Portland, Oregon

The Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) is the largest employer in Portland in the US state of Oregon. All its institutes are concentrated on one campus in the south of the city. Short distances between the individual institutes are essential for employees and patients. However, when the time came for a building expansion, there was no room directly on the campus and a site not far away had to be used.

In order to maintain the short distances and easy reach of all the institutes, a reliable link was created with a reversible aerial tramway. The Portland Aerial Tramway (ATW) incorporates two stations, one tower and two cabins. The silvery cabins appear light and airy. As well as offering space for 78 passengers, they can also be used to transport hospital beds. The tramway links up with the streetcar at the South Waterfront Station. Cyclists can park their bikes directly next to the station. The tramway made it possible to better integrate the OHSU into the city and to ensure a close connection between the expansion site and the campus despite the distance between them.

Features

• Seamless integration with public transportation

• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of over 1,000t

• Station has become a mobility hub

Bogota, Colombia

The ropeway links the Ciudad Bolívar district in the south of the city to the Transmilenio public bus network. The area is very hilly, making an aerial ropeway the ideal form of transport.  

The detachable gondola lift is 3.3 km in length and equipped with 160 ten-passenger cabins built with folding seats. This allows passengers to easily bring in baby strollers, bicycles and wheelchairs. The cabins also have solar panels, which help power security cameras and telecommunication systems.

It opens up an entirely new plane for passenger transport and incorporate four stations serving major traffic hubs in Ciudad Bolívar. The ropeway forms an integral part of the transport system and the ticket price is the same as for the Transmilenio public bus service.

Passengers on their way to work save a lot of time. Many of the people who live in Ciudad Bolívar work in the center of Bogotá and their daily trip can take anything up to two hours.

The first leg of the journey from the hillsides of Ciudad Bolívar to the first bus station in the public network currently involves an hour-long ride in private minibuses along steep, winding roads – and traffic jams are the order of the day at peak times. The new ropeway consigns all that to history and marks a significant improvement in quality of life for the residents.

La Paz, Bolivia

Since 2014, aerial ropeways have been part of everyday life for the residents of La Paz and El Alto in Bolivia. These environmentally friendly and efficient installations make it easier for people to get from A to B, reduce travel times and guarantee that they will get where they want to go on time.

The ropeway network constitutes the principal mode of transport for the two South American metropolises and consists of ten lines with an overall length of over 30 kilometers. Every day, Mi Teleférico is used by some 300,000 people – as a means of getting to work, going shopping, going to school or accessing leisure-time activities. Over 300 million passengers have been carried to date. Commuters benefit from significant time savings and escape from the daily road congestion by using the ropeway.

The stations are barrier-free and can also be used by mobility-impaired passengers with no problem. Many of the stations are multifunctional and also serve as community centers, providing a boost to the attractiveness of the local neighborhood. Free Wi-Fi in the cabins is a popular and frequently used additional benefit.

The world’s biggest ropeway network has had a positive impact on the many people who live and work in La Paz and El Alto, and improved their quality of life. Mi Teleférico is a visionary mobility solution that provides an outstanding example for others around the globe to follow.

See more at the Colors of La Paz website dedicated to the world’s largest urban ropeway network.

Wellington, New Zealand

The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand used by around 1 million people each year. It is located between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising 120 m over a length of 612 m.

Originally built in 1902, it has been estimated that the Cable Car has completed 1.2 million trips up and down the hill over that time – and more than 30 million passengers have been carried.

The Cable Car uses regenerative braking so as the cars slows down, or if there are more passengers going down than up, it generates electricity and exports this into the local network. Regenerative braking improves the energy efficiency of the Cable Car and reduces wear on the braking system parts.

The cable car has two cars, which start from opposite ends of the line and pass in the middle. They are attached to each other by a 30mm diameter cable, guided by 120 rollers, which runs round a pulley at the top of the hill. The normal operating speed is 16 kmh, with a maximum load of about 75 passengers.

Singapore

A popular means of transport in Singapore: The 8-passenger gondola has been carrying passengers from the mainland to Sentosa Island since 2010. Famous for its beaches, hotels and attractions, Sentosa is a popular destination for local residents and tourists.

The ropeway not only provides a convenient means of reaching the island but also makes the journey there an experience. Passengers glide through the air high above the cruise ship harbor and get to enjoy the views of the ocean and the ships.

The installation is perfectly integrated into the urban architecture and the transport system. The intermediate station is situated on level 15 of HarbourFront Tower Two, which is adjacent to a shopping mall with access to a subway connection and a large number of bus lines.

As a special attraction, the cabins are converted into dining rooms for evening Sky Dining. During their trip in the gondola, passengers can enjoy fine food as the sun sets over the sea.

London, UK

London’s urban ropeway has given the city an innovative means of crossing the River Thames since 2012 as well as providing an exciting landmark. It is also an integral part of the capital’s transport network.

The Emirates Air Line links the Greenwich Peninsula with Royal Victoria Dock and forms part of a scheme to revitalize the Royal Docks area. Pedestrians and cyclists enjoy a fast, comfortable ride across the Thames at a height of 90 m.

As the UK’s first urban ropeway, the new lift is firmly integrated into the public transport network for the Greater London area and operates from 7 am to 9 pm. The ropeway is named after its sponsor, Emirates Airline, and its slogan “Have a good flight with Emirates Air Line” underlines the importance of the ride experience.

Doppelmayr was award­ed the contract for the ropeway equipment by the UK­ based international consultancy and construction company Mace, which acted as principal contractor for the project.

Paris, France

By 2025, commuters near the Paris suburb of Creteil will have a new way to get to work: the French capital’s first-ever public transit gondola.

The new aerial tramway will be called Cable A, and will link several outlying but populous neighborhoods in Paris’ southeastern suburbs to the terminus of Metro Line 8. Traveling a distance of 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) with five stations along its length, Cable A promises to speed trips from the district into the city center, easing connections between the network of schools, universities, hospitals and public offices scattered across the area.

First proposed in 2008, the gondola line was identified as the most suitable solution because adding conventional public transit links to this region would be complicated and expensive: Not only is the area somewhat hilly, it is also bisected by several highways, a TGV high-speed rail line and tracks leading to a large rail freight depot. Laying a tram line would require extensive engineering in the form of bridges and tunnels.

The gondola, by contrast, can sail above these obstacles, and its land needs are minimal: Beyond station sites, an aerial tramway just requires space for the towers supporting the cables. The electricity-powered mode also won’t add to the area’s air pollution or climate emissions, and by making it easier for commuters to central Paris to access the metro system, it can help with removing cars from the road. 

Luxembourg

The Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg funicular in Luxembourg ensures smooth and convenient handling of the commuter flows in this district. As part of the public transport network, it creates a fast and direct link between the Pfaffenthal railroad station on a busy commuter line and the Kirchberg commercial district.

Although the railroad passes this district, there was no connection to the Kirchberg plateau. That meant having to change trains several times. With an inclined length of 200 meters, the funicular fills this gap and provides a direct link to the Kirchberg plateau, where there are connections to buses and streetcars. For commuters, this brings a major time-saving. The funicular is optimally adapted to suit the needs of commuter traffic.

Two parallel, independent systems carry up to 7,200 passengers an hour at maximum capacity. This is sufficient to bring the passengers from two simultaneously arriving suburban trains to Kirchberg within just ten minutes.

Outside of peak times, only one of the trains runs. The visual design also makes for a seamless interchange: In line with the specifications of the operator, Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL), the car exterior and fittings were chosen to match the CFL buses and tram.

Koblenz, Germany

The Koblenz Cable Car marked the first time worldwide that a tricable gondola was used in an urban environment. The route extends from Deutsches Eck in the city across the Rhine and up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. The aerial ropeway was built as a transport solution for the 2011 Federal Horticultural Show to link the various exhibition sites distributed across the city.

It was shown to be the means of transport that could meet the technical and ecological requirements for barrier-free access, high capacity and high reliability, plus low environmental footprint. The gondola was built with UNESCO’s approval at the World Heritage Site “Upper Middle Rhine Valley” and praised as a sustainable transport solution. It continues to be the preferred means of transport for reaching the public park next to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. An added bonus is the panoramic view that opens up during the trip.

Doppelmayr set new benchmarks in urban ropeway construction by implementing its recovery concept for the first time worldwide on the Koblenz Cable Car. This guarantees that in an evacuation scenario all the cabins can be returned to a station where the passengers can safely disembark.