Plabutsch chairlift
| Plabutsch chairlift (†) | |
|---|---|
| Location: |
Graz , Austria
|
| Design type: | Orbit with fixed armchairs |
| Construction year: | 1954, closed in 1971, dismantled in the late 1980s |
| Mountain: | Plabutsch |
| Valley station: | Graz-Gösting , 425 m |
| Height difference: | 331 m |
| Mountain station: | Princely estate, 756 m |
| Route length: | 825 m |
| Driving time: | 6 min |
| Number of gondolas: | 86 pcs. |
| Number of supports: | 10 pcs. |
| Manufacturer: | Girak |
| Operator: | Private |
The Plabutsch chairlift was a chairlift in the Styrian capital Graz . From 1954 to 1971 it led from the Gösting district to the summit of Plabutsch .
history
On May 1, 1954 at 10 a.m., the one-person chairlift was opened on the east side of the Plabutsch. A similar facility had been opened a year earlier on the north side of the Schöckl . There was a restaurant next to the mountain station, which was expanded to include a mountain hotel in 1966. The valley station could be reached by tram (line 3). In less than 40 minutes from Jakominiplatz you could reach the prince's estate on the summit of Plabutsch.
Over 2000 passengers were carried on the first weekend. In 1956 the system was technically overhauled after an accident. Until its closure in 1971, it carried more than 1,100,000 guests to the Plabutsch.
A change in leisure behavior at the end of the 1960s resulted in a noticeable decrease in the number of passengers. In addition, over the years, the hotel and restaurant, next to the elevator, could only be reached via a provisional road that had fallen into serious disrepair until the early 1970s. Without a rehabilitated street, the tenant at the time felt compelled to stop because of the high costs. Attempts by the owner to get a rehabilitated access road to the mountain by means of subsidies that had already been promised from the city of Graz and the state of Styria and thus to get a new leaseholder failed. In December 1971 the lift was also closed after the hotel and restaurant had been closed months earlier. The lift was involuntarily mothballed and only occasionally put back into operation, allegedly for transporting loads.
In 1982 the owner built a new road from his own resources. After ten years of dilapidation, the hotel and restaurant were reopened at great expense and with a new tenant. Due to the high costs and again waiting for financial support from the city and the country, the owner refrained from renovating or building the outdated chairlift system.
At the end of the 1980s, the system was therefore dismantled step by step. First the lift system was dismantled, followed by the demolition of the remains of the mountain station at the end of the 1990s. The valley station still exists today (2013), but is in a poor state of construction.
Accident 1956
In the late afternoon of April 2, 1956 (Easter Monday), there was an accident shortly before closing time at 5 p.m. After the system had been switched off briefly to allow a woman with walking disabilities to board and the first brake had been pulled, it started up again by itself and accelerated to five times the operating speed. At this point in time, the lift was almost exclusively occupied down the valley and was therefore loaded on one side.
Some passengers who were entering the valley station at this point were thrown out of their seats in the area of the lower pulley. Another structural defect was the insufficient distance between the armchairs and the pillars of the valley station, as the armchairs swung outward due to the high speed and hit several waiting passengers, which increased the number of injuries. When the mechanical auxiliary brake, which was initially not operational, took hold, the hoisting rope slid out of the guide of the support pillar 9 near the mountain station. A passenger fell out of his seat and fell ten meters into the depth. He died shortly after admission to the Graz accident hospital. Ten other passengers were injured, some seriously. The fire brigade rescued 48 passengers by 8 p.m. using safety belts, hook and steel rope ladders.
Subsequent investigations revealed that both brakes, including the speedometer coupled to both brakes, failed due to maintenance errors. Attempts to load the armchairs with sandbags, the mass of which corresponded to that of an average passenger, showed that the first brake still pulled when 20 armchairs were loaded. With 30 armchairs, however, the system started up again after a few seconds. In this case the second brake had to be pulled. It was also shown that the armchair's safety bars can open by themselves in the event of strong vibrations. Initial assumptions that the passenger would never have closed it and thus contributed to his own death were not confirmed.
Plans for a new lift
After the turn of the millennium in 2000, the city of Graz kept making plans to set up an ascent aid to revitalize the Plabutsch as a local recreation center for the population of Graz.
On November 7, 2018, the project of the ÖVP and FPÖ, which together have a narrow majority in the local council, was presented, a gondola lift with curves from a valley station on Peter-Tunner-Gasse, in Graz-Eggenberg via a mountain station near the summit and further west downhill to the Thalersee to be planned in detail. Total costs of 35 million euros and completion for spring 2022 are mentioned.
From around 2019 the KPÖ collected 7,500 signatures for a referendum on the gondola lift.
With reference to the reduced funds of the city of Graz due to the crisis in the wake of the corona pandemic , the black and blue city government canceled the Plabutsch gondola project on May 13, 2020.
Web links
- Plabutsch chairlift , public transport Graz - photos and text
- Plabutsch chairlift , Lost Ropeways.de - photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Kleine Zeitung of May 4, 1954 (7th year), p. 9
- ↑ Kronen Zeitung of January 21, 1976, p. 11
- ↑ Süd-Ost daily mail from February 28, 1973, p. 8
- ↑ a b Statistical yearbook of the provincial capital of Graz, years 1954–1970
- ↑ a b Kleine Zeitung of March 6, 1971, p. 14
- ^ Grazer Monday, October 4, 1971, p. 3
- ^ Grazer Monday, May 8, 1972, p. 5
- ^ Neue Zeit (Graz) of July 16, 1982, p. 7
- ^ In the chairlift to valley that has gone wild , Arbeiter Zeitung of April 4, 1956, p. 3
- ↑ a b Neue Zeit (Graz) of April 6, 1956, pp. 3–4
- ↑ Kleine Zeitung of April 4, 1956 (9th year), p. 6
- ↑ Kleine Zeitung of April 7, 1956 (9th year), p. 6
- ↑ Stefan Marschnig: Ascent help on the Plabutsch tugraz.at, diploma thesis TU Graz, accessed February 13, 2013.
- ↑ First details: New cable car: From 2022 you will gondola over Plabutsch to Thalersee . In: www.kleinezeitung.at . ( kleinezeitung.at [accessed on November 7, 2018]).
- ↑ Plabutsch gondola from 2022 - cable car to the Plabutsch blounge.at, November 8, 2018
- ↑ Final end for Grazer Plabutschgondel orf.at, May 13, 2020, accessed July 12, 2020.
Coordinates: 47 ° 5 ′ 25.1 ″ N , 15 ° 23 ′ 9 ″ E