Toulouse opens brand new €82million cable car service

Toulouse’s brand new cable car service has just launched with rides free this weekend exclusively (May 14 - 15).

At three kilometres, it is the longest urban cable car line ever built in France.

The service is called Téléo and it will link the east and west of the city via three stations:

• Oncopole - Lise Enjalbert
• Hôpital Rangueil-Louis Lareng
• Université Paul Sabatier

The complete journey will take just 10 minutes.

The Toulouse mairie said of the cable car service:

“Téléo is an innovative and environmentally friendly public transport solution: 100% electric, it is less polluting than a car and three times faster to reach its destination.”

The service aims to transport 1,500 every hour in both directions. Around 8,000 passengers are expected to use the service this coming Monday (May 16).

Toulouse’s cable car project has cost around €82million.

You can find out more about the Toulouse cable car on Téléo’s website here.

Cable cars: eco-friendly solution or invasion of privacy?

Several cities and towns in France have opted to construct a cable car, seen as an eco-friendly mode of public transport that can help to tackle issues of traffic jams.

There are services in Brest (Finistère), Grenoble (Isère) and Toulon (Var) for example. Work on a new line in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica is planned to begin next year.

However, cable cars are not welcomed everywhere. In Lyon, a project was recently abandoned after concerns about the line disrupting the landscape and possibly giving onlookers a view into private gardens and households.

Other cities such as Orléans (Loiret), Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) and Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) have also abandoned cable car projects for similar reasons.

The first cable car built in France was the one in Grenoble, constructed in 1934.

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