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Capetonians
proposed a railway to the top of Table Mountain in the 1870s. Unfortunately, these
plans were put on hold first by the Anglo Boer War and then by the First World
War. However, in 1926 a Norwegian Engineer, Trygve Tromsoe, presented plans for
a cableway.
Soon after
the formation of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company construction began
and on 4 October 1929 it was opened by A J S Lewis, the then Mayor of Cape Town.
The son of one of the founders sold the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company
in 1993 and the cableway then underwent extensive renovations and upgrading. The
cableway was reopened in 1997 and the new cableway cars were introduced.
The new
cars can carry up to 65 passengers, whereas the old cars could only carry 25.
These cars are much more stable in high winds as they run on double cables and
it only takes approximately 4 to 5 minutes to reach the summit. The advantage
of these new cars, for tourists, is that the floor of these cars rotate through
360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving the tourist a fantastic panoramic
view.
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