The Reichenbachfall Funicular (german: Reichenbachfall-Bahn; RfB) is a funicular in the Bernese Oberland region of the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton of Berne. It links

Willigen Schattenhalb is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The municipality includes the settlements of Willigen, Geissholz, Falcheren and Lüögen. History The municipality was cr ...

, near Meiringen, with the uppermost of the Reichenbach Falls, famous as the site of the apparent death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional hero,

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

. On its route the line follows and crosses the lower falls of the Reichenbach.Richard Green (2007). ''Railways in the Berner Oberland - Part 3''. ''Today's Railways Europe: Issue 134: February 2007''. Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. The funicular was opened in 1899, and was rebuilt in 1999 to the original design. Between 1912 and 1956, it was linked to Meiringen by the

Meiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht tramway The Meiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht tramway (german: Trambahn Meiringen–Reichenbach–Aareschlucht, MRA) was a metre gauge electric tramway in the Swiss canton of Bern. It linked the town of Meiringen with the tourist attractions of t ...

. Today it is owned by the EWR Energie company, which operates the adjacent

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power plant, but is maintained by the neighbouring

Kraftwerke Oberhasli ''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, ...

company, which also operates several other lines in the area. It has the following parameters: The funicular operates only between May and mid-October. During this period it operates every 15 minutes from 09:00 to 17:00. The lower station is some 20 minutes walk, or a 6-minute bus ride, from Meiringen station on the Brünig railway line.

Gallery

File:The bottom station of the Reichenbachfall-Bahn.jpg, Car in lower station File:110807 Reichenbachfall-Bahn.JPG, At the passing loop File:Looking down on the Reichenbachfall-Bahn.jpg, Looking down on the upper station File:Ans 05092-090.jpg, The line's longest bridge, circa 1910

References

External links

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Reichenbachfall Bahn page from FunimagReichenbachfall-Bahn page on Grimselwelt web site
Funicular railways in Switzerland Bernese Oberland Oberhasli Metre gauge railways in Switzerland Transport in the canton of Bern Railway lines opened in 1899 1899 establishments in Switzerland Heritage railways in Switzerland {{Europe-rail-transport-stub