The Santiago Cable Car ( es, Teleférico de Santiago) is an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

of a tourist nature, located at the

Metropolitan Park Metropolitan Park is a urban waterfront park and concert venue located on the north bank of the St. Johns River in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It is projected to be the eastern terminus of the northbank Jacksonville Riverwalk. Facility ...

San Cristóbal Hill Cerro San Cristóbal (Tupahue, San Cristóbal Hill) is a hill in northern Santiago, Chile. It rises 850 m AMSL and about 300 m above the rest of Santiago; the peak is the third highest point in the city, after Cerro Manquehue and Cerro Renca. Cer ...

, in Santiago, Chile.

History

First era (1980-2009)

The construction of the cable car began in 1979, and took about a year, mainly due to the hardness of the volcanic rock terrain in which the 12 towers were installed. The Santiago Cable Car was officially opened on April 1, 1980, with 72 ovoid-shaped cars, which covered the 20-minute 4.8 km section at 14.4 km/h. On December 12, 2008, a mechanical fault left 20 people trapped in the cable car for two hours, without registering any injuries. Subsequently, on June 7, 2009, another mechanical failure occurred in the system: the gearbox that regulated the speed of the system exploded, which caused the indefinite suspension of the service.

Second era (2016-present)

In 2011 a project was presented to tender the cable car, provide it with new cabins and restore the infrastructure. It was expected that in 2012 the service reopened the public, nevertheless the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development received only one offer which it rejected, reason why it declared deserted the licitation and announced a new public contest, that began in November 2013. In December 2014, it was announced that the cable car would be reopened in the second half of 2016, following a series of maintenance and remodeling works that began in March 2015 and will cost 9.5 million dollars. These works included the installation of the new network of 47 cabins with capacity for six people each. In January 2016, the Chilean Ministry of Housing and Urban Development launched a public competition for social and non-governmental organizations, neighborhood or municipal councils to submit projects to recover assets of the 56 cabins that were discontinued and which were part of the original system in 1980. On July 29 of the same year the winning projects, which included libraries, recreational spaces, and a motorized train in Pueblito Las Vizcachas were presented at the Espacio Matta Cultural Center. The cable car was reopened on November 24, 2016, by President

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

. Between December 14 and 16, the cable car closed temporarily due to its first maintenance operation after reaching 500 operating hours and receiving more than 68 thousand visits in 16 days.

Characteristics

The new cable car has 47 cabins (16 red, 16 blue and 15 green) that can carry up to 6 people each, plus 8 cars designed exclusively to carry bicycles (four in each cart) and a maintenance trolley. Its speed varies between 1 and 5 meters per second (18 km/h). The system has three stations: Oasis, Tupahue and Cumbre. In the latter it connects with the Funicular de Santiago. The Tupahue is located near the Tupahue Pool, the Mapulemu Botanical Garden ("Forest of the Earth") and the Camino Real Restaurant.

References

External links

{{coord missing, Chile Transport in Santiago Aerial tramways in Chile Transport infrastructure completed in 1980 1980 establishments in Chile