The Rigi can welcome more than one million visitors

How many visitors can the Rigi welcome? No other question about the Rigi currently causes more discussion. The Rigi Railways (Rigi-Bahnen) have had to face increased criticism, in particular since the planned expansion of the Weggis-Kaltbad aerial cableway. They want to increase the capacity from the current 640 people per hour to 800. A further expansion to 1,200 people per hour would be possible at a later date, which corresponds to almost a doubling of today's frequencies.

In an interview with our newspaper, Marcel Waldis, Interim CEO of Rigi-Bahnen, explains why an expansion is necessary, and why he rejects an upper visitor limit.

The planned Weggis-Kaltbad gondola lift will be able to transport more guests than today's aerial cableway. Why do you want to expand the capacity?

Marcel Waldis: We are not primarily concerned with expanding capacity, but with the replacement of the existing aerial cableway. The concession expires on September 30, 2022, and we have to replace the cableway due to the new technical and legal requirements. A capacity expansion to 800 people per hour is also needed to solve the difficulties with the downhill runs - on days with many guests, the waiting times at the mountain station are often too long. Over a period of 10 to 20 years, the capacity expansion will only represent an annual growth of less than 2 percent compared to today. That’s really moderate.

But it’s also possible to double the capacity. Why is this needed?

We are currently not planning to double the capacity. We simply want to keep the options for an expansion open. And this is precisely the problem with today's cable car: we would like to transport more people, but we can’t. An expansion to 1,200 people per hour is only likely to become an issue in ten years’ time at the earliest. In order to achieve this, we would have to apply for a completely new operating license from the Federal Office of Transport, and all the involved authorities would have a say in this. This is a very elaborate process and is not yet foreseen in any investment plan. We also take the concerns of the protection associations seriously, and are carefully considering the question of capacity. Nothing is definitive at the moment.

Today, most guests travel via Vitznau, with the cable car being mainly used for the downhill journey. Do you want to change this distribution with the new railway, so that you can send even more guests onto the Rigi?

We don’t want to bring more guests to the cable car at all costs. We can hardly influence that either. Many people travel by boat to Vitznau to enjoy the experience, and take the rack railway from there. I don’t think that many of these people would prefer to disembark in Weggis and then walk to the cable car station.

But many international travel groups insist on being able to travel via Vitznau. Do you want to clear the cog railway for the benefit of these groups?

We already apply contingents with regard to the international groups. If too many people want to travel at the same time, we try to guide them via Arth-Goldau. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work, and we have to accept cancellations. The expansion is not only planned for the benefit of these groups, but generally, for all guests. We want to shorten waiting times.

In the past year, the Rigi railways almost hit the 1 million mark in terms of visitor numbers. What is the situation this year?

We were just under 2 percent below the figures of the previous year at the end of August. This is also because 2018 was an exceptional year, due to the beautiful weather. In addition, guests using the Kräbel-Scheidegg cable car were included for the first time, as we have taken over the lease for this cable car once again.

There are peak days with well over 5,000 guests, and the call for a limitation is loud – including from the protection associations. How do you feel about this?

We had more than 5,000 guests a day on 21 days in 2018. In other words, there were 344 days with less than 5,000 guests. There is a lot going on during the peak days, that's the way it is. The entire rolling stock is in use, all the staff are hard at work and the catering services are at full stretch. But the visitors quickly spread themselves over the mountain. It’s interesting to note that locals also come to the Rigi on these peak days, although they know it will be busy.

What are you trying to say?

This shows me that the locals accept this number of visitors, otherwise they would avoid the Rigi on these days. But you have to distribute the guests well. The trains from Arth-Goldau are now arriving at Rigi Kulm a bit later, because we’ve had to adjust the timetable due to construction work on the SBB train line. That does have an effect. Thanks to the numerous hiking trails, however, there is a good distribution, and the Rigi can handle more than one million guests without any conflicts arising.

Where is the limit for you?

We don’t want to define a limit, that wouldn’t be feasible. In the strategy period 2020 to 2024, we are talking less about additional frequencies, but more about a higher quality of stay.

The discussions about a visitor limit are often conducted in an emotional manner. Isn’t it unhelpful to talk about more than a million guests?

We don’t want to turn anyone away, and I don’t know how we could limit the number of guests. We can’t simply stop the trains in mid-December if a defined upper limit has been reached. Would all the hotels and restaurants have to close? And how would the locals get onto the mountain?

The Rigi-Bahnen have been making profits of millions of dollars for years. Are you entrepreneurially dependent on even more guests?

No, it’s not the quantity that has to rise, but the quality. We want to increase our average yield, which means that we can achieve greater value creation with more attractive offers for the same number of guests. Compared with our direct competitors, we have low earnings of around 30 Swiss Francs per guest.

And how do you manage that?

By either critically questioning the existing rebates or by increasing the prices. For example, we accept the Half-Fare Card, the GA, Day Passes or the Swiss Travel Pass for international guests. We have to critically question whether this wide range of reduced prices is worthwhile. We also want to create new, attractive offers so that the added-value remains on the mountain. Because everyone benefits from this.

Marcel Waldis (46) has been working for the Rigi-Bahnen as Head of Finance since 2008, and has held the office of CEO on an interim basis since the departure of CEO Stefan Otz in May 2019. Marcel Waldis is married and lives in Weggis.