The Gardena Ronda Express is a

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

situated in the Val Gherdëina near

Santa Cristina Gherdëina Santa Cristina Gherdëina (; it, Santa Cristina Valgardena ; german: St. Christina in Gröden ) is a Ladin ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about east of the city of Bolzano. Its Saslong ski run is home of the ...

, connecting the Col Raiser lifts to the Sasslong/Ruacia and Ciampinoi lifts in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Trains

Two funiculars operate on the system. Both were built by Gangloff, and the cable system was manufactured by

Leitner Ropeways Leitner Ropeways is a business that manufactures and distributes products and equipment for ropeways, snow groomers, urban transportation systems, and wind energy in Italy and internationally. The company was founded in 1888 and was recognized in ...

. The funicular trains each have four seating cabins capable of seating around 10 and standing around 25. The total capacity is 140 people per train. The trains are long and wide, and weigh .

Track

The whole line runs in a tunnel, which connects two

gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supp ...

s and through them two

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

s. The maximum speed is and the slope is 100

‰ Per mille (from Latin , "in each thousand") is an expression that means parts per thousand. Other recognised spellings include per mil, per mill, permil, permill, or permille. The associated sign is written , which looks like a percent si ...

(10 %). 2000 persons can be transported per hour from one terminus to the other.

History

Planning started in 1990 and after some changes on the track to avoid buildings, construction started in 2003. With the line's opening in 2004, after nearly forty years without a railway (the

Val Gardena Railway The Val Gardena Railway or Klausen-Plan (Grödnertalbahn in German) was a narrow gauge railway operating in the Val Gardena in the Dolomites of northern Italy. It was constructed in 1915/6 when the region was part of the Austrian Empire. Construc ...

was closed in 1960), the valley has a train again.

References

External links

Gardena Ronda Express
{{coord, 46, 33, 36, N, 11, 42, 17, E, region:IT-32_type:mountain, display=title Funicular railways in Italy Railway lines in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Transport in South Tyrol Railway lines opened in 2004 Underground funiculars 1200 mm gauge railways in Italy Underground rapid transit in Italy

Trains

Track

History

See also

References

External links