Trains resume in snowbound Swiss resort

ZERMATT, Switzerland - A train packed with tourists left from a snowbound resort town near Switzerland's famed Matterhorn peak on Wednesday, marking the resumption of railway service that had been halted for two days because of avalanche risks and had stranded 13,000 visitors.

The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn train, with a capacity for 250 people, eased out of Zermatt station after teams cleared huge snowdrifts from the more than a meter of snow that blanketed the region over a one-day period, coating railways and roads.

"After being cut off for almost two days, Zermatt can now be accessed by train again," the local tourism office said.

The move came as Switzerland's avalanche institute, SLF, lowered the avalanche risk from the highest level, five, to four earlier on Wednesday.

Officials had initially hoped to get trains moving earlier, but the timetable was delayed after helicopter crews spotted a new snow mass left over from an avalanche days earlier.

Mayor Romy Biner-Hauser said "heavier machinery was needed ... and that's why the operation is live only now again", adding that she expected roads to be passable sometime on Thursday.

A helicopter "air bridge" ferried down hundreds of passengers on Tuesday and early Wednesday.

An official with Air Zermattsaid more than 600 people had been airlifted out by helicopter on Tuesday - at a cost of 200 Swiss francs ($204) per passenger - with several hundred more flown out on Wednesday.

Frank Techel, an SLF avalanche forecaster, said roughly three to four meters of snow had been dumped on the Zermatt area so far this year, which he called an "extraordinary" amount for the region in such a short span.

Officials said no lives were ever in danger and the situation was calm, with cafes open and many streets walkable.

"The guests and local residents weren't placed in any danger at any time they had power and supplies," the tourism office said.

Some visitors were more upset that nearby ski slopes were closed than getting stranded in the posh, picturesque resort town.

"Unfortunately, no skiing today," said Kurt Tulleners, a visitor, before the train service resumed. "So yeah, we're just kind of stuck."

Ap - Afp

(China Daily 01/12/2018 page11)