Gelmer Funicular

Gelmerbahn
Car on the steepest part of the line
Overview
Status	in operation
Owner	Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG
Locale	Canton of Bern, Switzerland
Termini	Handegg Gelmersee
Stations	2
Service
Type	funicular
Operator(s)	Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG
Rolling stock	1 for 24 passengers
History
Opened	1926
Open to the public	2001
Federal concession	2004
Technical
Track length	1,028 metres (3,373 ft)
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification	from opening
Operating speed	2 metres per second (6.6 ft/s)
Highest elevation	1,850 m (6,070 ft)
Maximum incline	106% (avg. 49.4%)

View down the line

Car just below the upper station

The Gelmer Funicular is a cable railway in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It links a lower terminus at Handegg, in the Haslital (the valley of the upper Aar River), with an upper terminus at the Gelmersee lake, 448 m above.^[1][2]

With an incline of 106% (or 47°), Gelmerbahn was the steepest funicular in Switzerland and Europe, until the opening of the new Stoos Funicular in 2017. The Handegg terminus of the line is close to the road over the Grimsel Pass. It is accessible by car and by an infrequent PostBus service.^[1][2][3] It is technically not a funicular, which has two cars that counterbalance each other, but is propelled by a winch.

History

The funicular was originally built to facilitate the construction of the Gelmersee, a reservoir, constructed in 1926 in order to exploit the hydroelectric resources of the area and was not opened for public use until 2001. The line is owned and operated by Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG (KWO) which owns the power station.^[1][2]

Another funicular existed on the opposite side of the valley (1948-2015).

Operation

The line operates from the beginning of June through to mid-October, in daylight hours only. It has the following parameters:^[1][2]

Feature	Value
Number of cars	1
Number of stops	3
Configuration	Single track with no passing loop
Track length	1,028 metres (3,373 ft)
Rise	448 metres (1,470 ft)
Maximum gradient	106% (46°41')
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Speed	2 metres per second (6.6 ft/s)
Journey time	10 mins
Capacity	24 passengers per car; 60 persons in each direction per hour

See also

• List of funicular railways
• List of funiculars in Switzerland

References

1. "Gelmer Bahn". Funimag. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
2. "61.061 Handegg - Gelmersee, Innertkirchen, Standseilbahn". Schweizer Seilbahninventar = Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles = Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune [Swiss Inventory of Cableways] (in German). Federal Office of Culture. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
3. "Gelmer Funicular". Grimselwelt. Retrieved 13 May 2014.

External links

• The Gelmerbahn on KWO's web site
• "61.061 Handegg - Gelmersee, Innertkirchen, Standseilbahn". Schweizer Seilbahninventar = Inventaire suisse des installations à câbles = Inventario svizzero degli impianti a fune [Swiss Inventory of Cableways] (in German). Federal Office of Culture. 2011.
• Images

46°36′49″N 08°18′31″E