Aerial tramway

An aerial tramway is a special kind of transport that moves people or goods through the air using cables. It is also called an aerial tram, sky tram, cable car, aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, or ropeway. This type of transport uses one or two stationary cables for support and a moving cable to help it go. The cabin, or "tram," is attached to the moving cable and stays connected while it is running.

Aerial tramways are different from other types of cable transport, like gondola lifts, because the cabin cannot let go of the cable while it is moving. They are often used in places where it is hard to build roads, such as mountains or over water. Although they can carry fewer people and sometimes have longer wait times than gondola lifts, they are very useful for reaching places that are difficult to access by other means.

Terminology

Different places use different words for aerial trams. In British English, they often call them "cable cars." But "tramway" usually means a tram on streets with rails. In American English, "cable car" can also mean a special kind of street tram in places like San Francisco's cable cars.

Sometimes people call aerial trams "ropeways." They are different from gondola lifts, which move in a circle with cabins hanging from a cable. Aerial trams just go back and forth on cables. In Japan, both types are called "ropeway," and "cable car" can mean trams on the ground or special hill-climbing trains called funiculars. There is also something called a suspension railway, where vehicles hang from a fixed track instead of a cable.

Overview

An aerial tramway is a special lift that uses cables to move people or goods. It has one or two fixed cables for support, and a moving cable that pulls the cabins. An electric motor makes the cable move, and the cabins stay attached as they travel. These trams always go back and forth between two points.

Two-car trams work so that when one cabin goes down, the other goes up, using the weight to help move. Some trams have only one cabin, which is good when there isn’t a big change in height along the way.

History

The first design for a special kind of lift was made by Fausto Veranzio. The first one that worked was built in 1644 by Adam Wybe in Gdańsk, Poland. It used horses to move soil across a river. This was the first known cable lift in Europe.

As people had more money, new ways to travel for fun were created. In the early 1900s, some cable lifts started carrying people. One was built in Gibraltar for military use, and another in Hong Kong carried workers. In 1894, a cable lift crossed the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee. More were built on mountains in Spain and Switzerland. These helped start the idea of ski lifts and chairlifts.

Many cable lifts were made by companies in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.

Some cable lifts have their own way to move, like the Josef Mountain Aerial Tramway near Merano, Italy.

Cable lifts are also used in cities. Examples include the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City, the Metrocable system in Medellin, Colombia, the Mi Teleférico system in La Paz, Bolivia, the Rakavlit cable car in Haifa, Israel, and the Portland Aerial Tram in Oregon. These show how this technology can be used for public transport in cities.

The idea of telpherage was first shared in 1883. The first telpherage line opened in Glynde, England, in 1885.

Some cable lifts have cabins with two levels. The Vanoise Express in France carries 200 people in each cabin. The Shinhotaka Ropeway in Japan carries 121 people in each cabin. The CabriO cable car to Stanserhorn in Switzerland has 60 people, with the top level open to the air.

Records

Here are some amazing facts about aerial tramways:

• The first aerial tramway was built by Adam Wybe in Gdańsk in 1644. It was the biggest one for many years.
• Some of the longest tramways were built in Argentina, Spain, Eritrea, and Sweden. They could stretch for many kilometers!
• Today, some of the longest tramways are still in use in Sweden, Venezuela, Switzerland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and New Mexico in the United States.
• The highest tramway ever took passengers up over 3,000 meters high in Argentina.
• In New York City, an aerial tramway was used like a subway. People could pay one fare to travel above the city.

List of accidents

See also: Gondola lift § List of accidents

Even with safety rules, some aerial tramways have had problems.

For example, in 1960, a cabin fell on the Monte Faito cableway. In 1961, a plane hit a cable on the Vallée Blanche Aerial Tramway on the Aiguille du Midi in the Mont Blanc area. In 1974, a rope broke on the Ulriksbanen tramway in Bergen, Norway. In 1976, a cab fell in Italy, and in 1978, a storm caused trouble in California. There have been many other incidents in places like France, Italy, and Turkey.