New Trains On The Gornergrat Railway
From autumn 2022, five new POLARIS trains will be running on the Gornergrat rail network.
POLARIS is the abbreviation for POpular LAndscape Railway In Switzerland. The trains are particularly accessible and customer-friendly. With low-floor entrances and a modern customer information system, the new models also make travel faster and smoother. The new double railcars are compatible with the current fleet's trains, allowing them to be combined in multiple units in the future. New multi-purpose areas also offer more storage space for sports equipment. The modern exterior and interior design was developed by the renowned Italian design studio Pininfarina.
The size of the order for five, double cogwheel motor-coaches with the name POLARIS will cost almost 45 million francs. The new trains will be very customer friendly and equipped for the disabled. The trains have low floor entrances, a state of the art passenger information system and are faster and smoother. The new double motor-coaches are compatible with the trains currently in general use and can also be deployed in combination with these as multiple units. Furthermore, the on-board multi-purpose areas offer more storage space for winter sports equipment or bicycles.
The doors are monitored by cameras for additional safety when boarding or disembarking. The contract for the trains’ interior and exterior designs was given to the Italian design studio Pininfarina. The CEO of the BVZ Group, Fernando Lehner, underlines the importance of the new motor-coaches: “The new and faster vehicles play an important part in the further development strategy of the Gornergrat as a national and international top excursion destination.” They will be an addition to and replacement for the present trains, some of which are 57 years old and have reached the end of their working llives. Christian König, head of sales Switzerland at Stadler said: “We are delighted to be able to deliver the Gornergrat Railway with further cogwheel trains. On the panoramic line up to the Gornergrat future passengers will enjoy the view over Switzerland’s most beautiful mountain, the Matterhorn, in even more comfort. Our success in Zermatt strengthens Stadler’s cogwheel railway business – a niche in which Stadler is the global leader.”
You can look forward to enjoying a trip up to the Gornergrat facing the Matterhorn in brand new trains in 2023. Right on time before Christmas the people responsible from Stadler and the BVZ Group, which belongs to the GGB, signed the contract for the manufacture and delivery of five, new double motor-coaches.
