Nothing has been running at the mountain railroads since mid-March: The Federal Council had ordered the closure of operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Today, the national government has given the green light for the resumption of mountain railway operations from 6 June 2020 - as part of the third phase of easing restrictions.

Start of operations: consult the cable car websites

When the individual mountain railroads will start riding again can be found on their websites. This is because the lifts always start the summer season on different dates. Some lifts will therefore open immediately on June 6, while others are still undergoing maintenance and will start operating in the following weeks. Most of the summer lifts will then be riding again towards the vacation season. Protective measures for guests and employees are a prerequisite for the start of operations

Protective measures for guests and employees

The Swiss Cableways Association (SBS) therefore provides its members with a basis for the protection concept. On this basis, cable car companies can create their own concept, with company-specific additions if necessary. In any case, the individual companies are responsible for the protection concept. This means that the individual companies can design the protection concepts individually and, if necessary, prescribe the wearing of a protective mask.

The basis of the SBS protection concept is strongly oriented towards the measures in public transport. For example, as with public transport, there is no general capacity restriction for cable cars; however, if the required minimum distance between people cannot be maintained, an urgent recommendation to wear a face mask applies, as recommended by the Federal Office of Public Health.

"Our aim is to ensure that guests and employees are well protected thanks to the protective measures," says Sepp Odermatt, Interim Director of SBS. In the mountains, however, people are usually out in the fresh air anyway and the cable car ride only takes a few minutes - so guests can really enjoy their trip without any worries, says Odermatt. To underline this, SBS is supporting the "Clean & Safe" campaign launched by Switzerland Tourism.

The cable car industry is extremely pleased that the officially ordered shutdown has now been lifted, as the loss of revenue was enormous. The industry association's projection puts the loss at over 330 million francs. "The cable car companies are now looking forward to welcoming many guests, especially from Switzerland, but hopefully soon from abroad too," says Odermatt.