The Jungfrau Railway is a rack railway which runs from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch, between the Bernese Highlands and the Valais in Switzerland. The railway runs almost entirely within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains and containing two stations in the middle of the tunnel, where passengers can disembark to observe the neighbouring mountains through windows built into the mountainside. The initial open-air section culminates at Eigergletscher, which makes it the second highest open-air railway in Switzerland. The line is electrified at 3-phase 1,125 volts 50 Hertz, and is one of four lines in the world using three-phase electric power. The Jungfraubahn got its name from the highest of the three majestic peaks above it: Jungfrau At Kleine Scheidegg the JB connects with the Wengernalpbahn, which has two routes down the mountain, running respectively to the villages of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. From both villages, branches of the Berner Oberland-Bahn connect to the Swiss Federal Railways at Interlaken. The line is owned by the Jungfraubahn AG, a subsidiary of the Jungfraubahn Holding AG, a holding company that also owns the Wengernalpbahn, Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen–Mürren, Harderbahn, and Firstbahn. Through that holding company it is part of the Allianz - Jungfrau Top of Europe marketing alliance, which also includes the separately owned Berner Oberland-Bahn and Schynige Platte-Bahn.
History
1860 - there were many different plans for a mountain railway on the Jungfrau, which failed due to financial problems.
1894 the industrialist Adolf Guyer-Zeller received a concession for a rack railway, which began from the Kleine Scheidegg railway station of the Wengernalpbahn, with a long tunnel through the Eiger and Mönch up to the summit of the Jungfrau.
1896 construction began. The construction work proceeded briskly.
1899 Six workers are killed in an explosion. There is a four-month strike by workers. Adolf Guyer-Zeller dies in Zürich on 3 April. The section from Eigergletscher station to Rotstock station opens on 2 August
1903 The section from Rotstock station to Eigerwand station opens on 28 June.
1912 21 February, sixteen years after work commenced, the tunneling crew finally breaks through the glacier in Jungfraujoch. Jungfraujoch station was inaugurated on 1 August.
1924 "The house above the clouds" at Jungfraujoch is opened on 14 September.
1937 The Sphinx Observatory is opened. A snowblower is purchased and this results in year-round operation.
1942 Relocation of the company offices from Zürich to Interlaken.
1950 The dome is installed on the Sphinx Observatory.
1951 The adhesion section between Eismeer station and Jungfraujoch station is converted to rack operation.
1955 A second depot at Kleine Scheidegg is constructed. The post office inaugurates its relay station on the Jungfraujoch.
1972 The panoramic windows are installed at Eigerwand and Eismeer. The Jungfraujoch mountain house and tourist house are destroyed by fire on 21 October.
1975 A new tourist house is opened.
1987 A new mountain house is opened on 1 August.
1991 A new station hall is opened at the Jungfraujoch.
1993 The small Kleine Scheidegg depot is extended.
1996 The covered observation deck at the Sphinx Observatory is opened.
2000 On 1 June a daily record number of 8,148 visitors is achieved.
Stations
Kleine Scheidegg,
Eigergletscher,
Eigerwand,
Eismeer,
Jungfraujoch,
Source:
Openings
Rotstock Station
Stollenloch
2008 proposals
In early 2008, Jungfraubahn Holding AG announced it is exploring the futuristic idea of an efficient fast form of access to the Jungfraujoch as an addition to the rack railway. A feasibility study has been commissioned. The additional access would be the world's longest tunnel-lift system. The study is to show if and how such a tunnel-lift system - for example as a fast lift or funicular - from the Lauterbrunnen Valley to the Jungfraujoch could be realised without disturbing the unique landscape of the UNESCO World Heritage site. The attractiveness of the cogwheel railway should thus be enhanced, as guests could use the fast lift for the uphill or downhill journey. Through a marked reduction in travelling time, the trip to the Jungfraujoch could also become a half-day excursion. These plans have later been abandoned and the company is currently planning to build an aerial cableway between Grindelwald Grund and Eigergletscher.
Rolling stock
Since most of the railway is inside a tunnel, it was designed to run with electricity from conception. The latest rolling stock consists of twin-unit motorcoaches carrying up to 230 people per train which operate at 12.5 km/h on the steepest parts of the ascent. The motors function at two speeds which allows the units to operate at double this speed on the less steep part of the ascent. The motors will operate in a regenerative mode which allows the trains to generate electricity during the descent, which is fed back into the power distribution system. Approximately 50% of the energy required for an ascent is recovered during the descent. It is this generation that regulates the descent speed. Motive power delivered since 1992 no longer has directly fed three phase motors but is equipped similarly to a normal single phase locomotive. This rolling stock can travel at variable speed which allowed to cut journey time from 52 to 35 min with the timetable starting 11 December 2016. Pre-1992 rolling stock can no longer be used in regular traffic and most of the earlier trains have been scrapped. Snow clearing equipment is essential on the open section of line between Kleine Scheidegg railway station and Eigergletscher railway station. Originally snow ploughs were used but more recently snow blowing equipment has been brought into service. The railway also operates some dedicated freight vehicles to supply the visitor facilities at Jungfraujoch, including a tank to transport additional water.
