Green Light For New Zurich Rigiblick Cable Car

The Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) and the City Council of Zurich have approved the financial means for the purchase of the new Rigiblick cable car. The Zurich Transport Authority (VBZ) was thus able to sign the work contract with Garaventa for the construction of the new lift. In addition to the commissioning of the new cable car, the associated stops will also be modernized. The new cable car is expected to go into service at the end of 2024.

The signing of the contract between VBZ and Garaventa took place on July 13, 2023 in the presence of City Councilor Michael Baumer: "The ride on the new Rigiblick cable car will be even more comfortable for everyone thanks to the optimized space," says the department head. The project costs of around four million francs include the delivery of two new vehicles and the renewal of the cable car control system.

In a separate project, the VBZ are also modernizing the stops in order to meet the changed fire police requirements.

The Funicular Rigiblick (German: Seilbahn Rigiblick) is a funicular railway in the north-east of the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It links a lower station served by Zürich tram routes 9 and 10 and Zürich trolleybus route 33, with an upper station at Rigiblick on the Zürichberg hill.

The Rigiblick funicular is one of two funiculars within the city of Zürich, the other being the Polybahn funicular in the city centre. Additionally, the city's Dolderbahn rack railway was originally a funicular, until its conversion to rack working in the 1970s.

The line first operated on 4 April 1901. In the early 1950s it was refurbished, replacing the original wooden cable cars with metal bodied cars in a red colour scheme. A further refurbishment in the late 1970s resulted in an 80 metres (262 ft) extension at the upper end of the line, and the introduction of the current cars, in blue and white.

The line is operated by the Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ), the municipal transport operator for the city of Zürich, and carries around 600 000 passengers per year. It has the following parameters