12-13 / 68
10
11
fokus
|
focus
fokus
|
focus
As of this December, the most important trans-
port route into the Titlis area will be more
modern, more comfortable, and considerably
faster. Thanks to the new eight-seater gondola
lift TITLIS Xpress, the journey from Engelberg to
Stand will take half the time, and queues at the
valley station will be much shorter. The opening
has even attracted a Schlager pop star to Engel-
berg!
Centra l Swiss singing sensation Beatrice
Egli, who shot to fame af ter winning Ger-
many’s version of Pop Idol, is set to at tend the
opening of Engelberg’s new
gondola lif t. The new cable
car will transpor t passengers
quick ly and comfor tably up
to skiing, hiking and day-trip
destinations. At the event,
Beatrice, whose latest a lbum
went gold, will treat ever yone to a concer t of
her pop hits, following the blessing of the lif t
by Engelberg’s priest Father Patrick. “We want
to give the new gondola lif t a wor thy open-
ing ceremony, as it has been a huge construc-
tion projec t for Engelberg,” says Titlis Rotair
spokesman Peter Rein le. “The event is main ly
for the loca ls, those f rom the surrounding re-
gion, and our regu lar guests,” he adds. Admis-
sion to the concer t, therefore, is f ree of charge.
For many of those involved in the lif t ’s
construc tion, Beatrice’s concer t will be the
f irst chance they have had to relax since the
projec t began a lmost two years ago. “The
rough ly 20-month construc tion period was
ver y cha llenging,” says Peter. “It was an excit-
ing time, but many people felt under a lot of
pressure.” Construc tion was a lways dependent
on weather conditions, and wasn’ t made any
easier by the fac t that a record number of v isi-
tors used the Titlis cableways last summer – as
good as that was for business. “It was a rea l
cha llenge hav ing so many people on the moun-
tain while construc tion was going on,” reca lls
Peter. “At times the mountain was just too f u ll.”
Never theless, the workers were able to stick to
the ambitious schedu le and the lif t will com-
mence operations in December as planned.
The opening of the TITL IS Xpress sig-
na ls the end of overcrowded stations and long
waits, as the number of passengers that can
be transpor ted f rom the va lley station per
hour will increase f rom 1,600 to 2, 400. Journey
time will a lso be reduced by ha lf, taking on ly
16 minutes f rom Engelberg
to Stand v ia (but without
hav ing to change at) Trübsee.
Passengers no longer have
the option of disembarking
at Gerschnia lp, but this area
is still ser v iced by the ex ist-
ing f unicu lar railway, which runs ever y 20 or
30 minutes depending on the season. There is
one question that will be of par ticu lar interest
to f reeriders: How can they get back to Trüb-
see f rom Gerschnia lp af ter descending the
powder y slope of the Laub? “This is a topic that
people are ver y passionate about,” explains
Peter. For tunately, he was able to put ever y-
one’s minds at ease: the Angel Eyes cableway
depar ts ever y hour on the hour, or more of ten
if required, between Gerschnia lp and Trüb-
see. As this cableway is a lso used to transpor t
goods, the f reeriders might get lucky and not
face a long wait at the end of their run. “This
winter will determine how we develop this
ser v ice in the f uture,” says Peter. With the
launch of this new and improved ser v ice in
the Titlis area, Engelbergers and v isitors will
a ll have something to sing about this winter!
The new gondola lift during
a trial run in early October
“It was a real challenge having so
many people on the mountain
while construction was going on.”
Die neue Gondelbahn bei einer
Probefahrt anfangs Oktober.
Eröffnungsfeier «TITLIS Xpress»
Freitag, 11. Dezember 2015, Titlis Talstation
ab 17.30 Uhr Partystimmung mit DJ
18.30 Uhr Einsegnung der Gondelbahn
19.00 Uhr Konzert Beatrice Egli
TITL IS Xpress opening ceremony
Friday, 11 December 2015, Titlis va lley station
DJs f rom 5:30 p.m. onwards
6:30 p.m.: Blessing of the gondola lif t
7 p.m.: Beatrice Egli concer t