Google on famed Rhaetian Railways line in Switzerland: world's first Street View train shots
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – What better country than Switzerland to start showing train lines on Google Maps Street View, and what better line than the Unesco World Heritage site Albula/Bernina line on the Rhaetian Railways!
The new views were unveiled Thursday at the Transport Museum in Lucerne.
The rail company and Google worked together in October to show the magnificent scenery and craftsmanship of this very special train line, with Street View images from the 122 km between Thusis in canton Graubuenden Tirano in Italy.
The project is part of a larger cooperative effort between Unesco and Google to make digital visits of World Heritage sites available to people around the world, says Mattias Nutt, director of UNESCO Destination Switzerland.
Mounting the Google Trike onto the Rhaetian Railways train roof
The images were shot by Street View cameras mounted on a “Trike”, a three-wheeled bicycle placed on one of the Rhaetian Railways cars that was specially prepared for the job.
It was put at the head of a special train, allowing the cameras to take a series of panoramic photos of the line and its vistas.
Four of Google’s new Rhaetian Railways Street Views
Google Street View in English: no luck, but try the French version
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Google Street View is being taken to the Swiss administrative high court in Bellinzona, Ticino, by Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner Hanspeter Thuer, after weeks of discussions have failed to force the company to comply with Thuer’s directives. The federal government, in a press release Friday 13 November notes that Thuer “requested Google to take various measures to protect personal privacy in its Street View online service. Google has however refused to implement the majority of the measures recommended.”
Google’s Swiss street views went online in mid-August, but 11 September the government ordered the company to better camouflage faces and vehicle license plates, particularly near “sensitive” areas such as schools, hospitals and prisons. Bern says that in its written reply 14 October Google refused to comply with most of the requests, or take into consideration these problems:
Part of a Google street view of Geneva's rue du Rhone, faces blurred in line with Swiss privacy laws
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Google maps, the application from internet giant Google, just released a new version of its maps application that includes street views, seamless 360° views of the centre of most Swiss cities. Taken by vans that cruised around the city centre taking countless photographs, the project has caused concern around the world because of the implicatons for privacy.
