Milestone Opening Of The Eiger Express
The opening of the Eiger Express is a milestone - for Jungfraubahnen, for Doppelmayr/Garaventa, and for the entire ropeway industry. The astounding tricable gondola combines ropeway technology unlike anything seen before, a panorama view of an exceptional mountain silhouette, and comfort that leaves nothing to be desired. The Eiger Express boosts a large number of technical innovations. For the first time ever, a ropeway combines fully automated passenger and goods transport and proves its capacity to provide innovative transport solutions. On December 5, 2020, the first passengers will make the trip from Grindelwald Grund to the Eiger Glacier in the new Eiger Express.
For the construction of the Eiger Express, Jungfraubahnen put their trust in the innovative force of Doppelmayr/Garaventa. The demands and wishes for an outstanding product were met with a wide range of engineering novelties and custom-tailored developments.
Ride experience in state-of-the-art cabins
The ATRIA, the latest cabin generation from Doppelmayr/Garaventa, offers passengers a ride experience that more than lives up to the motto 'TOP of EUROPE'. The cabin's 26 seats are equipped with seat heating and the two infotainment screens offer GPS-controlled information and entertainment during the trip. A special highlight of the new CWA cabin is the panoramic glazing: The transition from the windows to the cabin roof is seamless and, thus, opens up an incomparable view of the Eiger north face and the surrounding landscape. The integrated window heating prevents the windows from fogging and icing up so that the view from the cabin is unhindered at all times. The newly developed carriage wheel generator of the 3S carriage supplies the two heating systems with energy during the trip. Thus, a trip in the ropeway provides top comfort for everyone, even with baby strollers, wheelchairs and sports equipment, because the Eiger Express and the complete terminal accept no compromises when it comes to accessibility.
VIPs in luck
The VIP cabin of the Eiger Express has the lucky number 888. The golden cabin with exclusive furnishing leaves nothing to be desired. The red carpet gives the guests a VIP feel right from the start and indirect floor lighting creates a cozy atmosphere. The ceiling depicting a starlit sky with hundreds of lights, swivel leather chairs, also in red, and a champagne bar complete the luxurious trip for up to eight VIP guests.
Connecting two worlds
Doppelmayr/Garaventa delivered a one-of-a-kind novelty for the combined transport of passengers and goods. For the first time ever on a ropeway, the complete material transport takes place during public operation and is visible to the guests. This novel system meets the highest safety standards and efficiency requirements on a whole new level. The material flow is automated to a high degree and unique in the world. The goods, e.g. groceries for the catering, merchandise for the souvenir shops, etc. are transported onto a vertical conveyor by means of a material handling system. This vertical conveyor then hands the goods over to a newly developed loading robot that places them in the cabins. Doppelmayr/Garaventa has developed this solution together with LTW Intralogistics, a company of the Group. LTW is the specialist for intralogistics solutions and has experience in a wide range of sectors, from high-rise warehouses in timber construction to deep-freeze warehouses for comestibles. This competency was combined with ropeway expertise to enable goods transport during the normal operation with passengers of the Eiger Express.
It's about balance
The Eiger Express is designed and equipped for different transport modes and offers individual benefits for each of them. For groups of persons visiting the Jungfraujoch, a cabin is stopped in the group loading area. This way, they can comfortably board their own cabin as a group. Individual guests board the cabin as usual in a generously dimensioned loading area while the cabin slowly moves through the station. This is possible thanks to sophisticated processes realized by an intelligent ropeway control system. The controls were implemented by Frey AG Stans, a company of the Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group. The controls were implemented by Frey AG Stans, a company of the Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group. For the Eiger Express, the basic control functions were supplemented with the new additional features, such as the optimized loading concept for groups, VIP and individual guests as well as the option for goods transport taking place simultaneously with the passenger transport and the surveillance systems needed for this. This allows the ropeway attendant to operate the entire ropeway, including all additional functions, in a safe and straightforward way thanks to the coherent, logic and intuitive control concept. With this, Doppelmayr/Garaventa again prove to be an all-rounder and supplier of solutions for different transport challenges – all from a single source.
Major project V-Cableway
With the V-Cableway, Jungfraubahnen, in cooperation with Doppelmayr/Garaventa, realize a state-of-art mobility center for the next generations in Grindelwald. Thanks to its new link to the public transportation network, it brings together regional railway services, a 10-seater gondola that was opened last year, and the new Eiger Express. The state-of-the-art terminal offers shops and restaurants on several floors. The director of Jungfraubahnen, Urs Kessler, called it a 'masterly performance of everyone involved' while looking back on 908 days of construction. 'In the medium and long-term, the V-Cableway will secure the successful touristic future of the entire Jungfrau region as a year-round destination in Swiss tourism. It lays the foundation for the development into a premium destination. Thus, in the international competition, Switzerland now possesses a top winter and summer destination with a modern link to the public transportation network.'
