- Transport for London’s (TfL) £36m contract with global airline Emirates for its east London’s cable car has ended. The multi-million pound contract was a 10-year branding sponsorship that helped offset capital costs and operating & maintenance costs. The total capital cost of the project was £60m. The MDG system, formerly known as The Emirates Air Line, connects Greenwich’s O2 Arena to East London’s ExCeL Exhibition Centre and opened just in time for the 2012 Olympics. TfL plans to announce their new commercial partner later this summer.
- Translink’s 10 year plan, including the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Gondola, has been officially approved by the Metro Vancouver Mayors’ Council. The proposed 3S, also known as TDG, system will connect SkyTrain Production Way Station to the SFU Campus. A direct route between the two locations was selected as the preferred alternative. The system’s capital cost is estimated to cost $210 million. The system will offer peak hour capacity of 3,000 people per hour per direction (pphpd), with 30 passenger cabins. The gondola is expected to have 30% lower operating costs than the existing bus systems. See a related Weekly Roundup here. SCJ Alliance, the parent company of the Gondola Project, has been retained to provide gondola expertise for this project.
- Big Sky Resort in Montana continues to make progress on the tram. Over a 1,000 pounds of explosives were used to clear the upper station location for the new tram which will combine with the future gondola. The tram will also allow for guests to reach the top of the peak during the summer for the first time. The article shows a video and project pictures of the progress. See a related Weekly Roundup here.
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