Kleine Scheidegg railway station

Geschichte

Kleine Scheidegg is a railway station that is situated on the summit of the Kleine Scheidegg Pass in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The pass houses a complex of hotels and railway buildings. Administratively, the station is in the municipality of Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern.The station is on the Wengernalpbahn (WAB), whose trains operate to Kleine Scheidegg from Lauterbrunnen via Wengen, and separately from Grindelwald. It is also the lower terminus of the Jungfraubahn (JB), whose trains climb within the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch. All passengers travelling to the Jungfraujoch, or between Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, must change trains at the station.WAB trains from Lauterbrunnen enter the station at its western end, and from Grindelwald at its eastern end, but no through trains are operated. This is principally because of the need, for safety reasons, to have each train's motorcar or locomotive at its downhill end. The WAB tracks at Kleine Scheidegg includes a, partially underground, wye track to allow trains to be reversed, but this is not used for trains in passenger service.The WAB and JB use different rail gauges, different electrification systems and different rack railway technology, and are not physically connected. The depot of the JB is located at Kleine Scheidegg, but not the line's workshops. These are located at Eigergletscher station, one stop up the line.