The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway is a cable car transportation system offering visitors a five-minute ride to the top of

Table Mountain Table Mountain ( naq, Huriǂoaxa, lit= sea-emerging; af, Tafelberg) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It is one of Cape Town's most popular tourist attractions with approximately one million people a year using the Cableway. In January 2019, the Cableway welcomed its 28 millionth visitor. The upper cable station is on the westernmost end of the Table Mountain plateau, at an elevation of . The upper cable station offers views over Cape Town,

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named b ...

and

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

to the north, and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south. Amenities at the upper station include free guided walking tours, an audio tour, meal options at a café and a wi-fi lounge.

History

By the 1870s, Capetonians had proposed a railway to the top of Table Mountain, but plans were halted by the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. The City Council began investigating the options again in 1912, but this was in turn halted by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Despite initial cost estimates of GB£100,000 (equivalent to £38,800,000 in 2011 poundsMeasuring Worth
Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount - average earnings, retrieved on the 19/04/2011) to build the cableway the city's population was supportive of the project and in a referendum overwhelmingly voted in support of the project. A Norwegian engineer, Trygve Stromsoe, presented plans for a cableway in 1926, and construction began soon after with the formation of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company (TMACC). Former world leading wire ropeway company Adolf

Bleichert Bleichert, short for Adolf Bleichert & Co., was a German engineering firm founded in 1874 by Adolf Bleichert. The company dominated the aerial wire ropeway industry during the first half of the 20th century, and its portfolio included cranes, el ...

& Co. from Leipzig (Germany) was awarded the contract for the construction. It was completed in 1929 at a cost of GB£60,000 (equivalent to £11,400,000 in 2011 pounds) and the cableway was opened on 4 October 1929, by the

Mayor of Cape Town The Mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. In the past, the position of Mayor has varied between that of an ...

AJS Lewis. The cableway has been upgraded three times since then. Sir David Graaff, a leading industrialist, former mayor of Cape Town and government minister, also invested heavily in the project. In 1993, the son of one of the founders sold the TMACC and the new owners took charge of upgrading the cableway. In 1997, the cableway was reopened after extensive renovations, and new cars were introduced.

Specifications

The "Rotair" cableway was installed by Garaventa (

Doppelmayr Garaventa Group Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group is an international manufacturer of ropeways and people movers for ski areas, urban transport, amusement parks, and material handling systems. As of 2019, the group have produced over 15,000 installations in 96 countri ...

) from Switzerland in 1997, the design being based on the Titlis Rotair cableway in

Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipality in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Besides the village of Engelberg, the municipality also includes the settlements of Grafenort, Oberberg and Schwand. The ...

, Switzerland. Each car carries 65 passengers (compared to 25 for the old cars), and runs on a double cable making them more stable in high winds, giving a faster journey of 4–5 minutes to the summit. The floors of the cars rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving passengers a panoramic view.

Gallery

File:Table Mountain cableway, upper station.jpg, Table Mountain cableway, upper station File:TableMountainAerialCableway2018.jpg, The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway cable cars are branded by MasterCard File:Cape Town 2012 05 15 0161 (7179920209).jpg, alt=View of the Twelve Apostles from the summit of Table Mountain File:Table_Mountain_Cable_Car_Construction.jpeg File:Table_Mountain_Cable_Car_Construction_2.jpg File:Table_Mountain_Cable_Car_Construction_3.jpg

References

External links

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway

Lower Cable station - Construction photos Collection
{{Cape Town, economy Buildings and structures completed in 1929 Aerial tramways in South Africa Transport in Cape Town Table Mountain Tourist attractions in Cape Town 1929 establishments in South Africa