Overview
The Jungfrau Railway (, , JB) is a mountain rack railway in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. It is the highest railway in Switzerland and Europe, running from the station of Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, well above the perennial snow line. As a consequence, the railway runs essentially within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the neighbouring Eiger and Mönch, to protect the line from snow and extreme weather.
The Jungfrau Railway got its name from the highest of the three high peaks above it: the Jungfrau, which was the initial goal of the project. A lift connecting the summit of the Jungfrau with an underground railway was planned. In 1912, the project ultimately ended at the Jungfraujoch, the saddle between the Mönch and Jungfrau. It was one of the highest railways in the world at the time of its inauguration.
At Kleine Scheidegg the Jungfrau Railway connects with the Wengernalpbahn (WAB), which has two routes down the mountain, running respectively to the villages of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. From both villages, branches of the Berner Oberland-Bahn (BOB) connect to the Swiss Federal Railways at Interlaken.
The line is owned by the Jungfraubahn AG, a subsidiary of the Jungfraubahn Holding AG, a holding company that owns several mountain railways, cable railways, hotels, restaurants and travel agencies in the same region. Through that holding company it is part of the Allianz - Jungfrau Top of Europe marketing alliance, which also includes the separately owned Berner Oberland-Bahn and Schynige Platte-Bahn.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).