Competing to carry tourists up the Alps

Long before the Jungfrau Railway went into service, cogwheel trains were chugging up central Switzerland’s Pilatus mountain. But the railway now faces competition from a shiny new rival on the opposite mountain, the Stanserhorn.

There are 500 mountain transport companies running nearly 1,800 different types of lifts in the Swiss Alps. With operating costs so high and the local economies depending on tourists, there is stiff competition to attract visitors by offering exciting rides. The Titlis mountain has a rotating cable car. Samnaun boasts the world’s first double-decker cable car. And now the Stanserhorn in central Switzerland has gone one step further. It has a double decker gondola with an open air sundeck. But can it compete with the world’s steepest cogwheel on the opposite mountain? (Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch)