Europe’s Longest Gondola Line Opened In Paris

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Gondolas are not the biggest type of public transit globally, but they are fun. Well, for some of us they are — I rode on one with my wife about 13 years ago in Barcelona and she felt absolutely sick and had to sit down. Anyway, they are not really a thing in North America, but they have seen a bit of growth and use in Europe. Now, Paris has unveiled the longest such aerial cable car line in Europe.

The new line includes 105 gondolas and is expected to transport 11,000 passengers a day. Each gondola seats up to 10 passengers at a time. It is 4.5 kilometers long, and is the 7th cable car line in France. If you’re familiar with Paris or interested in learning, here’s a bit more on it: “At 4.5 kilometres long, the route links Métro Line 8 in Créteil to Villa Nova in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, and passes through Limeil-Brevannes and Valenton on the way. […] Anyone without the pass will need to purchase two tickets for the journey: €2.50 for the Métro Line 8, and €2 for the cable car.”

No, this is not the longest gondola line in the world, though. And the longest isn’t in China, either. The longest gondola line is in Bolivia. It is more than 32 kilometers (20 miles) long. So, about 7 times longer than this new one in Paris, the European champion.

Circling back to this Paris line and the rationale for it, “Grégoire de Lasteyrie, Vice President for Transport of the Île-de-France regional council, said the €138 million project was a cheaper alternative to building subways to connect the isolated neighbourhoods,” Sophie-May Williams of Metro reports. It’s certainly a fun way to travel (if you’re into that kind of thing), and less crowded than a subway car.