Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by drives within the object being moved on cableways. The use of pulleys and balancing of loads moving up and down are common elements of cable transport. They are often used in mountainous areas where cable haulage can overcome large differences in elevation.

Common modes of cable transport

Aerial transport 

Forms of cable transport in which one or more cables are strung between supports of various forms and cars are suspended from these cables.

 Aerial tramway
 Chairlift
 Funitel
 Gondola lift
 Ski lift
 Zip line

Cable railways 

Forms of cable transport where cars on rails are hauled by cables. The rails are usually steeply inclined and usually at ground level. 
 Cable car
 Funicular

Other
Other forms of cable-hauled transport.
 Cable ferry
 Surface lift
 Elevator

History 
Rope-drawn transport dates back to 250 BC as evidenced by illustrations of aerial ropeway transportation systems in South China.

Early aerial tramways 

The first recorded mechanical ropeway was by Venetian Fausto Veranzio who designed a bi-cable passenger ropeway in 1616. The industry generally considers Dutchman Adam Wybe to have built the first operational system in 1644. The technology, which was further developed by the people living in the Alpine regions of Europe, progressed and expanded with the advent of wire rope and electric drive.

The first use of wire rope for aerial tramways is disputed. American inventor Peter Cooper is one early claimant, constructing an aerial tramway using wire rope in Baltimore 1832, to move landfill materials. Though there is only partial evidence for the claimed 1832 tramway, Cooper was involved in many of such tramways built in the 1850s, and in 1853 he built a two-mile-long tramway to transport iron ore to his blast furnaces at Ringwood, New Jersey.

World War I motivated extensive use of military tramways for warfare between Italy and Austria.

During the industrial revolution, new forms of cable-hauled transportation systems were created including the use of steel cable to allow for greater load support and larger systems. Aerial tramways were first used for commercial passenger haulage in the 1900s.

The first cable railways 

The earliest form of cable railway was the gravity incline, which in its simplest form consists of two parallel tracks laid on a steep gradient, with a single rope wound around a winding drum and connecting the trains of wagons on the tracks. Loaded wagons at the top of the incline are lowered down, their weight hauling empty wagons from the bottom. The winding drum has a brake to control the rate of travel of the wagons. The first use of a gravity incline isn't recorded, but the Llandegai Tramway at Bangor in North Wales was opened in 1798, and is one of the earliest examples using iron rails.

The first cable-hauled street railway was the London and Blackwall Railway, built in 1840, which used fibre to grip the haulage rope. This caused a series of technical and safety issues, which led to the adoption of steam locomotives by 1848.

The first Funicular railway was opened in Lyon in 1862.

The Westside and Yonkers Patent Railway Company developed a cable-hauled elevated railway. This 3½ mile long line was proposed in 1866 and opened in 1868. It operated as a cable railway until 1871 when it was converted to use steam locomotives.

The next development of the cable car came in California. Andrew Hallidie, a Scottish emigre, gave San Francisco the first effective and commercially successful route, using steel cables, opening the Clay Street Hill Railroad on August 2, 1873. Hallidie was a manufacturer of steel cables. The system featured a human-operated grip, which was able to start and stop the car safely. The rope that was used allowed the multiple, independent cars to run on one line, and soon Hallidie's concept was extended to multiple lines in San Francisco.

The first cable railway outside the United Kingdom and the United States was the Roslyn Tramway, which opened in 1881, in Dunedin, New Zealand.  America remained the country that made the greatest use of cable railways; by 1890 more than 500 miles of cable-hauled track had been laid, carrying over 1,000,000 passengers per year. However, in 1890, electric tramways exceeded the cable hauled tramways in mileage, efficiency and speed.

Early ski lifts 
The first surface lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald and started operations February 14, 1908. 

A steam-powered toboggan tow,  in length, was built in Truckee, California, in 1910. The first skier-specific tow in North America was apparently installed in 1933 by Alec Foster at Shawbridge in the Laurentians outside Montreal, Quebec.

The modern J-bar and T-bar mechanism was invented in 1934 by the Swiss engineer Ernst Constam, with the first lift installed in Davos, Switzerland. 

The first chairlift was developed by James Curran in 1936. The co-owner of the Union Pacific Railroad, William Averell Harriman owned America's first ski resort, Sun Valley, Idaho. He asked his design office to tackle the problem of lifting skiers to the top of the resort. Curran, a Union Pacific bridge designer, adapted a cable hoist he had designed for loading bananas in Honduras to create the first ski lift.

More recent developments 
More recent developments are being classified under the type of track that their design is based upon. After the success of this operation, several other projects were initiated in New Zealand and Chicago. The social climate around pollution is allowing for a shift from cars back to the utilization of cable transport due to their advantages. However, for many years they were a niche form of transportation used primarily in difficult-to-operate conditions for cars (such as on ski slopes as lifts). Now that cable transport projects are on the increase, the social effects are beginning to become more significant.
In 2018 the highest 3S cablecar has been inaugurated in Zermatt, Switzerland after more than two years of construction. This cablecar is also called the "Matterhorn Glacier ride" and it allows passengers to reach the top of the Klein Matterhorn mountain. (3883m)

Social effects

Comparison with other transport types 

When compared to trains and cars, the volume of people to transport over time and the start-up cost of the project must be a consideration. In areas with extensive road networks, personal vehicles offer greater flexibility and range. Remote places like mountainous regions and ski slopes may be difficult to link with roads, making cable transport project a much easier approach. A cable transport project system may also need fewer invasive changes to the local environment.

The use of Cable Transport is not limited to such rural locations as skiing resorts; it can be used in urban development areas. Their uses in urban areas include funicular railways, gondola lifts, and aerial tramways.

Safety

Accidents 
 A cable car accident in Cavalese, Italy, on 9 March 1976 is considered the worst aerial lift accident in history. The car crashed off the rails and fell 200 meters down a mountainside, also crashing through a grassy meadow before coming to a halt. The tragedy caused the death of 43 people, and four lift officials were jailed for charges regarding the accident.
 On April 15, 1978, a cable car at Squaw Valley Ski Resort in California came off of one of its cables, dropping 75 feet (23 m) and violently bouncing up. It collided with a cable which sheared through the car. Four people were killed and 31 injured.
 The Singapore cable car crash of 29 January 1983 occurred when a drilling rig passed beneath the cable car system linking the Singapore mainland with Sentosa island. The derrick of the drilling rig aboard the ship MV Eniwetok struck the cables, causing two of the gondolas to fall into the sea below. There were 7 fatalities. 
 On February 3, 1998, twenty people died in Cavalese, Italy, when a United States Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft, while flying too low, against regulations, cut a cable supporting a gondola of an aerial tramway. Those killed, 19 passengers and one operator, were eight Germans, five Belgians, three Italians, two Poles, one Austrian, and one Dutch. The United States refused to have the four Marines tried under Italian law and later court-martialed two of them with minimal charges in their country.
 The Kaprun disaster was a fire that occurred in an ascending train in the tunnel of the Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 funicular in Kaprun, Austria, on 11 November 2000. The disaster claimed the lives of 155 people, leaving 12 survivors (10 Germans and two Austrians) from the burning train. It is one of the worst cable car accidents in history.
 A cable car derailed and crashed to the ground in the Nevis Range, near Fort William, Scotland, on 13 July 2006, seriously injuring all five passengers. Another car on the same rail also slid back down the rails when the crash happened. Following the incident, 50 people were left stranded at the station whilst the staff and aid helped the passengers of the crashed car.
 On Wednesday 25 July 2012, passengers of the Emirates Airline were stuck 90 meters in the air when a power failure caused the gondola to stop over the River Thames. The fault happened at 11:45am and lasted for about 30 minutes. No passengers were injured, but this was the first problem to ever hit the Emirates Airline.

References

Further reading

External links 

 Melbourne's cable trams on YouTube
 San Francisco's Cable Cars & Motor Cars; 1900-1940s – with 1906 Earthquake on YouTube

Transport
Transport by mode
Sustainable transport
삭도(索道; cableway)란 공중에 매달린 밧줄에 운반기를 설치하여 여객 또는 화물을 운송하는 교통 수단이다. 운반기는 차량 형태일 수도 있고 의자 형태일 수도 있는데, 특히 운반기가 차량 형태인 경우를 케이블카라고 한다.

삭도는 섬유질이나 금속제 밧줄 하나 또는 여럿을 공중에 매달아 설치하고, 양 끝단 사이를 여객 또는 화물용의 운반기가 왕복하는 교통 수단이다. 따라서 지면의 영향을 받는 도로, 철도와 달리 지면과 간섭없이 독립적으로 이동할 수 있는 시스템으로(단, 견인식 삭도는 제외), 이러한 조건 때문에 극복이 어려운 곳에 특히 잘 이용된다. 여기에 속하는 것으로 케이블 카, 리프트 등이 있는데, 이들은 운반기의 디자인이 상자형의 다인승 구조(케이블 카)인가, 아니면 개방 또는 반개방형의 의자나 후크가 붙어 사람을 태우는 것(리프트) 인가로 구분한다.

삭도의 특징 상 강삭에 의해 견인되는 강삭철도(또는 인클라인 철도)와 혼동되기도 하며, 특히 케이블 카(Cable Car)라는 용어를 쓸 경우 이런 현상이 심하기에 종종 따로 구분해야 할 경우 로프웨이(Ropeway)라는 용어로 삭도를 부르기도 한다.

종류 
삭도는 시설방식에 따라 다음과 같이 구분된다.

시설 설치 방법에 따른 분류 
삭도 시설물을 어떻게 주행시키고, 어떤 구조로 설치하였는가에 따른 분류이다. 교통안전공단 등지의 공식적인 분류는 이것에 근거하여 이루어지고 있다(단, 화물 삭도는 이 분류와 별개).

 단선식 : 하나의 로프 시설물 위에 하나의 운반기가 왕복하는 구조. 대개 수송용량 관계상 소규모 시설 내지 화물 등지에만 쓰인다.
 교주식 또는 왕복식 : 단선식 삭도를 2개 설치하여, 이 둘을 상호 왕복 운행하는 방식. 동력 절감등을 위해 대개 두 차량이 중간에 교차 운행하는 방식으로 운영된다.
 순환식 : 컨베이어 벨트 식으로 한 방향으로 계속해서 순환 운행하는 방식. 흔히 스키장의 리프트가 이 방식을 취한다. 교통의 원활화를 위해 사용 차량을 정지하지 않고 연속해 운행하는 경우가 많다.
 자동순환식 또는 자동악삭식 : 이른바 고속 리프트라 불리는 방식으로, 자동 연결장치를 이용하여 승하차 시 저속 운행하고, 본 삭도에서는 고속 운행할 수 있도록 설계된 장치.
 고정순환식 또는 고정악삭식 : 균일한 속도로 계속해서 순환 운행하는 방식. 기계적으로 단순하다.
 견인식 : 대개 순환식의 일종으로, 여객 또는 화물을 직접 바닥에 활주 견인시켜 운반하는 방식.

밧줄 방식에 따른 분류 
 외줄궤도 또는 단선식 : 하나의 밧줄로 추진과 하중 지탱을 동시에 해결하는 방식. 가장 단순한 방식이며, 대개 곤돌라에 자체적인 추진력을 필요로 한다.
 2선식 : 하중 지지용의 밧줄(이를 지삭이라 한다)과 추진 또는 견인용 밧줄(이를 예삭이라 한다)을 분리해 사용하는 방식.
 3선식 : 세 개의 밧줄을 설치하여 사용하는 방식이다. 세부적으로 1지삭2예삭, 2지삭1예삭으로 구분한다.
 1지삭2예삭식 : 제동용의 예삭과 추진용의 예삭으로 예삭을 2개를 쓰는 방식으로, 국내에서 가장 널리 사용된다.
 2지삭1예삭식 : 지지용의 지삭을 2개를 쓰는 방식으로, 안정성이 높고 경간(span)이 긴 경우에 유리하나, 제동용의 장치가 필요하다.
 4선식 : 지삭과 예삭을 2개씩 갖춘 방식으로 복잡도가 높다.

용도에 따른 분류 
 여객용 : 여객 수송을 위한 삭도.
 관광용 또는 교통용 : 대개 두 지점을 상호 연결하여 교통을 원활하게 하거나, 공중 운행을 통해 전망을 제공하는 등으로 쓰이는 삭도.
 스키용 : 리프트라 부르는 것으로, 스키장에서 활강 시작지점으로 이용객을 이동시키기 위한 삭도.
 화물용 : 두 지점간에 화물을 수송하기 위한 삭도.
 전용 : 어떤 회사, 시설에서 독점적인 용도로 쓰는 삭도로, 법적인 필요에 의해 구분된다.

장점 및 단점 
삭도는 지상물의 영향을 받지 않고 운행할 수 있으며, 특히 어느 정도 급경사에서도 문제 없이 운행할 수 있다는 강점이 있다. 특히 이러한 점은 산봉우리 간을 연결하거나, 지상과 산봉우리를 연결하는 등 산악지대에서 큰 강점을 가진다. 이런 곳에 안테나, 사찰, 산장 및 관리시설 등 산간에 위치한 시설물들의 경우 경사도 및 건설 문제로 도보에 의존한 물자, 여객 이동을 해야 하는데, 삭도는 이런 어려움을 해소하는 데 큰 도움이 된다.

또한, 자연 보호적 측면에서도 이용객을 자연으로부터 분리하면서도 많은 교통을 처리할 수 있고, 또 도로 등과 달리 자연물을 훼손하거나 변경하는 것을 최소화 할 수 있는 점이 장점으로 꼽힌다.

그러나, 삭도는 강고한 시설물에 의존하는 것이 아닌 케이블 등의 유연한 재료에 의존하기에 고장 가능성이 높고 기후, 특히 풍향 등에 민감하며, 고장시 장시간 고립되거나 심지어 추락의 위험이 상존하는 등의 단점이 있으며, 이로 인해 안전관리의 철저함이 요구된다. 아울러, 설치를 위한 공사 과정에서 자연 훼손이 발생하거나, 또한 경관을 해친다는 비판을 종종 초래하기도 한다.

한국의 삭도 교통 
한국삭도협회의 자료에 따르면, 41개소 143개 시설이 현재 설치, 운영되고 있다.

대표적인 것으로는 남산 케이블카 등이 있으며, 그 외에 설악산, 내장산, 미륵산, 대둔산, 팔공산, 금정산, 북서울 꿈의숲, 서울대공원, 에버랜드 등지에 설치되어 있다.

대한민국 법령상 도시철도법이 아닌 궤도운송법을 따르는 수단은 케이블 카 이외에도 넓은 의미의 삭도에 포함된다. 이는 궤도운송법이 옛 삭도궤도법에서 바뀐 것이기 때문이다. 인천국제공항 셔틀트레인도 삭도에 포함하며 월미바다열차도 해당한다.

같이 보기 
 케이블카
 남산 케이블카
 통영 케이블카

외부 링크 
 한국삭도협회

 
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