The Niesenbahn is a funicular railway above Lake Thun in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It links a lower terminus, in the village of Mülenen at 693 m and adjacent to Mülenen station on the Lötschberg railway line, with an upper terminus at 2336 m near the summit of Niesen, a viewpoint above the lake and Bernese Oberland. The funicular is divided into two portions with a total length of 3.5 kilometers, an elevation difference of 1643 meters, and a maximum slope of 68%.
Construction of the line commenced in 1906, and it opened in 1910.[2]
The service stairway for the Niesenbahn funicular is listed by Guinness Book of Records as the longest stairway, with 11,674 steps and a height of 1,669 m (5,476 ft).[3] The stairs are usually employee-only, but there is a public run called "Niesenlauf" once a year.[4]
The line is owned and operated by the Niesenbahn AG.[5][6][7]
Operation
The line operates from late April to mid November, with cars operating every 30 minutes between 08:00 and 17:00. A 15-minute interval service is provided at busy periods, and evening services are operated on some days.[8]
The line comprises two sections, with an interchange station at Schwandegg, and has the following parameters:[5][6][7]
60 passengers per car; 120 persons in each direction per hour
60 passengers per car; 120 persons in each direction per hour
Share of the Niesen-Bahn-Gesellschaft, issued 1. October 1907 [9]
Further reading
Doyon, Josy (1984), Ein Königreich am Fuss des Niesen (in German), Bern: Verlag Blaukreuz, ISBN3-85580-169-X
Petroni, Bruno (2010), Der Niesen und seine Bahn (in German), Interlaken: Verlag Schlaefli & Maurer, ISBN978-3-85884-082-0
Niesenbahn at Zeno.org. Article by: Viktor von Röll (ed.): Enzyklopädie des Eisenbahnwesens (Encyclopaedia of the Railway), 2nd edition, 1912–1923, Vol. 7, p. 360
