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Cable Car Information |
By:
Jamie Reynolds |
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Aerial transportation is a feat of engineering, often carrying passengers over the world's best scenery. The cable car offers panoramic views and access to areas, which would otherwise take a long time to get to.
The Alps and other mountain ranges are popular locations for the cable car and many ski resorts rely on them. The longest line in the world runs at Norsjo in Sweden and the highest is the famous Merida system in Venezuela, opened in 1960. Each car holds 36 passengers and they rise to a terminus at 4,765 meters.
There have been a number of accidents but relatively few in comparison to the thousands of people who are transported each year. Some have been the result of unforeseen freak accidents whilst others have been due to mechanical faults. In 1961, a military plane collided with the hauling cable on the Aiguille du Midi in the Mont Blanc range and six people were killed. Forty two people were killed when a rope broke, plunging a car in the Italian Dolomites in 1976. In 2005, a helicopter lost its load of a concrete hopper, which crashed into a car at Solden in Austria.
One of the most used systems in the world is at the ski resort of Chamonix in the Mont Blanc region of France. There is a restaurant at the summit and a viewing area, offering a stunning view. Another cable car with a stunning view is at Sugar Loaf. It was the first of its kind in Brazil, opening to the public in 1912. It was only the third line in the world and receives many tourists and celebrities each year. It has an excellent safety record with no casualties ever being reported.
The Katoomba Scenic Railway in the Blue Mountains of Australia has the steepest of any incline in the world. The recently installed Sceniscender cable car that runs near to it is the steepest cable car in the country, traveling over the rainforest below. This location also has the Skywalker, which was built in 1958 and was the first passenger line in Australia. One of the most scenic lines runs in the Shandong Province in China. It makes its way up to Mount Tai, a very significant site in Chinese culture, with temples on its slopes. Controversial plans have been mooted to build a cable car at the Inca built Machu Picchu site in the Peruvian Andes. Environmentalists are worried about the impact this will have. It appears that these systems can be installed anywhere but perhaps shouldn't be placed everywhere.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article50047.html |
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