Swiss Säntis mountain cable car set for gust resistant refit

Säntis cable car will be completely renovated Keystone-SDA

The Säntis mountain cable car, one of the busiest in Switzerland, will be completely renovated at a cost of CHF23 million.

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The refit will improve stability in strong gusts of wind, the operating company said. In the new design, the cable car will only need one pylon instead of the two currently placed on the route that runs from the Schwägalp pass area (between the cantons of St Gallen and Appenzell Outer Rhodes), at about 1,300 metres above sea level, to the Säntis station, located at 2,473 metres.

Construction work will begin in spring 2025, initially without affecting the operation of the existing infrastructure. Starting in May 2026, however, operations will be interrupted for about six months. The cable car is scheduled to reopen at the end of 2026.

Put into operation in the summer of 1935, the Säntis cable car – a 2,502-metre mountain in eastern Switzerland – carries about half a million passengers a year. The facilities were last completely modernised in 1974 and were fitted with new cabins in 2000.

Translated from Italian with DeepL/mga

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