Wellington Cable Car

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Wellington Cable Car in front of the panorama of Wellington in New Zealand

Wellington Cable Car is a meter-gauge funicular in Wellington , the capital of New Zealand . The 610 meter long route connects the Kelburn district, which is around 120 meters higher,with the city's main shopping street , Lambton Quay . The cable car system is one of the city's most famous landmarks.

history

The first cable car system was built by the Kelburn & Karori Tramway Company , founded specifically for this purpose in 1898 . The aim of the construction of the transport system was to develop the area of Kelburn above the city center and to connect it to the city center. The idea of ​​building the transport system came from businessman Martin Kennedy after a group of businessmen founded a company for the development of residential developments in Kelburn in 1895 .

Car 2 at Lambton Quay station

The cable car system was originally designed and developed by the Dunedin- born engineer James Fulton . Its two-lane railway was to overcome a height of 119 meters with a length of 785 meters and a gradient ratio of 1: 5.1. But on February 1, 1900, Maurice O'Connor , a close friend of Kennedy's , received the order to implement the project . The construction costs were estimated at 12,172 New Zealand pounds at the time  .

After two years of construction, the cable car system was finally handed over to its intended use on February 22nd, 1902. In the beginning, the system was powered by a steam engine located on Uppland Road . In 1933 the steam engine was replaced by an electric drive. The cable car system quickly became so popular that trailers had to be added to each car. An estimated 4,000 passengers did not miss the city's new attraction in one weekend.

In 1947 the cable car system was sold to Wellington City Council . After years of operation, in 1976 complaints were made about the security of the transport system, as it no longer met the increased security requirements. Two years later, the city council decided to build a new railway on the same ground, which is why the old transport system had to be stopped on September 22, 1978.

The second cable car system was designed and built by Habegger AG from Switzerland . The system, which is now single-track, has a turnout and is based on the Edwardian era , was put into operation on October 6, 1979 with a festive reopening.

On December 5, 2000, a railway museum was opened in the former machine hall at the upper station.

Technical specifications

Wellington Cable Car control panel.

Today's route of the cable car system is 610 meters long and with an incline ratio of 1: 5.06 overcomes around 120 meters in altitude. There are five stations on the route, which is a single track with a turnout, Lambton Quay, Clifton Terrace, Talavera Terrace, Salamanca Road and at the top, Kelburn Terminal .

The hybrid cable car system (cable car / cable car) has two carriages, one for each direction. A motor with 185 kilowatts of power on the top of the hill pulls the cable and provides the driving energy. The normal travel speed of the train is 5 m / s (around 18 km / h). A car can accommodate a maximum of around 100 people (30 sitting, 70 standing). Each wagon weighs around 13,500 kilograms empty, with passengers around 21,000 kilograms.

Depending on the season, the train transports between 800,000 and 1 million passengers.

operator

The cable car system is now operated by Wellington Cable Car Ltd., founded in 1991 . operated, a Wellington City Council company . The Wellington Cable Car Ltd. is also responsible for operating the city's trolleybuses. In 2013 the company had sales of NZ $ 6.5 million .

Web links

Commons : Wellington Cable Car  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c History . Wellington Cable Car , accessed December 8, 2014 .
  2. ↑ a b Meeting the demands of a growing city . (PDF 44 kB) Cable Car Museum , archived from the original on February 5, 2013 ; accessed on December 30, 2015 (English).
  3. ↑ a b c Cable Car History. (Display board in Lambton Quay station) November 14, 2004
  4. ↑ a b A marvelous engineering feat . (PDF 44 kB) Cable Car Museum , archived from the original on February 5, 2013 ; accessed on December 30, 2015 (English).
  5. ↑ a b About . Wellington Cable Car , accessed December 8, 2014 .
  6. ^ Annual Report 2013 . (PDF 2.3 MB) Wellington Cable Car , archived from the original on January 13, 2015 ; accessed on December 8, 2014 .

Coordinates: 41 ° 17 ′ 7 ″  S , 174 ° 46 ′ 3 ″  E