TL;DR
A Tyrolean summit lift that has been carrying guests up the Kitzbüheler Horn since 1955 is on borrowed time. Its licence runs to 2045, but a new inspection rule has made refurbishment uneconomic, so Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel will spend around €15 million on a replacement on the same line. It should hold roughly 100 people and keep running in winds that would stop today’s lift. Building starts in autumn 2027, which makes this winter and next summer the last chances to ride the old one.
The Kitzbüheler Horn’s summit cable car could have run until 2045 and is being replaced anyway.
Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel is retiring the two-cabin aerial tram that has carried guests to the top of the Kitzbüheler Horn above Kitzbühel since 1955. The operator plans to build a new lift on the same route for around €15 million, even though the existing concession runs until 2045.
A new inspection rule changed the sums
According to reporting in the Tiroler Tageszeitung, a new general overhaul regulation has made a financially workable refurbishment impossible. Chief executive Anton Bodner said renovating the existing system would no longer make sense, which is why a new build is planned. He has also said he would have preferred to keep the old lift running until the concession expired.
