Stanserhorn-Bahn Enters Into A Condition Monitoring Contract With Montalpina AG.

The CabriO cable car to the Stanserhorn, which opened in 2012, is still one of the attractions in the region around Lake Lucerne. Due to a failure of the railway due to a defective sheave in 2019, the operating company Stanserhorn-Bahn decided to enter into a condition monitoring contract with Montalpina AG.

MONTALPINA AG, founded in 1927, is a trading company with headquarters in Kriens near Lucerne and branches in Yverdon-les-Bains and Bern. MONTALPINA supplies industry and commerce with rolling bearing, sealing and drive technology. Over 50,000 articles are in stock. Wherever something turns or moves, wherever force is applied, MONTALPINA offers a fast and reliable solution. The engineering department increases the efficiency of customers' plants by monitoring production plants, analyzing damage or training specialist personnel.

The Stans CabriO cable car is a two-lane, double-decker aerial tramway running on a pair of supporting cables, each of which has space for 60 passengers. The 30 seats on the open upper deck, which can be reached via a spiral staircase, are particularly popular. “The open-air cable car ride makes us a magnet for visitors, especially when the weather is particularly nice,” explains Stefan Lussi, technical director of the CabriO cable car. In mid-2019, Lussi and his team experienced what consequences it can have if the CabriO cable car fails in summery weather conditions when the cable car failed due to bearing damage to one of the cable sheaves while it was still in operation. 

There was no danger for passers-by, because the guests in the cabins at that time could be safely driven to the destination stations in the bridged driving mode. However, there were other passengers on the mountain in the evening of the same day. These over 200 people were evacuated by helicopter. The cost of the defect was therefore high, because in addition to the lack of sales in the following days and the subsequent repair costs, the costs for the helicopter use also had to be covered. The cable sheave was then overhauled by the manufacturer and the Stanserhorn cable car within a day and the cable car was able to be put back into operation after a bit more than a day of downtime.

In order to avoid a future failure, the people in charge of the Stanserhorn-Bahn decided with Montalpina AG to carry out regular condition measurements of the bearings of the rope sheaves, in addition to the routine tests of the operating company required by law. “As part of our condition monitoring, we now check all sheaves and drive wheels for bearing damage or other abnormalities every six months. This enables us to identify any damage at an early stage and react in good time, so that an incident like 2019 can be ruled out, ”explains Patrick Iten, Drive Technology Supervisor at Montalpina AG.