Table Mountain Cableway

02
Aug

2016

Video: Annual Maintenance on Table Mountain Aerial Cableway

Every year the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway is shut down for two weeks in July/August for annual maintenance.

This maintenance period is often scheduled during the low season as it aims to reduce service disruption to the fewest number of passengers.

Here’s a short clip from the cableway team showing viewers what is done behind-the-scenes to ensure maximum safety. If all goes according to schedule, the aerial tram will re-open on August 8!



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13
Aug

2011

Weekly Roundup: Rio One Month Anniversary and Thames Cable Car Construction

Time flies! The Rio system is already one month old! Image by Flickr user minplanpac.

 

Still a relatively sleepy summer for gondola news, but nonetheless, here’s what’s happening this week:

  • Construction has finally started on London’s Thames Cable Car. Don’t cross your fingers too hard for a 2012 Olympic opening, officials reiterate that it’s not part of the Olympic transport plan.
  • A quick overview of Rio cable car system after being in operation for a month. Great discussion on its successes so far and the implications the system may have on future cable installations in Brazil and abroad.

 



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25
May

2010

Rotating Aerial Trams

The Table Mountain Cableway, one of only 3 rotating Aerial Trams in the world. Image by geoftheref.

The Table Mountain Cableway in Cape Town, South Africa is an Aerial Tram with a twist (sorry): It slowly rotates 360° during its ascent and descent. It’s one of only 3 systems in the world that does this; the other two being the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in California and the Titlis Rotair in central Switzerland.

So what does a rotating Aerial Tram accomplish on a larger scale? Not much. It does exactly the same thing as other Aerial Trams plus it rotates. The feature is Pure Novelty, nothing more. Pure Novelty is great for tourist installations. I’d probably argue that the more Pure Novelty that exists in a tourist installation, the better.

Yet in an urban installation Pure Novelty is a waste of time and resources. People want to get from Point A to Point B as efficiently as possible and probably don’t care about things like spinning trams. Practical Novelties, however, present a whole other opportunity to add value to a rider’s experience.

Practical Novelties are those things that genuinely improve a product’s usability but are not directly related to its function:

  • On board Wi-Fi.
  • Mail and courier drop boxes.
  • Cup holders.
  • Cell Phone charge stations.
  • Coffee kiosks.
  • Bike racks.

Standard transit technologies have almost completely ignored how Practical Novelties can improve riders’ experience. The cost-effectiveness and ease of customization that cable presents, however, means Practical Novelties can and should become a standard feature of the industry’s offerings.



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