The Wengernalp Railway (WAB) is one of the oldest mountain railways in the Bernese Oberland – the authorities granted already in 1890 the concession for its construction. Three years later, the narrow gauge rack railway running from Lauterbrunnen via Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald went into service. The construction of cable cars was part of the "conquest" of the Alps starting in the 19th century. The Alps were at the time literally "furnished" with large hotel buildings and the high summits made accessible by railways to a wide public. The railways were and are still crucial to the tourist development of the region.