The Jungfrau TOP OF EUROP

- taking a trip to the Top of Europe

The Jungfrau Railway - Taking a trip to the Top of Europe Switzerland's 5,000 kilometre (3,000 mile) railway network - much of it over mountainous terrain - is an engineering marvel by any standards. And among the most impressive accomplishments of all is the spectacular Jungfrau Railway in the beautiful Bernese Oberland. The railway took 16 years to build and was opened in 1912, operating from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch - at 3,454 metres (11,333ft) still the highest-altitude station in Europe.

The route to the Top of Europe covers 12 kilometres (5.8 miles). It runs through open terrain for only the first two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the Kleine Scheidegg to the Eigergletscher (Eiger Glacier) station. From then on it climbs through a tunnel hewn out of the Alpine rock. Two observation windows offer breathtaking vistas of the Alpine landscape.

From the Eigerwand (North Wall) Station at 2,865 metres (9,400ft), passengers can look down to the Grindelwald Valley, the Kleine Scheidegg and beyond Interlaken to Lake Thun. From the Eismeer (Sea of Ice) station at 3,160 metres (10,368ft), the landscape is one of eternal ice and rock.

The summit itself is a glacier-and-grotto world. Visitors are afforded excellent views of the Aletsch Glacier, at 22 kilometres (14 miles) the longest in the Alps. On clear days, you can even see beyond Switzerland's frontiers to France's Vosges mountain range and the Black Forest in Germany.

Among other attractions are the Sphinx observation terrace, Ice Palace, audio-visual show and high Alpine research exhibition. The Jungfraujoch complex also includes restaurants, a souvenir shop, post office and even conference facilities - for "summit" meetings, of course.

The completion of the new observation hall on the Sphinx in 1996 represented the climax to a 12-year, CHF 130 million expansion programme which also included:

• the opening of the new Top of Europe "Berghaus" complex, with five restaurants and a seating capacity of 700 (1987)
• the construction of a second station hall on the Jungfraujoch (1992)
•  the purchase of two new trains, with construction of sheds at the Kleine Scheidegg (1993)
• the renovation of the Ice Palace (1993)

• the inauguration of the historical and research exhibition (1996)