Kleine Scheidegg is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and hub that is situated on the summit of

Kleine Scheidegg The Kleine Scheidegg ( en, Little Scheidegg) is a mountain pass at an elevation of , situated below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The name means "minor watershed", as it only divides the ...

, a mountain pass in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

region of

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 ...

. The pass, located between the

Lauberhorn The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald, north of the Kleine Scheidegg. Its summit is at an elevation of above sea level. Lauberhorn ski races The mountain is best known for the ...

and the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends a ...

's ridge, houses a complex of hotels and railway buildings. Administratively, the station is in the municipality of Lauterbrunnen 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. ...

, a few metres from the border with the municipality of Grindelwald. The station is the culminating point of the

Wengernalp Railway The Wengernalp Railway (german: Wengernalpbahn, WAB) is a long rack railway line in Switzerland. It runs from Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald via Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, making it the world's longest continuous rack and pinion railway. The ...

(WAB), whose trains operate to Kleine Scheidegg from

Lauterbrunnen , neighboring_municipalities= Aeschi bei Spiez, Blatten (Lötschen) (VS), Fieschertal (VS), Grindelwald, Gündlischwand, Kandersteg, Lütschental, Reichenbach im Kandertal, Saxeten, Wilderswil , twintowns = } Lauterbrunnen is a village and M ...

via

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

, and separately from

Grindelwald Grindelwald is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Berne. In addition ...

. It is also the lower terminus of the

Jungfrau Railway The Jungfrau Railway (german: Jungfraubahn, JB) is a mountain railway in the Bernese Alps, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. The railway, which uses a and racks, runs from the st ...

(JB), whose trains climb within the Eiger to the

Jungfraujoch The Jungfraujoch (German: lit. "maiden saddle") is a saddle connecting two major 4000ers of the Bernese Alps: the Jungfrau and the Mönch. It lies at an elevation of above sea level and is directly overlooked by the rocky prominence of the Sphinx ...

. All passengers travelling to the Jungfraujoch, or between Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, must change trains at the station. At 2,061 metres above sea level, it is the highest railway hub in Switzerland and Europe, and the third highest railway crossing on the continent. The widest section of the station has about 10 parallel tracks. WAB trains from Lauterbrunnen enter the station at its western end, and from Grindelwald at its eastern end, but no through trains are operated. This is principally because of the need, for safety reasons, to have each train's motorcar or locomotive at its downhill end. The WAB tracks at Kleine Scheidegg includes a, partially underground,

wye track In railroad structures, and rail terminology, a wye (like the'' 'Y' '' glyph) or triangular junction (often shortened to just "triangle") is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch (set of points) at each c ...

to allow trains to be reversed, opposite to the Jungfrau Railway tracks, but this is not used for trains in passenger service. The WAB and JB use different

rail gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...

s, different electrification systems and different

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

technology, and are not physically connected. The depot of the JB is located at Kleine Scheidegg, but not the line's workshops. These are located at Eigergletscher station, one stop up the line. The station is served by the following passenger trains:

References

External links

*
Kleine Scheidegg station on the Jungfrau Railway web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleine Scheidegg Railway Station Railway stations in the canton of Bern

See also

References

External links