The world’s steepest cable car has just opened in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps.

Connecting the village of Stechelberg on the valley floor with Mürren, the track has a gradient of 159.4 per cent.

The journey takes just four minutes to climb 775 metres over a track nearly 1,194 metres in length.

The two cars hang from an 11-metre-long arm to cope with the steep incline and have space for up to 85 passengers. The route is fully autonomous, with constant monitoring by cameras and sensors allowing it to operate without staff on board.

The first car made its journey up the cableway on the evening of Friday 13 December at an official opening ceremony. It began welcoming regular passengers on Saturday 14 December.

Visit a mountaintop made famous by James Bond

The new cable car is part of the ‘Schilthornbahn 20XX’ project which involves building a new route made up of three sections. It will eventually run from Stechelberg and Mürren via Birg up to the Schilthorn, cutting the current journey time from 32 minutes to around 18 minutes.

The Swiss mountain’s ‘Piz Gloria’ restaurant was made famous by the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

This revolving restaurant is located at the peak of the Schilthorn and has 360-degree views of more than 200 other mountain peaks. If visibility is good, you can even see Montblanc.

Designed by Bernese architect Konrad Wolf, it claims to be the world’s first revolving restaurant.

Its name comes from Ian Fleming’s 1963 novel of the same name in which it is the mountain-top hideout of the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The production team for the movie found the restaurant partially complete and contributed to finishing its construction in return for exclusive use for filming the 1969 movie.

A new cableway between Mürren and Birg also opened at the same time as the world’s steepest cable car. The final stretch from Birg to the Schilthorn is expected to open in March 2025 with the finalisation of the entire project in spring/summer 2026. This top section has been closed since mid-October because of the project.

Paris and Berlin are about to get a little closer.

A year after its nighttime counterpart hit the rails, the highly anticipated daytime high-speed train linking Paris and Berlin is ready to launch on 16 December, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn has confirmed.

The new route promises faster, direct and daily journeys between the two bustling capital cities, and at a competitive price.

How long will the new Paris-Berlin train take?

Currently, travelling during the day between Paris and Berlin involves a connection and usually takes between nine and 10.5 hours.

The ÖBB Nightjet overnight train between the two capitals, meanwhile, takes around 13 hours and 15 minutes and only departs three times a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

This overnight service also was suspended just eight months after it launched due to major works on the rail network. It resumed service in early November, about three months after it was paused.

The new direct train service will run daily and take around eight hours, departing Paris Gare de l’Est at 9.55am and arriving at Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6.03pm.

In the other direction, the train will depart at 11.54am and arrive at 7.55pm.

According to the rail operators, it is the first to link the two capitals “from city centre to city centre”.

The inaugural journey will set off from Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 12.02pm on 16 December, with dignitaries including François Delattre, the French ambassador to Germany, and Kai Wegner, the governing mayor of Berlin, in attendance.

How much will the new Paris-Berlin train cost, and where will it stop?

The new high-speed ICE train sets off just in time for Christmas. It will stop in Strasbourg, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt along the way.

Tickets are on sale now, starting at €59 one way.

“This creation of a connection contributes to a common objective of our two countries: to promote carbon-free mobility,” managing director of TGV-Intercités Alain Krakovitch tweeted after announcing the new service in September.

“Compared to the plane, the [train] journey between Berlin and Paris generates only one hundredth of the CO2 emissions,” he added.

Deutsche Bahn plans to make trains more reliable

Germany’s reputation for punctuality has, in recent years, not extended to its trains. In both 2022 and 2023, over a third of long-distance trains were delayed, DB figures show.

Short-term construction works, rail repairs, staff strikes and extreme weather were the main reasons behind the delays.

The operator hopes to improve the situation in the coming year, in part by adding more long-distance services with fewer stops.

Since October, it has also allowed passengers to pre-book 12 months ahead, up from the current six.

As infrastructure improvements continue, DB hopes that delays will gradually ease over the next two years.

As of 1 January 2025, Romania and Bulgaria will officially become full-time members of the Schengen Area, which allows free movement between member states for 450 million citizens.

The two countries have been members of the European Union (EU) since 2007, but as they were not part of the border-free area, travellers were still required to show passports upon entry.

Now, border controls for the two countries will be simplified.

Here’s what travellers to Romania and Bulgaria need to know about the changes.

Schengen membership: A milestone years in the making for Romania and Bulgaria

Back in 2011, the European Commission (EC) determined both eastern European countries were ready to become Shengen members.

Despite the pronouncement, neither were immediately granted entry into the group.

Fellow EU members, including Germany and France, denied their joint candidacy over governance and immigration issues, delaying their Schengen accession year after year. But the opposition gradually eased.

Last year, the Netherlands – one of the last two holdouts – lifted its veto, leaving Austria as the only country still in opposition. They lifted their veto in November, leaving the path free for Romania and Bulgaria to enter.

Despite Austria’s resistance to Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen membership, the EC lifted air and sea checks earlier this year, signalling bigger changes to come.

Do you need a passport to enter Romania and Bulgaria?

When Romania and Bulgaria join the Schengen zone in the new year, it will be easier for travellers to visit the two countries. At least in principle.

Citizens of Schengen countries do not need to show their passports when flying between countries in the Schengen zone, although not always when travelling by road.

But while Romania and Bulgaria will be fully-fledged members, the EC isn’t ready to pull all border checks yet.

The EC anticipates maintaining checks at land borders between Hungary and Romania and between Romania and Bulgaria for “at least” six months to “prevent any serious threat to public policy and internal security” – a decision likely made to appease Austria.

This means if you are driving or arriving by train or bus into Romania and Bulgaria, you will still need to carry your passport.

Travellers arriving by air or sea from other Schengen countries will no longer have to show passports upon arrival, however.

Meaning, passengers on flights, cruises and ferries will not be subject to passport checks.

Which European countries can you enter without a passport?

Travellers without EU citizenship should remember that stays in Bulgaria and Romania count towards time spent in the Schengen zone, which cannot be longer than 90 total days within 180 days.

If a traveller spends 30 days in Bulgaria or Romania and enters another Schengen country such as Greece, for example, those 30 days will count toward the 90-day maximum stay in the Schengen Area.

Exceeding this limit can result in penalties, including fines or bans on re-entry.

How many countries are in the Schengen Zone?

The latest country to join the Schengen zone was Croatia in 2022.

Every year, 1.25 billion trips take place within this area and 3.5 million people cross the borders of its member countries every day.

Now, including Romania and Bulgaria, the Schengen zone comprises 29 states. 25 belong to the EU and four are associated states of the European Free Trade Association: Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The Schengen Area was created in 1995 following the signing of the Schengen Agreement 10 years earlier between five member states of the European Economic Community: Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Several other agreements followed until the 2007 enlargement, integrating nine additional countries into the free movement area.