A funicular replacement helicopter! How Swiss can you get? From (oddly)
Aviation.direct:
Braunwaldbahn renovation: rail replacement flights with helicopters for 7,20 francs
When railway companies announce that a replacement rail service has been set up due to construction work, for example, this is usually carried out using buses. Not so on the Braunwaldbahn, a funicular railway in Switzerland, because a helicopter is used here. There is no surcharge, as the normal train price of 7,20 Swiss francs applies.
But how does it actually happen that a cable car operator relies on helicopters instead of buses? Well, the Braunwaldbahn is a funicular that connects the Linthal SBB station (Braunwaldbahn) with the town of Braunwald, which is located at 1254 meters above sea level. It is not a “tourist train”; but rather a public means of transport that has an obligation to operate. This funicular is used every day by locals as it massively shortens the travel time to the valley or up the mountain.
Furthermore, Braunwald is a so-called car-free town. Officially, the community can only be reached by funicular. Stopping traffic completely would mean that Braunwelt would be cut off from the outside world. The operator, Braunwald-Sandseilbahn AG, has to provide a replacement, not least because of the obligation to operate. That's what they did, because Heli-Linth carries out the rail replacement flights.
