Parasol Island – Integrated Digital Studio

Paris hopes that an urban cable car will bring congestion relief.

The French capital is considered one of the most densely populated areas in Europe and has suffered from congested roads, air pollution and an increasing lack of space for decades. An urban cable car is set to remedy the situation and will link the south-western suburbs of Cr teil and Villeneuve-Saint- Georges to the metro network with five stations. The project, first proposed in 2008, was officially deemed the only sensible expansion for the existing mobility structures over the hilly terrain, where a high-speed train line and a highway are already in existence.

The urban cable car is expected to transport around 11,000 passengers barrierfree every day, with 10-seater cabins running every 30 seconds. According to the local transport authority,  le-de-France Mobilit s, the train will be able to cover the 4.5-kilometre route in 17 minutes, halving the time the same journey takes by bus today. The Austrian cable car manufacturer, Doppelmayr plans to complete the large-scale project by 2025, with 33 white girders in the suburbs that will blend into the landscape as harmoniously as possible. The cost of the project is estimated to be €132 million.

Other major European cities have also discovered urban cable cars as a supplementary mode of public transport. In London, gondolas have been ferrying back and forth across the Thames since 2012, while in 2021, Amsterdam gave the green light for a 1.5-kilometre cable car that will connect the north and west of the city by 2025.