Nizhny Novgorod Gondola

15
Jun

2017

System Dossier: Nizhny Novgorod Cableway (Нижегородская канатная дорога)

View of the Cableway approaching Bor, Russia. Image by Wiki user Алексей Белобородов.

Nizhny Novgorod is a Russian city that is situated at the confluence of the Oka and Volga rivers and is the administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and Volga Federal District. Since its founding in 1221, the city has been known as a vital economic and trading center within the Volga region, which led to the saying of ‘St. Petersburg is Russia’s head; Moscow its heart; and, Nizhny Novgorod its wallet’.

Today, Nizhny is the fifth largest city in Russia and is frequently referred to as the country’s third capital. However, the city is characterized as a very calm and laid-back city — one where the citizens like to wake up late and go to bed early.

Nizhny Novgorod Cableway crossing the Volga river. Image by Flickr user Evgeny Gorodetsky.

Getting around Nizhny is fairly easy thanks to the city’s network of buses, trams, 2-line metro system, and of course, the cable car. The Nizhny Novgorod Cableway (NNC), which is integrated into the public transportation network, is a 3.6-kilometer MDG system built by POMA that transports passengers from the downtown center of Nizhny to the outlying municipality of Bor.

The cable car has reduced a circuitous 27km journey over highways and roads down to a direct and comfortable 3.6km ride across the Volga River. Thanks to the gondola, travel times have been cut from 90 minutes to just 13 minutes.

One of the two 82m tall towers. Image by Flickr user Vladislav Maslenov.

The system was initially designed to transport commuters but quickly turned into a popular ride for visitors, boosting local tourism. At only 80 rubles ($1.50 USD), the cable car is a very cost-effective transport solution for all travellers, offering a unique bird’s eye view of the surrounding landscape.

The NNC system carries about 2 million passengers per year and is notable for its 861m long span between two 82m tall towers and the 3.6km long span between the two stations. Both are very impressive accomplishments and show the impressive technological growth and innovation within the ropeway industry.


Year opened 2012
Length (km) 3.6
Stations 2
Capacity (pphpd) 1000
Speed (m/s) 5.0
Trip time (minutes) 13
Fare (rubles) 80 ($1.50 USD)

 



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27
Jul

2016

Photo of the Week: Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car (Нижегородская канатная дорога)



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13
Apr

2015

System Dossier: Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car

Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car. Image by Flickr user Sergey Yeliseev.

Say hello to the only known urban transit gondola in Russia and goodbye to Nizhny Novgorod’s commuting woes. This monocable detachable gondola crosses Europe’s longest river – the Volga – and connects the city of Nizhny Novgorod to the town of Bor.

This aerial transport system saves travellers to these areas from using the congested roads. Travel times have been truncated from 90 minutes to just 12, distances from 27km by highway to only 3.6km in the cable car!

The system was designed to transport commuters, but quickly turned into a popular ride for visitors, boosting local tourism. At only 80 rubles ($1.50 USD), the cable car is a very cost-effective transport solution for commuters and tourists, offering a unique bird’s-eye view of the surrounding landscape.

The system carries about 2 million passengers per year and is most notable for its 861m long span between two 82m tall towers.



System Statistics:

Length (km) 3.6
Stations 2
Year Opened 2012
Capacity 1000
Ridership (yearly) 2,000,000
Trip Time 12-15 minutes
Maximum Speed (m/s) 5

 



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07
May

2012

New Urban Gondola Opens in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

The Nizhny Novgorod Urban Gondola was put into operations last month. Image via ropeways.net.

Last month ropeway manufacturer Poma officially completed an urban gondola lift crossing the Volga river in Russia. We first mentioned the Nizhny Novgorod gondola last year and while the completion was a little bit behind schedule, we’re certainly happy to see it finished and in operation.

From the specs available, it’s a curious system. Both impressive in some ways and utterly bland in others.

The system is built on a standard off-the-shelf MDG configuration and operates at a standard 5 m/s or 18 km/hr. It currently offers a limited capacity of only 500 pphpd but is to be expanded to 1,000 pphpd later this year. While only having two stations, those stations are integrated into the public transportation network – and those stations are separated by 3,660 meters! That’s impressive considering the length of other comparable MDG systems.

More impressive is this: Two of the gondola towers reach heights of 82 meters allowing for a 900 m span between those towers. That’s a remarkable feat very uncharacteristic of standard MDG installations. Spans like that are more typical of Funitels or 3S systems. Always nice to see advancement and innovation.

Given the time, distance and cost involved to get a tour of the system, I highly doubt we’ll have any first-hand information anytime soon, but in the meantime, you can checkout ropeways.net to learn a little bit more about the system.

(Interesting side note: Take a look at the image above and the other images available on ropeways.net. Focus on the stations. Now compare those to the images and renderings we published last year. A little bit different, no?)



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23
May

2011

New Urban Gondola To Open This Year: The Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car

 

The Nizhny Novogord Station. Image via nnkd.ru.

Everytime this happens, I get excited . . .

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