demolished. After a renovation, the municipality of Kriens took over the operation of the railway in 1957.

In 1962 a new hotel was opened on the Sonnenberg a little below the mountain station of the Sonnenbergbahn, but it was only operated as a grand hotel until 1968. With the cessation of the hotel operations, the Sonnenbergbahn threatened to end again and the population of Kriens had to decide on the closure in a referendum on July 7, 1968. The electorate spoke out in favor of keeping the railway.

In 1982 the Sonnenbergbahn celebrated its 80th anniversary, which was celebrated with a ceremony. In the same year, the citizens of Kriens spoke again in favor of maintaining and continuing to operate the railway.

The Sonnenbergbahn has been registered in the monument register of the Canton of Lucerne since 2001 . Between 2003 and 2007 the Sonnenbergbahn was completely overhauled both electrically and mechanically and is now back on the road with the two restored original cars from 1902.

business

The railway is regularly inspected by the Federal Office of Transport and has an operating license until 2026 Template: future / in 5 years. The train is now in operation between March and October and runs every day of the week during the season.