GstaadLife

Have you seen the new ticket offices of the Gstaad train station yet? Simple, fresh, white walls, exposed wood, a few shiny golden (pass) touches, yet still elegant. Finally a railway welcome worthy of our village. Yes we know many of you still bemoan all the concrete and glass of the new platforms. But even those have blended into the environment over the last year. Let us know what you think about the ticket office next time you pass through.

 

More than 100 years ago the viaduct of Gstaad was built - then with wooden scaffolding. Right now it is once again bedecked in scaffolding, this time for a renovation of its 114 meter-long, 30 meter-high steel span. It was a hot topic for quite a while - whether to renovate or build completely anew - but a petition by local residents and the federal office for building and permissions finally ended the discussion in favor of renovation.

In 1898, when the railway from Montreux to Zweisimmen was initiated it was actually not planned to run the line through Gstaad - it was supposed to go from Saanen straight up to Schönried. Can you imagine Gstaad without its railway? Seems impossible now but at that time the 5km detour was considered surplus to requirements. Well, after lots of back and forth and SFr 100'000 of intervention, the detour to Gstaad was made possible and in 1903-4 the viaduct was built. It is going to be a while though until it can shine again without scaffolding. After Easter they'll even be a two-week period where no service at all will be possible and passengers will have to avail themselves of a bus service. Well, good things take a while, hopefully it will look fantastic, and with its new "silent bridge" technology, Gstaad Viaduct will no doubt have the good folks of Neueret sleeping blissfully through the first run down to Montreux. Now if they could just be a little creative with the Christmas decoration: below, the town viaduct in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

 

The renovation on the Gstaad viaduct is finally getting underway. Next week the men with hard hats will gather and the scaffolding will be up soon after. Works will probably last till November this year and then begin again as soon as the weather allows it after winter. What is already known is that after Easter the trains will have to be replaced by buses for about 12 days due to a heavy construction phase. When everything is done, the bridge will be a silent one that buffers the train noise...they'll just need to stop tooting that horn!

 
Interview with Joanna and Peter Burri by Tess Larosse

From GstaadLife print edition July 16 2010

After landing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital, I took a short hop on a little plane over to Arusha where I found myself jumping straight into a totally unplanned safari by gatecrashing a charming chap from Latvia’s Jeep. Luckily he was very pleasant, willing to share, and only slightly bewildered by the intrusion. Nine dusty days later I flew from the mainland and on to the neighbouring island of Zanzibar, where I caught up, quite unexpectedly, with Gstaad boy Peter Burri and his wife Joanna, who now live on the NE coast of the island in Matemwe, a magical place steeped in history and teeming with local culture. You may remember that Gstaad-born-and-bred Peter ran the Rialto restaurant for several years prior to moving to the Seychelles, and then last year relocated to the mysterious, exotic island famed for its white sandy beaches, wonderful spice gardens, pristine waters and its capital, Stonetown’s, notorious involvement in the slave trade. So what on earth are they doing here? 

TL - Peter, what brought you to this part of the world?

From 2015 you won't have to change trains in Zweisimmen anymore. The completion of the Transgoldenpass project will see the introduction of all new rolling stock that will be able a change of wheel-base width from the narrow gauge rails of Montreux to Zweisimmen to the wider track setup of the Simmental. This will enable no-change journeys from Lake Geneva to Luzern, and for us Gstaaders make the rail ride to Bern or Zurich just a little easier.The trainspotters among you can already see a few of the new shiny white carriages that have already been put into service.

 
Some still think it's called Cabana. Others long ago wrote it off as a cross between a hostel for extreme sports enthusiasts and quirky GCSE art project. But if you haven't been over to the AlpineLodge in Saanen recently, then it's time for another look. The lobby lounge area has just been very tastefully renovated, and the new family rooms are absolute best-in-class in Saanenland. Stop by at the bar and ask Martin to make you the AlpineLodge Cocktail, and get Mirka to show you a refurbished suite. The hotel is open year-round. Be surprised ...

Gstaad to Geneva has always evoked the question: the twists, turns and unpredictable weather of the Col du Pillon or Col des Mosses; or the easier alpine cruise but interminable rush hour traffic of Bulle.  Well the decision just got a bit easier with the opening of the new Bulle bypass. Connected by two shiny new tunnels, passing underground to the south and west of the town from the Migros "barcode" shopping center on the Gruyère side to the Coop gas station by the highway, the bypass takes just 4 minutes to travel, and in rush hour or Sunday evenings could see you shave as much as 15 minutes off your journey time. Seems like it took an age to build, but it was worth the wait.

 
From Sunday December 13 on there will be a new train timetable in effect. One very good change is that from Monday to Friday the first train from Saanen in the direction of Zweisimmen leaves at 5h02 (Gstaad 5h07), which means that you can get to Zurich airport by 08h16 instead of 08h50. You will find the new timetable in your mailbox on Tuesday, or you can place ahead at www.rail.ch.

 

A new look Gstaad rail station is taking shape. Above is the scene that welcomes train travelers - modern, with raised, covered platforms and a glass lift to an underground passage that leads to additional platforms. This construction site will be finished in time for the cantonal yodeling competition taking place from June 12 to 14. The idea was to have something more representative of Gstaad, which as a major destination on the Montreux to Luzern panoramic rail network, had a shack of a train station that was, shall we say,underwhelming. Renovation of the building itself will follow. More pics after the jump.

Around a year ago we promised you a new construction site for the rail viaduct that passes above the village on the road to the Grand Chalet (see Gstaad’s historic rail viaduct to be restored). And yet since then nothing has happened. Well now there is some news. Having tossed out ideas to completely rebuild the structure, officials are evaluating a new, cheaper and quicker solution to restore the Gstaad viaduct. And from Holland comes an innovative way of strengthening the structure while also reducing noise levels. The method is called (drum roll...) "silent bridges" and apparently the strategy is already very succesful in Holland. But as with everything in Switzerland, first the officials (in this case the federal office for transport) have to give their green light. And then they're probably going to try it on a similar aging viaduct in Flendruz. And then maybe, right around when they are cleaning up from the Alpina construction, they'll get started. 'Cos it just wouldn't be right if this town wasn't a constant Baustelle. We'll keep you posted.