140 evacuated from mountain restaurant after funicular malfunction

At 10pm, two Swiss rescue organisation (Rega) helicopters were used to fly out 140 diners. The operation lasted until 1:30am. Keystone / Peter Schneider

On Saturday evening, a technical glitch on a funicular railway above Lake Thun in canton Bern resulted in the evacuation of 140 people. 

Two technical malfunctions occurred on a funicular railway line above Lake Thun on Saturday night, reported Swiss tabloid, 20 MinutesExternal link. An electrical switch suffered a glitch and the affected train wagons had to be driven to the station using emergency diesel engines. However, during the trip, an additional error ensued which made the initial error impossible to correct. This resulted in a complete stop of the funicular operation. 

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Around 140 guests dining in the Niesen Kulm restaurant had to be evacuated. At 10pm, two Swiss rescue organisation (Rega) helicopters were used to fly out the diners. “Our first priority in this situation is our guests,” said managing director of the Niesenbahn funicular service, Urs Wohler, to 20 Minutes. Pregnant women, children and the elderly were evacuated first. 

While the mountain hotel has eleven rooms, the hotel was fully booked and was not able to accommodate the trapped diners. The individuals were flown to the Reichenbach airfield in canton Bern. The evacuation was completed at around 1:30am.

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This is not the first time the Niesenbahn funicular railway has suffered a technical malfunction. In 2019, around 300 guests were evacuated after one of the funicular’s clutch was damaged in the same section of the tracks. 

The diners evacuated received free tickets for a return visit. As of Sunday morning, the funicular to the Niesen Kulm remains closed.