First urban cable car unveiled outside Paris

"Gondolas floated above a cityscape in the southeastern suburbs of Paris Saturday as the first urban cable car in the French capital's region was unveiled. Officials inaugurated the C1 line in the suburb of Limeil-Brevannes in the presence of Valerie Pecresse, the head of the Ile-de-France region, and the mayors of the towns served by the cable car. The 4.5-kilometre route connects Creteil to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and passes through Limeil-Brevannes and Valenton."

"The cable car will carry some 11,000 passengers per day in its 105 gondolas, each able to accommodate ten seated passengers. The total journey will take 18 minutes, including stops along the way, compared to around 40 minutes by bus or car, connecting the isolated neighbourhoods to the Paris metro's line 8. The 138-million-euro project was cheaper to build than a subway, officials said."

""An underground metro would never have seen the light of day because the budget of more than billion euros could never have been financed," said Gregoire de Lasteyrie, vice-president of the Ile-de-France regional council in charge of transport. It is France's seventh urban cable car, with aerial tramways already operating in cities including Brest, Saint-Denis de La Reunion and Toulouse. Historically used to cross rugged mountain terrain, such systems are increasingly being used to link up isolated neighbourhoods."

Officials inaugurated the C1 urban cable car in Limeil-Brevannes, southeastern suburbs of Paris, linking Creteil and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges via Limeil-Brevannes and Valenton. The 4.5-kilometre line operates 105 gondolas carrying up to ten seated passengers each, with capacity for about 11,000 passengers per day. The full journey takes 18 minutes including stops, compared with roughly 40 minutes by bus or car, and connects isolated neighbourhoods to Paris metro line 8. The 138-million-euro project cost less than a subway, with regional transport officials saying an underground metro would have required over a billion euros and been unaffordable. France now has seven urban cable cars, increasingly used to link isolated areas.

Read at The Local France