Himachal mulling ropeway model of Bolivia, Switzerland and Austria

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh government is mulling implementing ropeway system of Bolivia, Switzerland and Austria as a solution for urban and rural transportation. A delegation of state government led by Sanjay Kundu, additional principal secretary to chief minister had recently visited these countries. Kundu said that delegation found that this type of system to be extremely robust as it can withstand extreme temperature and high wind speeds and can be used for providing connectivity over many snow clapped mountains and passes for year round connectivity to inaccessible areas in Himachal Pradesh.
During its visit the delegation had also visited the manufacturing units of the top ropeways company in the world.On its return, the delegation has apprised Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, transport minister Govind Singh Thakur and chief secretary B K Agarwal about the learning from study tour.
Sanjay Kundu said that on May 16, delegation visited the Carrosserie Werke Aarburg (CWA), the manufacturer of ropeway cabins, at Olten Switzerland. He said that delegation toured the manufacturing unit, studied the quality of material and manufacturing process and got first- hand experience about the various types of cable car cabins used for different applications.
“The delegation had detailed meeting with the management and engineers of CWA and were satisfied with its quality assurance for safety of passengers,” he added.
He said that on the very next day delegation visited the head office and manufacturing unit of Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, the world’s largest ropeways manufacturer, at Wolfurt, Austria. He said this group manufactures chair lifts, cable cars, gondolas etc and has produced over 14,600 installations in 89 countries.
He said that management gave presentation on monocable, bicable, tricable, ski lift, cable cars suitable for urban, rural, remote and tourist transportation. He said that delegation comprehended various applications of rope driven transportation and this was followed by discussion on its usage in the context of geographical conditions of Himachal Pradesh. He said that delegation also visited the manufacturing unit and minutely observed each and every process involved in manufacturing of ropeways.
He said that on May 18 the delegation visited the Funicular and 3S-Ropeway in Stans Switzerland installed by Doppelmayr and operated by CabriO cable car company. He said that delegation also visited the engine and machine room, studied the model and thoroughly inspected the functioning of the cable car. He said that length of CabriO cable car is 2320 meter with carrying capacity of 465 persons per hour per direction and a speed of 8 meter per second.
Kundu said that delegation has found this type of system to be extremely robust as it can withstand extreme temperature and high wind speeds and can be used for providing connectivity over many snow clapped mountains and passes for year round connectivity to inaccessible areas in Himachal Pradesh.
He said that delegation has felt that ropeway system was a complete solution for urban transportation problems, decongestion, rural connectivity, for tourism purposes and year round connectivity to remote and inaccessible tribal areas. This system is cost effective, eco friendly, requires least footprint and can be constructed in a very short span of time.