Zermatt Magazin 2017

Zermatt Bergbahnen | Zermatt Magazin 83
So the days of the “sardine tin cabins”
are numbered?
The “sardine tin cabins”, as you
call them, with 100 people crammed
into them, will be a thing of
the past. The new S3 ropeway has
25 gondolas with 28 seats and no
standing, making it considerably
more comfortable. We will be able
to transport 2000 people every
hour. With this capacity, we can
transport guests to the almost
4000 m high Klein Matterhorn in
winter and summer in nine minutes
and with no waiting time. It
will also vastly improve the connection
to Cervinia and guarantee that
we can also transport foot passengers
to the Matterhorn 365 days a
year.
52 million franc investment
and clever logistics
Is it fair to say that construction jobs
of this scale in the mountains are not
cheap and probably require special
logistics?
That’s true. The new 3S ropeway
represents an investment of 52 million
francs. The logistics are very
challenging. With the exception of
the valley station at Trockener Steg
and masts 1 and 2, all the building
materials are being delivered from
Cervinia. 15 000 tons of materials
have already been transported via
the Furi – Trockener Steg cable car.
The entire electro-mechanical
parts, the actual ropeway system
(stations, supports, cables), are
being supplied by Leitner from Italy.
A specially built transport
ropeway from Cime Bianche Laghi
via Testa Grigia to Klein Matterhorn
makes this possible.
How about the construction timetable?
We started securing the rock in
October 2015. The project is due
to run until the end of September
2018 and will go into operation
in October 2018. We are in
the construction phase. The current
cable car from the 1980s – a
pioneering achievement in its time
– will not be taken down. It is currently
being used to transport materials
and will transport people
while the new 3S ropeway is being
inspected.
So it will act as the mule of
the Klein Matterhorn?
If you like. With the existing cable
car we can transport the necessary
materials, the water for the restaurant
and the fuel for the piste
vehicles on the Klein Matterhorn.
It was also an internal condition
that the operation should continue
to run uninterrupted for our guests
while the 3S ropeway was under
construction.
The visionary forces of Zermatt
Bergbahnen, progressive thinkers
and active executors, leave nothing
to chance in the world health resort.
The pioneers past and present
know what they owe the next generation.
zm