Sign in

Private company

Jungfraubahn Holding

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Mountain cogwheel railway in Switzerland

The Jungfrau Railway (German: Jungfraubahn, Swiss Standard German pronunciation: JB) is a mountain rack railway in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. It is the highest railway in Switzerland and Europe, running 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the station of Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m (6,762 ft)) to the Jungfraujoch (3,454 m (11,332 ft)), well above the perennial snow line.2 It is headquartered in Interlaken.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

  • HeadquartersInterlaken1
  • Websitewww.jungfrau.ch
  • Legal formAktiengesellschaft1
  • LEI5067009MCPE99B3E44893
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered addressHarderstrasse 14, 3800 Interlaken, Switzerland3
  • Registered withFederal Statistical Office, CHE1022397713

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

Jungfraubahn 2006
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Carlomorino assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons6

The Jungfrau Railway (German: Jungfraubahn, Swiss Standard German pronunciation: [ˈjʊŋfraʊˌbaːn], JB) is a mountain rack railway in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. It is the highest railway in Switzerland and Europe, running 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the station of Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m (6,762 ft)) to the Jungfraujoch (3,454 m (11,332 ft)), well above the perennial snow line. As a consequence, the railway runs essentially within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the neighbouring Eiger and Mönch, to protect the line from snow and extreme weather.2

The story

1860 (approximately) – Many different plans for a mountain railway on the Jungfrau exist, but fail due to financial problems.

1894 – The industrialist Adolf Guyer-Zeller receives a concession for a rack railway, which begins from the Kleine Scheidegg railway station of the Wengernalpbahn (WAB), with a long tunnel through the Eiger and Mönch up to the summit of the Jungfrau.

1896 – Construction begins. Construction work proceeds briskly.

1898 – The Jungfrau Railway opens as far as the Eigergletscher railway station, at the foot of the Eiger.

1899 – Six workers are killed in an explosion. There is a four-month strike by workers. Adolf Guyer-Zeller dies in Zürich on 3 April. The section from Eigergletscher station to Rotstock station opens on 2 August.

1903 – The section from Rotstock station to Eigerwand station opens on 28 June.

1905 – The section from Eigerwand station to Eismeer station opens on 25 July.

1908 – There is an explosion at Eigerwand station.

Read the full text

1912 – On 21 February, sixteen years after work commenced, the tunneling crew finally breaks through the glacier in Jungfraujoch. Jungfraujoch station is inaugurated on 1 August.

1924 – "The house above the clouds" at Jungfraujoch is opened on 14 September.

1931 – The research station at the Jungfraujoch is opened.

1937 – The Sphinx Observatory is opened. A snowblower is purchased, resulting in year-round operation.

1942 – Company offices are relocated from Zürich to Interlaken.

1950 – The dome is installed on the Sphinx Observatory.

1951 – The adhesion section between Eismeer station and Jungfraujoch station is converted to rack operation.

1955 – A second depot at Kleine Scheidegg is constructed. The post office inaugurates its relay station on the Jungfraujoch.

1972 – The panoramic windows are installed at Eigerwand and Eismeer. The Jungfraujoch mountain house and tourist house are destroyed by fire on 21 October.

1975 – A new tourist house is opened.

1987 – A new mountain house is opened on 1 August.

1991 – A new station hall is opened at the Jungfraujoch.

1993 – The small Kleine Scheidegg depot is extended.

1996 – The covered observation deck at the Sphinx Observatory is opened.

1997 – The number of annual visitors exceeds 500,000 for the first time.

2000 – On 1 June, a daily record number of 8,148 visitors is achieved.

2016 – Eigerwand station is closed.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jungfraubahn Holding AG, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Products and brands

The Jungfrau Railway has four operational stations, a previous station at Eigerwand having closed in 2016. The base station hub of Kleine Scheidegg is the highest starting point for a railroad in Europe, and the top terminus of Jungfraujoch is the highest railway station in Europe. The initial open-air section culminates just after Eigergletscher station, at around 2,350 metres, which makes the line the second highest open-air railway in Switzerland. The other station is Eismeer, located in the Jungfrau Tunnel, where passengers travelling towards Jungfraujoch can disembark for a short time to observe the neighbouring mountains through windows built into the east face of the Eiger, overlooking the Eismeer (the "sea of ice").

Stations

Kleine Scheidegg, 2,061 m (6,762 ft)

Eigergletscher, 2,320 m (7,612 ft)

Eismeer, 3,158 m (10,361 ft).

Read the full text

Jungfraujoch, 3,454 m (11,332 ft)

Source:

Additional locations along the line include Rotstock Station, at 2,520 m (8,268 ft), which was closed in 1903, and Stollenloch, a person-sized tunnel-opening which exits directly onto the north face of the Eiger.

Characteristics

The line uses a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge and uses a Strub rack.

The Jungfrau Railway is electrified and one of only four lines in the world with three-phase electric power. The line runs using a 3-phase alternating current (AC) system which requires the trains to collect power from twin overhead wires using two pantographs (the third phase is earthed to the track).

Lift proposal and aerial cableway

In early 2008, Jungfraubahn Holding AG announced it was exploring the idea of an efficient fast form of access to the Jungfraujoch, using the world's longest tunnel-lift system, as an alternative to the rack railway. A feasibility study was undertaken to determine if and how such a system—for example, as a fast lift or funicular—from the Lauterbrunnen Valley to the Jungfraujoch could be realised without disturbing the unique landscape of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. These plans were abandoned and in 2017 the company announced plans to build an aerial cableway between Grindelwald Terminal, a new station on the Interlaken-Grindelwald line, and Eigergletscher from where the Jungfrau railway could be joined for the journey to the summit. This aerial cableway, known as the Eiger Express, opened to the public on 5 December 2020 and provides an alternative, faster way to access the Jungfraujoch from the valley.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jungfraubahn Holding AG, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Timeline

  1. Jun 27, 1952Founded Jungfraubahn Holding is founded3

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6