TL;DR
The cable car into Mürren just got a serious upgrade. The Lauterbrunnen-Grütschalp aerial cableway has been fully renovated and reopens 11 July 2026 - new 135-person cabin (up from 100), new drive systems, new valley station layout with separated passenger flows, and an on-site energy storage system. After 478,500 passengers in 2025 alone, the capacity boost is well overdue.
The Lauterbrunnen-Grütschalp cable car - the primary access link to Mürren - reopens on 11 July 2026 following a complete renovation that has been underway since 13 April.
The upgrade was required under Swiss safety regulations. The cableway went into service in 2006, and after 20 years of operation it needed a full renovation to obtain a new operating licence and ensure reliable service for the next two decades. The new cabin arrived in Lauterbrunnen on 21 May 2026.
Why This Cable Car Matters
The Lauterbrunnen-Grütschalp line is not just a tourist lift - it's the essential transport link for the car-free village of Mürren and the surrounding area. The cable car climbs 686 metres in around four minutes, and in addition to passengers it can carry up to six tonnes of freight. The mountain station includes a transfer facility where cargo moves onto the narrow-gauge railway, with an average of 5,000 tonnes of materials transported annually.
The BLM line carried 478,500 passengers in 2025 - a 6.9% increase on 2024 - making it one of the busier mountain transport links in the Bernese Oberland. The previous cabin capacity of 100 passengers had become a genuine bottleneck, particularly in peak summer periods when queues at the valley station were a known frustration for visitors heading to Mürren.
