Do cable cars run in the rain?

Don't get me wrong, the cable cars operate safely in the rain all the time. On occasion, though, there are more extreme conditions that argue for the prudent use of bus shuttles. Usually in rainy conditions, grip persons keep an abundance of sand in the cable car sand reservoir to help with braking.



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Electrical discharges from lightning can and do compromise cable-propelled transit systems, virtually making them useless, while also threatening passengers' safety aboard the cable cars.

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Cable cars are a historic symbol recognized around the globe and offer real working transportation up the steep hills of San Francisco. You can download our printable cable car map, with all of the stops and top areas or a full San Francisco map. The (very popular) cable cars generally run about every 10 minutes.

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The safety of cable cars has been proven by the lack of incidents in similar infrastructure across the globe. Since opening in June 2012, the London cable car has only had one incident of note.

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Stopping a cable car These are crew-activated by foot pedals on both ends of the California cars, and on the front end of the Powell cars. A conductor's lever on the rear platform activates rear track brakes on Powell cars. Track brakes are simply pieces of wood located between the wheel sets on the cars.

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The Cavalese cable car crash is the deadliest cable car crash in history. On 9 March 1976, the steel supporting cable broke as a fully loaded cable car was descending from Mt. Cermis, near the Italian ski resort of Cavalese in the Dolomites, 40 km (25 mi) north-east of Trento.

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There's a motor, of course, but it alone can't simply lug the car up as dead weight, so each cabin going up is counterbalanced by one going down. This is done by mounting each one halfway around a loop of steel cable.

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One more sign of the coming Golden Age of Gondolas?

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Pregnant visitors are advised not to use the Funicamp, owing to the duration of the journey (20 minutes) and for safety reasons in the event of evacuation. There are no restrictions on any of the other cable cars.

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The disaster happened when the cable snapped and the emergency brake failed to prevent the car from sliding backwards. The vehicle then pulled off the support line entirely and crashed 65ft into the side of the Mottarone mountain near Lake Maggiore, resulting in the deaths of all but one of the passengers.

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Tourist attractions The world's longest metro cable car system, at over 16km, is in La Paz, Bolivia. The Mi Teleférico functions as La Paz's principal public transport system and currently has 25 stations and six separate lines running across the city.

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During busy times, there is likely to be a very long line at this stop. However, the cars run every ten minutes or so and each car holds up 65 people so the line often moves more quickly than you'd expect. TIP: If you want to avoid the long line then you can walk north a few blocks and get the car at the next stop.

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Most aerial cable systems can make turns, although it is difficult, or near impossible, for fixed grip technologies such as aerial trams and pulsed gondolas. (Fixed grip systems, particularly pulsed gondolas systems do sometimes make slight turns along specially designed towers.)

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Cable cars don't have motors Because they run entirely on cables, cable cars have no overhead wires or poles. They look like little detached train trolleys scooting around the city. Streetcars, on the other hand, run on electric motors that draw power from overhead wires.

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Despite their good characteristics, aerial cable cars also have certain limitations:
  • Speed limited to 12 m/s or 43,2 km/h.
  • Capacity limited to 4,000 persons/h.
  • Suitable only for distances up to 7 km (gondolas with intermediate stations)
  • Wind resistance, normally up to 18 m/s (65 km/h), bi-cable systems 90 km/h.


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