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Jul 24, 2012
Vetruse Cable Car

New Urban Cable Car Discovered: The Vetruse Cable Car

Post by admin

The Vetruse Cable Car in Usti nad Labem

This is always exciting . . .

While small compared to the other major players in the cable transit industry, the Swiss cable car company of Bartholet hasn’t been caught totally unaware of the potential the urban market presents for cable.

Last year, the company opened the Vetruse Cable Car in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic.

The system connects a local shopping centre to the nearby Chateau Vetruse, a site described as “a popular weekend destination.”

At only a few hundred meters in length (336 meters, to be exact), the system is quite, quite modest; and as you’ll see below, its capacity limitations hardly make it a world-beater in the realm of public transit.

But the system does do some interesting things:

  • Firstly, if preliminary reports are to be believed, the system is fully integrated into the city’s public transportation system.
  • Secondly, the city terminal is built within the OC Forum shopping mall. How this public transportation system meshes with a private sector shopping complex is unknown at this time, but is well worth exploring later.
  • The Bicable / Aerial Tram configuration, by necessity, results in low total capacity. Reports suggest the system can carry a scant 350 persons per hour (presumably, per direction). Those reports, however, were prior to opening. Since opening, we’ve learned that the system has two 15 person cabins departing every 15 minutes — thus resulting in an offered capacity of just 60 pphpd. As the trip only takes 2:45, it may be possible for this system to reach an upper limit capacity of 300 pphpd (assuming a departure every 3:00 minutes), but that would be highly unrealistic.
  • Fourthly, as the video we’ve linked to below shows, this system flies over numerous private residences. It would be fascinating to learn about the public’s reaction to this.
  • Lastly, it appears to sail over all manner of road, rail and bridge infrastructure; not to mention a river. So once again we’re presented with a system that demonstrates how cable transit has an ability to traverse topographical challenges built by Mother Nature and the Hand of Man.

This is a system deserving of more research and attention. Anyone with further information about it is encouraged to provide it in the comments.


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2 Comments

  • stu glue says:

    having a station in a shopping mall is no different than having a subway stop underneath a shopping mall or a bus stop out front. my guess is that this occurs in most large cities already. how do those systems “mesh” with the private sector?

  • intel555 says:

    congrats to your website, to your passion for urban cable car systems, and to finding the vetruse cable car! for your info: it travels at 6m/s, a travelling distance of 330 meters and has therefore a travelling time of approx 1.5 minutes which results in a max capacity is 390 pph if needed.
    indeed a small cable car, but it has already shown it’s advantages in the flooding that happened shortly after it’s opening, where roads and railways where closed but the cable car could still function normally.
    check out also the cable car in durango, mexico.
    and our website: http://www.bmf-ag.ch. we are a highly flexible and innovative company with all sorts of cable propelled transit projects worldwide, and always open for pushing the limits further. see also our brand new porsche design chair lift with 45° sideways turn mechanism at http://www.laax.ch, or our world-premiere solar ski lift at http://www.tenna.ch and many more on our website.
    next year we will build a 30 passenger aerial tramway in the city of puebla, mexico, with a capacity of approx. 300 pph.
    for more information send me an email, i’ll be glad to help you promote cable cars around the world 🙂
    greetings from engineering dept., Bartholet cable cars, switzerland