An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of

aerial lift An aerial lift, also known as a cable car or ropeway, is a means of cable transport in which ''cabins'', ''cars'', ''gondolas'', or open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more cables. Aerial lift systems are frequently employe ...

which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip of an aerial tramway cabin is fixed onto the propulsion rope and cannot be decoupled from it during operations. In comparison to

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 ...

s, aerial tramways generally provide lower line capacities and higher wait times.

Terminology

Because of the proliferation of such systems in the

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

regions of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

names, ''téléphérique'' and ''Seilbahn'', respectively, are often also used in an

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

context. ''Cable car'' is the usual term in British English, as in British English the word ''tramway'' generally refers to a railed street tramway while in American English, ''cable car'' may additionally refer to a cable-pulled street tramway with detachable vehicles; e.g., San Francisco's cable cars. As such, careful phrasing is necessary to prevent confusion. It is also sometimes called a ''ropeway'' or even incorrectly referred to as a

. A gondola lift has cabins suspended from a continuously circulating cable whereas aerial trams simply shuttle back and forth on cables. In Japan, the two are considered as the same category of vehicle and called ''ropeway'', while the term ''cable car'' refers to both grounded cable cars and

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 ...

s. An aerial railway where the vehicles are suspended from a fixed track (as opposed to a cable) is known as a suspension railway.

Overview

An aerial tramway consists of one or two fixed

cables Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

(called ''track cables''), one loop of cable (called a ''haulage rope''), and one or two passenger or cargo cabins. The fixed cables provide support for the cabins while the haulage rope, by means of a grip, is solidly connected to the truck (the wheel set that rolls on the track cables). An

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate f ...

drives the haulage rope which provides

propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived f ...

. Aerial tramways are constructed as ''reversible systems''; vehicles shuttling back and forth between two end terminals and propelled by a cable loop which stops and reverses direction when the cabins arrive at the end stations. Aerial tramways differ from

s in that gondola lifts are considered ''continuous systems'' (cabins attached onto a ''circulating'' haul rope that moves continuously). A aerial tramway across Yangtse river in Chongqing CBD Photo by Chen Hualin

A aerial tramway across Yangtse river in Chongqing CBD Photo by Chen Hualin

Two-car tramways use a ''jig-back'' system: a large

is located at the bottom of the tramway so that it effectively pulls one cabin down, using that cabin's weight to help pull the other cabin up. A similar system of cables is used in a

railway. The two passenger or cargo cabins, which carry from 4 to over 150 people, are situated at opposite ends of the loops of cable. Thus, while one is coming up, the other is going down the mountain, and they pass each other midway on the cable span. Some aerial trams have only one

cabin Cabin may refer to: Buildings * Beach cabin, a small wooden hut on a beach * Log cabin, a house built from logs * Cottage, a small house * Chalet, a wooden mountain house with a sloping roof * Cabin, small free-standing structures that serve as i ...

, which lends itself better for systems with small elevation changes along the cable run.

History

The first design of an aerial lift was by

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n polymath

Fausto Veranzio Fausto Veranzio ( la, Faustus Verantius; hr, Faust Vrančić; Hungarian and Vernacular Latin: ''Verancsics Faustus'';Andrew L. SimonMade in Hungary: Hungarian contributions to universal culture/ref>Adam Wiebe in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. It was moved by horses and used to move soil over the river to build defences. It is called the first known cable lift in European history and precedes the invention of steel cables. It is not known how long this lift was used. In any case, it would be another 230 years before Germany would get the second cable lift, this newer version equipped with iron wire cable.

In mining

Tramways are sometimes used in mountainous regions to carry ore from a mine located high on the mountain to an ore mill located at a lower elevation. Ore tramways were common in the early 20th century at the mines in North and South America. One can still be seen in the San Juan Mountains of the US state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. Other firms entered the mining tramway business—Otto, Leschen, Breco Ropeways Ltd., Ceretti and Tanfani, and Riblet for instance. A major British contributor was Bullivant who became a constituent of British Ropes in 1924.

Moving people

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In the beginning of the 20th century the rise of the middle class and the leisure industry allowed for investment in sight-seeing machines. Prior to 1893 a combined goods and passenger carrying cableway was installed at

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. Initially its passengers were military personnel. An 1893 industry publication said of a two-mile system in Hong Kong that it "is the only wire tramway which has been erected exclusively for the carriage of individuals" (albeit workmen). After the pioneer cable car of 1907 at Mount Ulia (

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the ...

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) by Leonardo Torres y Quevedo and the

Wetterhorn Elevator The Wetterhorn Elevator (german: Wetterhorn-Aufzug) was an aerial tramway in the valley of Grindelwald. It connected the base of the Upper Grindelwald Glacier to a higher location in the Wetterhorn massif. The tramway was inaugurated in 1908, ma ...

(

Grindelwald , neighboring_municipalities = Brienz, Brienzwiler, Fieschertal (VS), Guttannen, Innertkirchen, Iseltwald, Lauterbrunnen, Lütschental, Meiringen, Schattenhalb , twintowns = Azumi, now Matsumoto (Japan) Grindelwald is a village and ...

, Switzerland) in 1908, others to the top of high peaks in the Alps of Austria, Germany and Switzerland resulted. They were much cheaper to build than the earlier

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with t ...

. One of the first trams was at

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

, while others in Switzerland, and Garmisch soon followed. From this, it was a natural transposition to build ski lifts and chairlifts. The first cable car in North America was at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire in 1938. Many aerial tramways were built by Von Roll Ltd. of Switzerland, which has since been acquired by Austrian lift manufacturer Doppelmayr. Other German, Swiss, and Austrian firms played an important role in the cable car business: Bleichert, Heckel, Pohlig, PHB (Pohlig-Heckel-Bleichert), Garaventa and Waagner-Biró. Now there are three groups dominating the world market: Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, Leitner Group, and

Poma Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, peop ...

, the last two being owned by one person. Some aerial tramways have their own

, such as the Lasso Mule or the Josef Mountain Aerial Tramway near

Merano Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and '' comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeie ...

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 ...

Urban transport

While typically used for ski resorts, aerial tramways have been ported over for usage in the urban environment in recent times. The

Roosevelt Island Tramway The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway in New York City that spans the East River and connects Roosevelt Island to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tramway is the first commuter aerial tramway in North America, having opened i ...

in New York City, the Cable cars in Haifa Israel and the Portland Aerial Tram are examples where this technology has been successfully adapted for

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

purposes.

Telpherage

The telpherage concept was first publicised in 1883 and several experimental lines were constructed. It was designed to compete not with railways, but with horses and carts.Lusted, A., 1985: The Electric Telpherage Railway. Glynde Archivist 2:16–28. The first commercial telpherage line was in Glynde, which is in Sussex, England. It was built to connect a newly opened clay pit to the local railway station and opened in 1885.

Double deckers

There are aerial tramways with double deck cabins. The Vanoise Express cable car carries 200 people in each cabin at a height of over the Ponturin

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

in France. The Shinhotaka Ropeway carries 121 people in each cabin at Mount Hotaka in Japan. The CabriO cable car to the summit of the Stanserhorn in Switzerland carries 60 persons, with the upper floor accommodating 30 people in the open air. File:Shinhotaka ropeway01s3200.jpg, Shinhotaka Ropeway File:20180617 S-Bahn-R 5105 (48401307962).jpg, Stanserhorn cabriolet ropeway with adapted pylon

Records

* First – Adam Wybe's construction in Gdańsk (1644). It was the first rope railway with many supports and the biggest built until the end of 19th century. * Longest (at time of building) and years operated: ** 1906–1927 Chilecito – Mina La Mejicana, Argentina ( and branch). ** 1925–1950 Dúrcal – Motril, Spain ( and branch). ** 1937–1941 Asmara – Massawa, Eritrea ( and branch), technically a Funifor. ** 1943–1987 Kristineberg- Boliden, Sweden. still working as Norsjö aerial ropeway. * Second longest: ** 1959–1986 Moanda – Mbinda, Gabon – Republic of Congo. * Longest over water: ** 1906 – the same century; Thio, New Caledonia. ship loading. ** 1941–2006 Forsby-Köping limestone cableway, Sweden. crossing of Hjälmaren strait. 42 km system. ** 2007 Nha Trang City – Vinpearl Land, Hon Tre Island, Vietnam. Total length 3.3 km. * Longest currently operational: ** Norsjö aerial tramway Mensträsk-Bjurfors in Norsjö, Sweden. Passenger tramway, a section of the former 96-km Kristineberg-Boliden industrial ropeway. ** 12.5 km (7.8 mi) Mérida cable car Mérida, Venezuela. **

Grindelwald–Männlichen gondola cableway The Grindelwald–Männlichen gondola cableway (german: Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen, GGM) is a gondola cableway linking Grindelwald with Männlichen. It is owned and operated by the Gondelbahn Grindelwald–Männlichen AG. The Grindelw ...

, Switzerland ** Wings of Tatev,

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

, the world's longest reversible cable car line of one section. ** Medeu-Shimbulak tramway near Almaty, Kazakhstan. ** Sandia Peak Tramway, reversible tramway in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

. * Highest lift: ** Palm springs aerial tramway

from at Chilecito – Mina La Mejicana, Argentina (drops back to at upper terminal). * Highest lift currently operational: ** 3188 m (10,459 ft) from 1,577 MSL to 4,765 MSL (5,174 FAMSL to 15,633 FAMSL) Mérida cable car, Venezuela. * Highest station: ** Greater than 1935-19??

Aucanquilcha Aucanquilcha is a massive stratovolcano located in the Antofagasta Region of northern Chile, just west of the border with Bolivia and within the Alto Loa National Reserve. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, the stratovolcano has t ...

, Chile. * Lowest station: ** below sea level

Masada cableway The Masada cableway is an aerial tramway at the ancient fortress of Masada, Israel. Its bottom station is 257 m below and its summit station is 33 metres above sea level, thereby making it the lowest aerial tramway in the world. The cableway wa ...

, Israel. * Tallest support tower: ** Cat Hai – Phu Long cable car, Vietnam. * As mass transit: ** The

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

was the first aerial tramway in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

used by commuters as a mode of

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

(See

Transportation in New York City The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest subway systems in the w ...

). Passengers pay with the same farecard used for the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...

. ** The Portland Aerial Tram in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, was opened in January 2007 and became the second public transportation aerial tramway in North America. ** In Medellin, Colombia, both the Metro and the recent Metrocable aerial tramway addition can be used while paying a single fare. * Largest rotating cars: ** Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...

List of accidents

Despite the introduction of various safety measures (back-up power generators, evacuation plans, etc.) there have been several serious incidents on aerial tramways, some of which were fatal. * August 29, 1961: A military plane split the hauling cable of the

Vallée Blanche Aerial Tramway Vallée is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * André Vallée (1930–2015), Canadian Roman Catholic bishop * Anne Vallée (born 1958), Canadian biologist * Bernard Vallée (born 1945), French fencer * Brigitte Vallée (bor ...

on the Aiguille du Midi in the

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...

massif: six people killed. * July 9, 1974:

Ulriksbanen Ulriksbanen is a passenger aerial tramway in Bergen, Norway. It connects the mountain Ulriken to the city, and is frequently used by tourists as well as locals. The tramway was first thought of by Frithjof Meidell Andersen in 1954, and a company ...

is an aerial tramway in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, operated by a tow rope, which hauls it, and a carrying rope. On 9 July 1974, as the carriage reached its destination at the top station and just as the carriage operator was about to open the doors, the tow rope broke. The carriage operator was thrown into the back of the vehicle, preventing him from reaching the emergency brake. The carriage began whizzing down the still intact carrying rope, gathering speed quickly and approaching the first vertical mast about 70meters away. Because the tow rope was broken, it was no longer taut at the point where it crossed over the the carriage crossed the mast, the broken tow rope jammed up and caused the carriage to jump off the carrying rope and begin to free-fall straight down towards the ground 15meters below. The carriage crashed to the ground on a downslope, causing the carriage to careen down the mountainside a further 30meters before it was crushed up against some boulders, finally coming to a stop. Four of the eight occupants were killed. * March 9, 1976: In the Italian Dolomites at Cavalese, a cab fell after a rope broke, killing 43. ''(See Cavalese cable car disaster (1976))'' * April 15, 1978: In a storm, two carrying ropes of the Squaw Valley Aerial Tramway in California fell from the aerial tramway support tower. One of the ropes partly destroyed the cabin. Four were killed, 32 injured. * June 1, 1990: Twenty were killed and fifteen injured after a hauling rope broke in the 1990 Tbilisi Cable car accident * February 3, 1998: U.S. Marine Corps

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jets severed the cable of an aerial ropeway in Cavalese, Italy, killing 20 people. ''(See Cavalese cable car disaster (1998))'' * July 1, 1999: Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy, France. An aerial tramway car detached from the cable it was traveling on and fell to the valley floor, killing all 20 occupants. The majority were employees and contractors of an international astronomical observatory run by the Institut de Radioastronomie Millémétrique. ''(See Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy cable car disaster)'' * October 19, 2003: Four were killed and 11 injured when three cars slipped off the cable of the

Darjeeling Ropeway The Darjeeling Ropeway is a ropeway in the town of Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. The 5 km long ropeway( i.e. 2.5 km each wais a tourist destination in the town. It consists of sixteen cars and plies between the "North Point" ...

. * April 2, 2004: In Yerevan, Armenia on an urban cable car one of the two cabins derailed from the steel track cable and fell to the ground killing five, including two Iranian citizens, and injuring 11 others. The second cabin slammed onto the lower station injuring three people. * October 9, 2004: Crash of a cabin of the Grünberg aerial tramway in

Gmunden Gmunden () is a town in Upper Austria, Austria in the district of Gmunden. It has 13,204 inhabitants (estimates 2016 ). It is much frequented as a health and summer resort, and has a variety of lake, brine, vegetable and pine-cone baths, a hydrop ...

, Austria. Many injuries. * December 31, 2012: The Alyeska Resort Aerial Tramway was blown sideways while operating in high winds and was impaled on the tower guide, severely damaging the contacting cabin. Only minor injuries were incurred. * December 4, 2018, an exterior panel of the Portland Aerial Tram dropped at least 100 feet (30 m) and struck a pedestrian walking below. * May 23, 2021: 14 people were killed when a cable failed at 300 m from the top of the Mottarone mountain. * October 21, 2021: One person died after a cable car cabin became detached from its cable at the Ještěd mountain in

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well prese ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Gallery

Cableways in fiction

* " Ascension" * '' Blind Fury'' * '' Get Carter'' – coal spoil conveyor Blackhall Beach near Blackhall Colliery * '' Electric City (web series)'' * '' The Haunting of Tram Car 015'' (P. Djèlí Clark) * '' Hoodwinked!'' * '' Kongfrontation'' * '' Moonraker (film)'' * '' Nighthawks (1981 film)'' * '' Night Train to Munich'' *

Nitrome Nitrome Games Limited is a British independent video game developer based in London. The company formerly developed Unity-based games (and previously Flash-based) for Web browsers, but now publishes and develops games across multiple platforms ...

's '' Skywire'' games * '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)'' * ''

Where Eagles Dare ''Where Eagles Dare'' is a 1968 war film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It follows a joint British-American Special Operations Executive team of paratroopers raiding a castle (shot on lo ...

'' * ''

Zootopia ''Zootopia'' (titled ''Zootropolis'' in various regions) is a 2016 American computer-animated buddy cop action comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 55th Disney animated feature fi ...

References

External links

Aerial Tramways (worldwide)
Lift-Database
Information Center for Ropeway Studies
at

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on en ...

Tatever ropeway – is the aerial ropeway to the natural and historic treasures of Syunik.
{{Authority control Aerial lifts Ski lift types Croatian inventions Vertical transport devices Scottish inventions