The Gelmer Funicular is a

cable railway Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

in the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It links a lower terminus at

Handegg Handeck is a village in the municipality of Guttannen, Switzerland. The village is located near the lake Gelmersee, which may be reached by Gelmerbahn from Handeck. There is a hotel and bridge at the village. Geography Handeck is located approx ...

, in the

Haslital The Oberhasli is a historical '' Landvogtei'' or ''Talschaft'' in the Bernese Highlands, Switzerland, bordering on the cantons of Obwalden (OW), Nidwalden (NW), Uri (UR) and Wallis (VS). From 1833 to 2009, Oberhasli was incorporated as the ...

(the valley of the upper

Aar River The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descen ...

), with an upper terminus at the

Gelmersee Gelmersee (or Lake Gelmer) is a reservoir in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. The hydroelectric reservoir was completed in 1932, at about the same time as the Grimselsee reservoir, and both are operated by Kraftwerke Oberhasli. The reservoir's volu ...

lake. The 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 The Grimsel Pass (german: Grimselpass; french: Col du Grimsel; it, Passo del Grimsel) is a mountain pass in Switzerland, crossing the Bernese Alps at an elevation of . The pass connects the Haslital, the upper valley of the river Aare, with t ...

. It is accessible by car and by an infrequent

PostBus A postbus is a public bus service that is operated as part of local mail delivery as a means of providing public transport in rural areas with lower levels of patronage, where a normal bus service would be uneconomic or inefficient. Postbus ser ...

service. It is technically not a

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

, which has two cars that counterbalance each other, but is propelled by a

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...

History

The funicular was originally built to facilitate the construction of the Gelmersee, a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

, 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 ''Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG'' (KWO) is a Swiss energy supply company, based in Innertkirchen and operating several hydroelectric plants in the Oberhasli area of the Canton of Berne. It also operates a number of tourist attractions in the same area ...

(KWO) which owns the power station.

Operation

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

References

External links

The Gelmerbahn on KWO's web site

The Gelmerbahn's entry on the Swiss Inventory of Ropeways

Images
{{coord, 46, 36, 49, N, 08, 18, 31, E, region:CH_type:landmark, display=title Funicular railways in Switzerland Metre gauge railways in Switzerland Transport in the canton of Bern

History

Operation

See also

References

External links