The Standseilbahn Linth-Limmern is a funicular railway at the Linth-Limmern pumped storage plant in the Canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Built in 2013[1][2] for a transport capacity of 215 tonnes (237 tons),[3][4][5] the funicular moved the four transformers of the hydroelectric plant from Tierfehd at an elevation of 816 m (2,677 ft) to the machinery cavern of the Limmern plant at 1,697 m (5,568 ft).[6] This made it the highest-capacity funicular.[4] The 3,778-metre-long (12,395 ft) line, passing through a tunnel, has an elevation difference of 882 m (2,894 ft) and an incline of 24 per cent.[3] The single track has a passing loop[4] for the descending car.
Standseilbahn Linth-Limmern | |
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![]() The lower station (2020) | |
Overview | |
Other name(s) |
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Status | In operation |
Owner | Kraftwerke Linth-Limmern AG (KLL) |
Locale | Linthal, Glarus, Switzerland |
Coordinates | 46°51′59″N 8°59′57″E / 46.8665°N 8.9992°E |
Termini |
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Website | axpo.com |
Service | |
Type | Funicular, underground |
Rolling stock | 2 for 30 passengers or 120t each (also: 1 for 215 t) |
History | |
Opened | September 2013 |
Technical | |
Line length | 3,778 m (12,395 ft) |
Number of tracks | 1 with passing loop |
Track gauge | 1,800 mm (5 ft 10+7⁄8 in) |
Electrification | from opening (2x 870 kW) |
Operating speed | 6 metres per second (20 ft/s) for 40 t; 0.5 metres per second (1.6 ft/s) for 215 t |
Maximum incline | 24% (constant) |
Since the completion of the plant's expansion, the funicular is used by the staff of and visitors to the hydroelectric plant. It is owned by Kraftwerke Linth-Limmern AG (KLL), a joint venture of Axpo (85%) and the Canton of Glarus (15%).[7]
The lower station is accessed through a short tunnel from Tierfehd,[8] near the aerial cableways to Kalktrittli and Baumgartenalp: 46°52′42″N 8°59′14″E / 46.878421°N 8.98714°E.[2]
The upper station is in the machinery cavern near the dam of Limmernsee; 46°50′56″N 9°00′39″E / 46.848783°N 9.010871°E.[2] In proximity, another underground funicular leads from Kavernenzentrale Muttsee at 1870 m to Muttenkopf at 2393 m, near Muttsee.[9][10]
The funicular was built by Garaventa.[1][11] A tunnel boring machine (TBM) with a diameter of 8 metres (26 ft) was used to excavate the tunnel.[12]
References
Further reading
- Bumann, Damian (November 2016), "Les téléphériques lourds de la nouvelle centrale de pompage de Linth-Limmern" (PDF), VTK/UCT (in French) (162): 28–31
- Hug, Rudolf (2019), "Zugangsstollen 1 mit Standseilbahn", Jahrhundertwerk im Glarner Kalk: Pumpspeicherwerk Limmern (in German), Oberrohrdorf, pp. 49–60, ISBN 978-3-9524084-7-6
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