29.05.2020

V-Cableway: Opening will take place on 5 December 2020

The entire V-Cableway generation project will be opened on 5 December 2020, earlier than planned. Thanks to the good weather and the enormous commitment of everyone involved on the various construction sites, the heaviest tricable gondola ever built, the Eiger Express, will transport guests from Grindelwald Grund to the Eiger Glacier in 15 minutes from the beginning of December. Jungfrau Railways is thus sending a positive signal in extraordinary times.

Visitors from all over Switzerland will gain 47 minutes on their journey with the Eiger Express. The winter sports areas and the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe are within reach for everyone. The modern terminal in Grindelwald Grund with public transport connections, a car park, shopping facilities and the two new railways Eiger Express and GGM really make a mark on the tourist landscape.

Earlier start to the winter season

With the CHF 470 million V-Cableway project, Jungfrau Railways together with the Grindelwald-Männlichen aerial gondola (GGM) are providing a positive impetus for the Jungfrau Region, the Canton of Bern and Switzerland, especially in these extraordinary times.

The winter sports season 2019/2020 had to be ended early on 14 March 2020 because of Covid-19. With the early opening in December, winter sports enthusiasts will have the opportunity to start the season earlier with the new Eiger Express. “In these difficult times, we want to send a positive signal for tourism in the Jungfrau Region and the Canton of Bern. The worldwide renown of this project will help us to emerge from the crisis stronger”, explains Jungfrau Railways director Urs Kessler.

Current work on the V-Cableway construction sites

The interior work at the Grindelwald Grund terminal is currently continuing. The structural work on the multi-storey car park will be completed in mid-July. The interior fittings will then be carried out. The concrete work on the Eiger Glacier has been completed. Here too, the interior work is now continuing, both at the summit station of the Eiger Express and on the new third track for the Jungfrau Railway. The schedule backlog totalling several weeks has been completely made up. Now everything is running on schedule and the opening of the Eiger Express can even be brought forward a week.

The cable hoist for the Eiger Express has been running since 30 April. The large incline of 1,385 metres and the length of the track at 6,480 metres require seven track supports and suspension cables with a diameter of 58 millimetres. The cable hoist work is expected to be completed in early August. The preparatory work for the cable hoist took months. The approximately 400 tonnes of assembly tools include cable winches, protective scaffolding for rail and road crossings and auxiliary supports. The total of four suspension cables and the cable hoist were transported to Grindelwald in several heavy transports.