y one in the country that runs completely in a mountainous region -- is scheduled to start operation between June and July, according to the city's Public Works Department (PWD). This week the project is entering its next phase of personnel training, said Chen Chih-chieh, director of the department's New Construction Office Southern District Public Works Section, the division in charge of the project.
Construction started on Nov. 11 of 2005, and the test-run phase was completed on March 11 of this year, he explained.
Chen said he had confidence in the Maokong cable car system, adding that it actually "exceeded his expectations." The system covers a total of four kilometers of mountainous area and has six stops, starting from the Taipei Zoo, then stopping at Zhinan Temple, and ending at Maokong, a popular tourist spot for its tea farms and teahouses. Two of the stops are transit stops used to turn the angle of the cable.
According to Chen, the most difficult stop in terms of construction was the second transit stop (before Zhinan Temple), because they had to make a 90 degree turn.
Another challenge for the construction of the system was the mountainous region between the Zhinan Temple and Maokong stops which has areas with an inclination of as much as 80 degrees.
There are 147 cabins, which can each carry up to eight passengers, making the system capable of transporting about 2,400 passengers per hour at a speed of about 4 meters per second.
At their highest, cable cars are suspended as much as 75 meters above the ground, in the section right before the Zhinan Temple stop.
"It takes about 12 to 13 minutes at the fastest to go from the Taipei Zoo stop to the Maokong stop, and about 16 to 17 minutes on average," explained Chen.
The pricing system will be finalized in May by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC), which will manage the system when it begins operation, said the director. "So far I've heard that it will cost about NT$50 to NT$80 (to take the cable car from the Taipei Zoo to Maokong.)"
TRTC personnel is currently undergoing training, which is scheduled for about six weeks and conducted by French company POMA, which is responsible for the system's construction and installation.
Plans to develop recreational and tourist areas around the stops on the cable car system are also under way, according to the PWD. One such plan is to build a commercial center and dining area at the Taipei Zoo stop.
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