Cable car

A cable car is any of a variety of transportation systems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or lower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these systems.

Aerial lift

Aerial lifts where the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable:

• An aerial tramway consists of a cabin suspended from a cable, pulled by another cable.
• A gondola lift consists of a loop of cable that is strung between two or more stations, usually over intermediate supporting towers, from which cars are suspended.
• A ropeway conveyor or material ropeway is a subtype of gondola lift, from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended.
• Chairlifts where open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of a cable.

Rail system

Varieties in which the vehicle rests on rails or a road:

• A system to haul trains along streets, see Cable car (railway)
• The particular cable car system in operation in San Francisco, California, see San Francisco cable car system
• A funicular consists of a pair of railway cars that alternately ascend and descend an inclined right-of-way, attached to a common cable.
• A cable railway uses a cable or rope to haul trains.

The longest cableway

The world's longest operable cableway is the Forsby-Köping limestone cableway in Sweden at 42 km (26 mi).^[1] The longest ever in operation was the 96 km (60 mi) Kristineberg-Boliden ropeway conveyor in Sweden. One of its 8 sections has been converted to a gondola lift and is still operating as the 13.2 km Norsjö aerial tramway making it the world's longest passenger cableway.

Also worth mentioning are Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, a gondola lift in Australia is 7.5 km long (two sections), and the Swiss Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen is 6.2 km long (two sections). The longest reversible aerial tramway built in one section only is Wings of Tatev in Armenia at 5.7 km (3.5 mi).

See also

• Cable ferry
• Reaction ferry
• Ski lift
• Skyline logging
• Transporter bridge
• Zip-line

References

1. ^ Henrik Ogstedt; Hanna Domfors (2010) (in swedish). Kalklinbanan: sammanställning och kulturhistorisk värdering (The limestone cableway: overview and cultural-historic evaluation) (Report). NIRAS Sweden AB. http://ekuriren.se/polopoly_fs/1.892044.1291909015!/Rapport%20Kalklinbanan%20101201.pdf.