Switzerland Unveils World's Steepest Funicular Railway

Switzerland opens world's steepest funicular railway line marking the triumph of Swiss engineering and technology.

The €44.6m Schwyz-Stoos funicular (Standseilbahn Schwyz-Stoos in German) goes into public service on Sunday.

It is a level-adjusting function will permit the space-age-looking carriages, accessible to all users, to remain horizontal while speeding up the mountain at up to 10 metres a second.

It is due to be opened on Friday by the president of the Swiss federal council, Doris Leuthard, in the Alpine resort of Stoos, 1,300 metres (4,300ft) above sea level in central Switzerland.

The train of two lines of cylindrical carriages, resembling beer barrels, will allow the passengers to remain upright at all times, even as they ascend – or descend – the 1,720-metre track, climbing or descending 743 meters along gradients as steep as 110%.

This newest travel technology will run from the valley station near Schwyz into the mountain village of Stoos, population 100, about 30 miles south of Zurich.

Ivan Steiner is a spokesman for the railway, said the funicular replaced an older one that had operated since 1933.

This railway is the result of the 14 years of planning and building.

The Gondola Project, a website dedicated to cable-propelled transport systems, said the scheme had faced a number of challenges even before work had begun. Then when construction started in July 2013, it faced hold-ups.