Wellington Cable Car
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand. It carries passengers between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city. It is widely recognised as a symbol of Wellington.
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[edit] Track and stations
The line consists of 628 metres of mostly straight track, with the only curves at the approaches to the passing loop in the middle, at Talavera station. Except for the lowest part, the line rises at a constant grade of around 1 in 5, using three tunnels and three bridges to even out the gradient. The cars are designed to fit the grade, using internal steps to provide horizontal floors.
The track is 1000mm-gauge, with pine sleepers. The 30-mm diameter cable is kept off the ground by 120 track rollers.
The lower terminus of the Cable Car is in Cable Car Lane, off Lambton Quay. The upper terminus is next to the Wellington Botanic Garden at the city end of Upland Road, Kelburn's main street. There are three other stations, spaced equally along the line — from Lambton Quay, they are Clifton, Talavera and Salamanca (also referred to as University), all named after nearby streets.
[edit] Cars and propulsion
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 cable, which runs through a pulley at the top of the hill. A 185-kW motor at the top of the hill pulls the cable, providing the motive power. The Cable Car is, strictly speaking, a funicular rather than a true cable car: the cars are permanently attached to the cable, which stops and starts as required, while a cable car grips and releases a continuously moving cable.
The normal operating speed is 5 m/s (approximately 18 km/h), with a maximum passenger load of around 100 (30 seated, 70 standing). Each car weighs approximately 13,500 kg when empty and 21,000 kg when full.
[edit] Passengers
The Cable Car is used by slightly under a million people each year. In the mornings and evenings, it is used by commuters travelling between Kelburn and the city. At other times of the day, it is used by people travelling between the city and the Wellington Botanic Garden, by students attending Victoria University and living in nearby student hostels, and by many tourists, especially during summer.
[edit] Ownership
The Cable Car is owned by Wellington Cable Car Ltd, itself owned by Wellington City Council. Wellington Cable Car Ltd also owns the overhead wires for Wellington's trolleybuses. Operation is contracted out to Australian company Transfield Services. Wellington Cable Car Ltd is responsible for awarding this contract and for the maintenance of cars and track, while Transfield Services employs drivers, sells tickets, and provides customer service. Unlike buses and trains, the Cable Car does not receive a subsidy, and is profitable.
[edit] Museum
The Wellington Cable Car Museum was opened in December 2000. Located in the original winding house and a recently completed extension, it houses original Grip Car 1 and Grip Car 3 and electric winding gear. Grip Car 1 is in red 1970s livery, including original advertising boards. Grip Car 3 was restored in 2005 to a green livery dating from about 1905, and a bell from the San Francisco Cable Car was added. The winding gear is still in working order and runs a loop of cable, but the cable no longer leaves the building.
[edit] History
At the end of the 19th century, Wellington was expanding rapidly, and, due to the city's hilly terrain, good building land was at a premium. When new residential developments were proposed for Kelburn, it was suggested that a cable car or funicular could be built to provide easy access. In 1898, a number of people prominent in development of the residential subdivisions founded the Kelburne & Karori Tramway Company. The plan was to build a tramway between the city and Kelburn, and link it by carriage to Karori, a settlement on the far side of Kelburn. The company began purchasing land for the construction of the tramway, and negotiated with the Karori authorities for a new road (now Upland Road) to link the line's upper terminus with Karori. In 1898, the City Council granted permission for the venture, on the condition that it had the option to purchase the operation at a later date. The location of Victoria University of Wellington was influenced by the company's offer of a donation of £1000 if the University were located in Kelburn, so students would patronise the car when travelling between the city and the University.
The designer of the system was James Fulton, a Dunedin-born engineer. Fulton was responsible for both selecting the route and deciding the method of operation, a hybrid between a cable car and a funicular. Like a cable car, the line had a continuous loop haulage cable that the cars gripped using a cable car gripper, but it also had a funicular-style balance cable permanently attached to both cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car (which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable.
[edit] Wooden Cars
Construction began in 1899, and involved three teams working around the clock. The line opened to the public on 22 February 1902. Demand was high, with thousands of people travelling each day. In 1903, a number of old horse-drawn Wellington trams were converted into trailers for the cable car, increasing capacity. By 1912, the annual number of passengers had reached one million. In 1933, the steam-powered winding gear was replaced by an electric motor, improving control and reducing operating costs.
In the 1940s, the Cable Car suffered from increased competition from buses. In particular, buses now ran directly from Wellington to Karori and other western suburbs, bypassing it. The company believed that it was inappropriate for the City Council to compete with a private company, and a legal dispute broke out. The argument ended when the City Council agreed to purchase the company, which occurred on 13 February 1947.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Cable Car was the subject of complaints about safety and comfort. The old wooden cars were increasingly considered antiquated, and in 1973 a worker suffered serious injuries in an accident, prompting a review. The review concluded that aspects of the Cable Car were unsafe, particularly the use of unbraked trailers, and called for the system to be scrapped. The trailers were withdrawn, considerably reducing capacity. A major upgrade was then launched, which saw improvements made to most aspects of the Cable Car's operation. Despite public protest lead by mayor Michael Fowler, the old wooden cars were withdrawn in favour of new cars from Switzerland. At the same time, the double 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) gauge track was replaced with a single gauge track of 1000 mm, and the original propulsion mechanism was replaced, turning the system into a full funicular. Despite this change, the system continued to be called the Wellington Cable Car.
In the 1980s,an original grip car and trailer were placed in the children's playground opposite the Salamanca station. The gripping mechanism was removed, and it was converted into a mock train.
[edit] Steel Cars
Initially, the refurbished Cable Car suffered a number of problems. The service was frequently interrupted for technical reasons and for extensive safety checks. Largely as a result of these problems, patronage dropped to a low of 500,000 in 1982. After a serious accident in 1988, which put the cars out of service for months, the system underwent a major revamp. This solved most of the problems and patronage has steadily increased since then. A survey of the safety systems is now conducted annually at the end of October, and only takes 4 days.
In 1991, when passenger transport was deregulated, there was speculation about the future of the Cable Car. Councils could no longer provide transport services directly, having to either privatise or corporatise their operations. The City Council sold its bus system (except for the trolleybus wiring), and it was thought by some that the same would happen to the Cable Car. Due to public pressure, the Council retained ownership of the Cable Car and the overhead trolleybus wiring.
Operations and maintenance were contracted out separately. Initially, both contracts were won by Harbour City Cable Car Ltd, a joint venture between the Stagecoach Group, which had purchased the City Council's bus operation, and East by West, a Wellington ferry operator. In 1994 the City Council decided to carry out its own maintenance, and Wellington Cable Car Ltd established its own maintenance capacity. In 1997 the operations contract was won by Serco, which was later purchased by Transfield Services.
In July 2006, renovation of Lambton station began. Intended to improve the look and accessibility of the station, the works are budgeted at NZ$1.3 million, and are scheduled to be completed in early November.
