Jungfraujoch express lift plans scrapped
The Jungfrau Railways has ruled out installing a fast lift to the "Top of Europe", opting instead to update its fleet to cut train journey times.
The operator announced plans on Thursday for modern, high-speed shuttle trains and new crossing possibilities inside the mountain to prevent bottlenecks in peak season.
The work should take at least six years and is expected to cost around SFr100 million ($83.32 million). Visitor numbers should go up from 4,400 to 6,000 a day.
A futuristic lift or cable railway to the 3,454-metre-high Jungfraujoch station in the Bernese Oberland was one of the ideas investigated in a feasibility study carried out by the railway.
The study examined ways of improving access and adding to the attraction of the cogwheel railway that has transported visitors for nearly a century.
The express lift was envisaged to cut the current one-hour, 40-minute journey from Lauterbrunnen to the Jungfraujoch down to 20 minutes, but the study found the project would have cost up to SFr970 million.
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