The Riffelalp tram (german: Riffelalptram, RiT) is a high altitude

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way line located in the Swiss canton of Valais near the resort of Zermatt. The line links the Riffelalp Resort to Riffelalp station, on the

Gornergrat railway The Gornergrat Railway (german: Gornergrat Bahn; GGB) is a mountain rack railway, located in the Swiss canton of Valais. It links the resort village of Zermatt, situated at above mean sea level, to the summit of the Gornergrat. The Gornergr ...

, and via that line to Zermatt and beyond. The Riffelalp tram is the highest tram line in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

History

The Riffelalp Grand Hotel, the predecessor of today's Riffelalp Resort, was opened by Alexander Seiler in 1884. In 1898, the

was opened, linking

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...

to the summit of the

Gornergrat The Gornergrat ( en, Gorner Ridge; ) is a rocky ridge of the Pennine Alps, overlooking the Gorner Glacier south-east of Zermatt in Switzerland. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat rack railway (GGB), the highest open-air railway i ...

. The line included a station called Riffelalp, but this was situated some distance from the resort. In order to provide better access to the station, the hotel built the Riffelalp tram. The line opened on 13 July 1899, one year after the opening of the Gornergrat railway. The original track was long and electrified, using a twin overhead line carrying a three-phase ac supply at 550

volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defin ...

s. The tram operated in the summer months only. During the night of 14 February 1961, the Riffelalp Grand Hotel was destroyed in a fire. The original tram vehicles survived the fire, but without traffic from the hotel, tram service was suspended, it had last run on September 30, 1960. The vehicles were taken to Zermatt for storage, and the line remained closed for the next 40 years. In 1998, work started on the construction of the new Riffelalp Resort on the site of the old grand hotel. As part of this reconstruction, the tram line was relaid on its original route. The wooden bodies of the original cars had deteriorated in storage, whilst modern safety standards precluded the reintroduction of the original three-phase supply. The original cars were therefore rebuilt with replacement bodies and using battery power. The new line was opened on 15 June 2001.

Operation

The tram line follows the footpath that links the Riffelalp station, at above sea level, with the Riffelalp Resort, at above sea level. The line has a length of and comprises a single track of 800 mm gauge ( gauge). At the station end of the line, the tram shares the building of the station and is linked to its cargo ramp. This is the highest station in Europe where two different railways meet, the Riffelalp station itself being one of the highest open-air stations. However, there is no direct connection to the

, which is of gauge. At the resort end of the line, there is a terminal loop and a depot for the trams, with a battery station. There are two trams in use, along with a goods trailer. Both trams are powered by a battery (80 V, 400 Ah) and two d.c. motors each delivering 10 kW, and a maximum speed of . The battery is partially recharged during the electric braking operation. The service operates during the resort's summer season, which runs from June to September. It is the access route recommended for its guests by the Riffelalp Resort, who provide porter assistance at both Zermatt and Riffelalp stations. During the resort's winter season, from December to April, a

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

service is provided in place of the tram.

Gallery

File:Trams du Riffelalp (Suisse)(1).jpg, The Riffelalp tram at Riffelalp station on the Gornergrat railway File:Riffelalp.jpg, A wider view of the station, with the track of the Riffelalp tram visible beside the station building File:2012-08-17 15-22-30 Switzerland Canton du Valais Blatten.JPG, The tram car on the trail between station and hotel File:Trams du Riffelalp (Suisse)(2).jpg, Tram at the Riffelalp Resort File:2012-08-17 14-27-06 Switzerland Canton du Valais Blatten.JPG, A wider view of the resort, showing the balloon loop, a tramcar, and the route to the station

Literature

* Wolfgang Finke: ''Die Fahrzeuge der Zermattbahnen in über 1100 Fahrzeugzeichnungen'' (DVD book). Verlag tram-TV,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

2010 - * Florian Inäbnit: ''Riffelalp-Tram; Einst und jetzt''. Prellbock Druck & Verlag, Leissigen 2005 - * Florian Inäbnit: ''Trambahn Mürren, Elektrische Trambahn Riffelalp und Pferdebahn Bellavista''. Prellbock Druck & Verlag, Leissigen 1995

References

External links