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Berlin cable car to soar over city

The Local Germany
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Berlin cable car to soar over city
Better than the U-Bahn? Photo: LEITNER ropeways_IGA Berlin 2017

Transport fans have been given an unexpected lift by news that a cable car will be built in time for the international garden show which will be hosted by Berlin in 2017.

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The cable car will take visitors to the garden show in Marzahn in the eastern suburbs of Berlin in 2017. But it will stay operational for at least three years after that and possibly indefinitely.

The novel form of transport will be linked up to the Neuen Grottkauer Straße subway station on the U5 line from where it will ferry passengers to the western entrance of the "Gardens of the World" exhibition.

Passengers will  travel over the 102-metre-high Kienberg hill and on to Marzahn-Hellersdorf,  where more than 2.3 million visitors are expected to attend the garden show.

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The €14-million project got the green light after privately-owned Leitner Ropeways said it would foot the whole bill.

The company, which beat off a rival bid from an Austrian firm, has already installed cable cars in Mexico City and in Colombia's second largest city Medellin.  

Leitner Ropeways will not charge directly for the service but will receive €2.30 out of the cost of an entrance ticket, which has not yet been decided.

The project has been broadly welcomed. Berlin transport secretary Christian Gaebler called it a "win-win situation" while International Garden Show CEO Christoph Schmidt said it was a "wonderful result".

The International Garden Show will cover an area of 103 hectares in eastern Berlin. The cost of the event is €33 million, around a third of which is being paid for by the city.

SEE ALSO: Germany's tallest hotel planned for Berlin

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