V-Cableway opens at Grindelwald part of World's biggest lift project
The CHF 470 AUD 690 million V-Cableway project is the biggest new lift development in the World.
Stage one, the new gondola from Grindelwald to Mannlichen, opened December 2019.
Stage 2, the amazing Eiger Express, officially opened last weekend (with public excluded), slashing ride time from Grindelwald to the Eigergletscher Station to just 15 minutes.
Between them the new lifts make the already excellent lift network in the Jungfrau next level – combining the traditional (but now very modern and fast rack railways) with the latest high tech cable cars and a network of 6 seat bubble cover express lifts.
After many years planning the actual construction has proceeded with typical Swiss precision on a project that’s sure to keep Jungfrau among the World’s top ski and year round alpine tourism destinations.
New Gondola Grindelwald-Mannlichen
The new Grindelwald-Männlichen (GGM) gondola hugely improves the ease and speed of getting up the mountain from the Grund base below Grindelwald village.
The old gondola was a worthy lift, but slower. It was a bottleneck prone to big queues on peak mornings, and the only place we got stuck in a queue at Jungfrau. From the top you fan out, and even on busy weekends it’s not hard to find lifts with short or non-existent queues thanks to an excellent network featuring lots of 6 seat express chairs.
The new gondola features 111 ten passenger gondolas, doubling transport capacity from 900 to 1800 guests per hour. Journey time to the top station at 2225m has been slashed from 30 minutes to 19.
At the same time the Berner Oberland-Bahnen (BOB) will open their new station Grindelwald Terminal with a direct link to the new GGM-valley station. With the new GGM, guests can profit from the first part of the new terminal of the V-Cableway project at the valley station.
Coming from Interlaken, Bern or Zurich you can hop off at the new station and change to the new gondola, saving 23 minutes in actual ride time never mind the likely much larger saving in queue time.
When stage 2, the V-Cableway tri-cable car to Eigergletscher opens, the time savings grow to 47 minutes just in ride time.
How much time do the new gondola & V-Cableway save?
| Public transport connection | New | Before | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal Grindelwald – Jungfraujoch | 45 min | 43 min faster | |
| Lauterbrunnen – Jungfraujoch | 1 h 28 min | 17 min faster | |
| Interlaken – Jungfraujoch | 1 h 30 min | 47 min faster | |
| Bern – Jungfraujoch | 2 h 31 min | 47 min faster | |
| Bern – Eigergletscher (ski slopes) | 1 h 49 min | 47 min faster | |
| Zürich – Jungfraujoch | 3 h 33 min | 47 min faster | |
| Zürich – Eigergletscher (ski slopes) | 2 h 51 min | 47 min faster | |
| Bern – Männlichen (GGM) | 1 h 53 min | 23 min faster |
V-Cableway Eiger Express tri-cable opens December 2020
Update: The official Eiger Express opening was held on 5 December!
From 12 December 2020, the new Eiger Express tricable aerial cableway will take you from the Grindelwald terminal to the Eiger Glacier station in just 15 minutes.
For sightseers year round with a direct transfer option you will be on the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe 47 minutes faster than before. More time for you to experience the majestic backdrop with breathtaking views at 3,454 metres above sea level and enjoy attractions such as the Ice Palace, Alpine Sensation and Snow Fun Park.
The Eiger Express will carry 47 gondolas each comfortably seating 26 passengers. The 6.48km long ride up to the Eigergletscher top station at 2328m will take just 15 minutes. That translates to 2,200 passengers per hour.
For skiers you will be at the Eigergletscher slopes also 47 minutes faster, skiing your choice of blue, red or black lines down to a range of lifts including several 6 seat express chairs which are the new normal here.
We found even on a busy weekend it wasn’t hard to find a lift with no queues. For a leg stretcher you can hit the full 1334m vertical back to the base station and do it all again.
The state-of-the-art 26-seat cabins on the V-Bahn will take you very close to the north face of the Eiger, a wall of rock 1,800 metres high. At Eiger Glacier Station the Panorama Hall awaits you with a fascinating view of the mountains.
Non-skiers can transfer and continue on the train to Jungfraujoch Top Of Europe station, an incredible engineering feat when built than remains spectacular today.
New trains and services for the Jungfrau Railway, Wengernalp Railway and Bernese Oberland Railway
Comfortable and already in use: as part of the V-Cableway project, Jungfrau Railway, Wengernalp Railway and Bernese Oberland Railway have been equipped with new trains. The round trip from Interlaken to the Jungfraujoch is now possible every half hour. The shorter intervals from the Eiger Glacier and Kleine Scheidegg stations mean you reach the Jungfraujoch faster.
The Wengernalp Railway is running six new panorama trains every 30 minutes on the Lauterbrunnen-Kleine Scheidegg route. From 2021, a Wengen shuttle will be available.
For another amazing Swiss lift-technology and engineering feat check out the new Matterhorn Glacier cable car at the top of Zermatt to Klein Matterhorn opened last year.
For more on Grindelwald and Jungfrau check our feature here and www.jungfrauregion.ch www.jungfrau.ch www.interlaken.ch
Swiss Tourism are a great source of info, follow the links here for the latest news.
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