Paris Île-de-France (the region of greater Paris) is considering cable-car technology to get commuters through traffic bottlenecks.

The Syndicat des transports d’Île-de-France (STIF) has been evaluating a number of feasibility studies for cable car routes and last July it backed Câble A-Téléval (now called simply “A Cable“) a proposed route through the adjacent communes of Creteil, Limeil-Brévannes and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. A 2-month public consultation period ended in October and the plan is to start work on the new overhead line in 2021.

Valérie Pécresse, chief executive of Île-de-France and chairman of STIF, thinks cable cars are the only logical solution. Trams are too expensive and buses get stuck in traffic. In September she told Le Journal du Dimanche:

“Cable transport is clean, quiet, & steady. It costs much less than the tram, takes half the time to install, crosses obstacles, and has a capacity of up to 5,000 passengers per hour in each direction, with no waiting, and a guaranteed journey time.What could be better?”

A Cable is planned to open in 2021. Its 10-seat cabins will depart every 30 seconds, carrying up to 1,800 people per hour or 14,000 passengers a day.

Soaring over a urban motorway, a TGV line, high voltage lines, warehouses and other obstacles at 22 kph, the cable car will travel from Pointe-du-Lac in Créteil, with stops* at Limeil-Brévannes and Valenton, completing the 4½ km journey to in seventeen minutes. The same route today takes 45 minutes.

*Unlike an alpine lift where the cabins slow down for skiers to board, the urban cabins will come to a complete stop.

Photo: Station Emile Zola in Limeil-Brévannes (Stif/Ingérop)