Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille - Grenoble (France)
Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille 30/06/2015 10h46
Ready for boarding. The bubbles are slowing down simultaneously at both ends of the line for loading and unloading of passengers.
Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille
The Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille, also affectionately known as Les bulles (English: the bubbles), is a cable car in the French city of Grenoble. It links the city centre with the Bastille, a former fortress overlooking the city. The line was inaugurated on 29 September 1934.
In 1934 cable cars were no longer an innovation. The cable car at the Aiguille du Midi had been in existence for ten years, the one at Salève for two; by that time Europe had a sizeable number. Even in Grenoble, a cable transportation system existed between Mount Jalla and the area of Porte de France since 1875, used to transport limestone from the quarries to the cement industry.
In 1930 together with the vice-chairman of the chamber of tourism, Paul Michoud, he planned the world's first urban cable car in the city. The site of the Bastille overlooking the Grenoble area was naturally chosen to become a tourist attraction. The site, fortified a century earlier by General Haxo, had a natural promontory offering a 360° panoramic view.
In September 1976, after several months of interruption caused by the construction of a new lower station, new spherical cabins with windows manufactured by the local company Poma were installed. They were quickly dubbed the "bubbles". Each bubble could accommodate up to 6 people. There were initially 3 in number, increased to 4 in winter and 5 in summer. The cable car became pulse driven: it moved in a continuous rotary motion tho slowed while at the stations. The inauguration of the bubbles on 18 September 1976 attracted much more attention from the media then imagined by the initiators of the cable car. Around 16:00, a derailment occurred at the lower station, just above the Isère, making the radio and television news at 20:00, and a huge crowd gathered along the banks of the river to help with the rescue. Civil protection helicopters worked in relays to free the occupants. The rescue ended at 20:45 without damage. This event is fortunately the only such incident in the history of this cable car; since then safety standards have improved. Inspections of equipment are made with different frequencies and each year in January the cable car is closed for twenty days to perform safety checks and drills.
FACTS & FIGURES:
Length: 685 m
Vertical drop: 263 m
Altitudes: 216 m 482 m
Speed: 0 to 6 m/s
Travel time: varies between 3 and 4 minutes
1 tower of 23.5 m, located two thirds of the way from the bottom
Engine: 164 kW
Passengers: 460 - 720 per hour
[ Source and more Info: Wikipedia - Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille ]
Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille - Grenoble (France)
Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille 30/06/2015 10h46
Ready for boarding. The bubbles are slowing down simultaneously at both ends of the line for loading and unloading of passengers.
Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille
The Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille, also affectionately known as Les bulles (English: the bubbles), is a cable car in the French city of Grenoble. It links the city centre with the Bastille, a former fortress overlooking the city. The line was inaugurated on 29 September 1934.
In 1934 cable cars were no longer an innovation. The cable car at the Aiguille du Midi had been in existence for ten years, the one at Salève for two; by that time Europe had a sizeable number. Even in Grenoble, a cable transportation system existed between Mount Jalla and the area of Porte de France since 1875, used to transport limestone from the quarries to the cement industry.
In 1930 together with the vice-chairman of the chamber of tourism, Paul Michoud, he planned the world's first urban cable car in the city. The site of the Bastille overlooking the Grenoble area was naturally chosen to become a tourist attraction. The site, fortified a century earlier by General Haxo, had a natural promontory offering a 360° panoramic view.
In September 1976, after several months of interruption caused by the construction of a new lower station, new spherical cabins with windows manufactured by the local company Poma were installed. They were quickly dubbed the "bubbles". Each bubble could accommodate up to 6 people. There were initially 3 in number, increased to 4 in winter and 5 in summer. The cable car became pulse driven: it moved in a continuous rotary motion tho slowed while at the stations. The inauguration of the bubbles on 18 September 1976 attracted much more attention from the media then imagined by the initiators of the cable car. Around 16:00, a derailment occurred at the lower station, just above the Isère, making the radio and television news at 20:00, and a huge crowd gathered along the banks of the river to help with the rescue. Civil protection helicopters worked in relays to free the occupants. The rescue ended at 20:45 without damage. This event is fortunately the only such incident in the history of this cable car; since then safety standards have improved. Inspections of equipment are made with different frequencies and each year in January the cable car is closed for twenty days to perform safety checks and drills.
FACTS & FIGURES:
Length: 685 m
Vertical drop: 263 m
Altitudes: 216 m 482 m
Speed: 0 to 6 m/s
Travel time: varies between 3 and 4 minutes
1 tower of 23.5 m, located two thirds of the way from the bottom
Engine: 164 kW
Passengers: 460 - 720 per hour
[ Source and more Info: Wikipedia - Téléphérique de Grenoble Bastille ]