Plans are being drawn up for a £100m cable car system in Cardiff that could carry thousands of passengers over a five-mile stretch.
Cardiff Business Council (CBC) is asking engineering firm URS to explore proposals to link Cardiff Bay, the train station and city centre with hanging gondolas.
CBC chair, Nigel Roberts, anticipated the route could carry as many as 2,500 commuters and tourists every hour.
‘It won’t just be a tourist route. The proposed route already has a ready made footfall of commuters. It will provide awe-inspiring views and will also open up development sites in the area,’ he told the Guardian.
The scheme could well be similar to London’s Emirates Airline cable car system, which opened in 2012.
Funded for the scheme could come from the new Cardiff City Deal, which was announced by chancellor George Osborne in last week’s Budget.
Mr Roberts said the cable car would be a ‘sensible alternative’ to a local tram system, creating ‘an iconic project’ that ‘would be part of the city’s infrastructure as well as a tourist attraction’.
‘There are discussions in Cardiff for having a new tram system, monorail or bendy buses. Why not dream a bit bigger and go for cable cars? It would be phenomenal. There would be fantastic views across to the Devon coast and up the Bristol Channel. But it’s also a practical solution for commuters,’ he said.
