2023-07-02 19:55:00
Across the Alps without snow sports equipment, from Zermatt in Switzerland past the Matterhorn to Breuil-Cervinia in Italy: this has been possible since July 1st. Since Saturday, visitors have been able to use the new and last cable car section of the entire route. The “Matterhorn Zermatt Bahnen” announced that this was the highest continuous crossing of the Alps by cable car. However, visitors have to change trains several times between the different cable cars.
28 passengers fit into each cabin on the new route. It hovers 1.6 kilometers over the Theodul Glacier in four minutes. Masts were not necessary given the height difference of 363 meters.
From Zermatt-Dorf it goes via the Trockener Steg station to the highest mountain station in Europe, Klein Matterhorn at 3821 meters. The new cable car then takes you down to the Testa Grigia valley station on the Italian border and from there to the Italian winter sports resort of Cervinia in the Aosta Valley.
Pleasure has its price: following a special offer on the opening weekend, the total return trip from Zermatt to Cervinia in summer costs 240 francs (almost 250 euros). The one-way trip takes around one and a half hours.
Other route already opened in 2018
The German- and Italian-speaking ski region is primarily targeting international guests. Accordingly, new mountain connections usually have English names: The new cable car is called Matterhorn Glacier Ride II – in English: Matterhorn Glacier Ride Two. Ride one has been taking guests from Trockener Steg to the Klein Matterhorn since 2018. From there, only the descent with ski equipment to Italy was previously possible. Zermatt itself is at a good 1,600 meters, Cervinia at around 2,000 meters.
The project is by no means undisputed. The Green politician Christophe Clivaz said: If tourists might now drive past the Matterhorn “in sandals”, it would hardly have anything to do with real mountain tourism. He also fears “overtourism”, i.e. excessive tourism that damages the place – such as in Venice or Amsterdam.
Franz Julen, the administrative president of Bergbahnen Zermatt, has his own argument once morest this on SRF: They want luxury tourism, not mass tourism. Zermatt stands for “quality, service and a corresponding price.” Crowds should not come, they rely on rich Swiss and international guests. And there is another group in mind: “We are targeting day trippers from Turin or Milan, for example, who like to come to the cool mountains in summer,” said Markus Hasler, Managing Director of Bergbahnen Zermatt.
The costs
At the opening, Markus Hasler, Managing Director of Zermatt Bergbahnen, emphasized that building at 4,000 meters is an adventure, precisely because of the glacier. And so construction costs can also explode in Switzerland: the railway cost 65 million Swiss francs. Only half of it was planned. (sk)
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