14.03.2020

Ski area of Jungfrau Ski Region and Jungfraujoch to close on Saturday evening

The spread of the coronavirus has further implications for Jungfrau Railways operations: The Jungfrau Ski Region winter sports areas and the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe will close on Saturday evening, 14 March 2020. From tomorrow (Sunday) the ski area and the cogwheel railways above Wengen and Grindelwald will close. The closure is expected to last until the end of April 2020. Jungfrau Railways will ensure that the areas are accessible to public transport.

In addition to the ski operation, which will be discontinued, the affected restaurants in the winter sports area will also be closed. The measures are expected to apply until the end of April 2020.

In closing the excursion railways to Kleine Scheidegg, Eigergletscher and the Jungfraujoch as well as First, Jungfrau Railways is following the SBB’s guidelines regarding “traffic on purely tourist lines without connections”. The transport of goods is not affected by this.

The public transport links to residential areas such as Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen-Wengen and Lauterbrunnen-Mürren will be maintained by the Bernese Oberland Railways (BOB), Wengernalp Railway (WAB) and Lauterbrunnen-Mürren Mountain Railway (BLM).

As Jungfraubahn Holding AG announced on 3 March, the short-term business outlook has deteriorated. Management has taken various measures to cut costs, including part-time work. How the business will develop further cannot be predicted today. This depends on the further progress of the coronavirus as well as on travel activity or travel possibilities and guests’ desire to travel.

Jungfraubahn Holding AG has had a good start to 2020. From 1 January 2020 to 29 February 2020, the company recorded growth in winter sports. 1.7% fewer guests visited the Jungfraujoch in the first two months of the year compared with last year. The months from January up to and including April are generally among the weaker months in terms of visitor numbers.

Further information on the business development of Jungfraubahn Holding AG will follow at the annual media conference on 26 March 2020.