The group, created last December, has visited different infrastructures such as the Vallvidrera and Cuca de Llum funiculars and the Montjuïc cable car.
Ferrocarrils has been the host and organizer of this first technical day.
The International Union of Public Transport is the reference organization in the sector worldwide and brings together more than 1,900 companies.
Photo of the visit to the Vallvidrera funicular.
The new working group on cable transport of the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) held its first technical conference in Barcelona this week to learn, on the ground, different solutions for this type of transport adapted to urban environments. The group was created last December with the aim of having a permanent forum for the exchange of experiences between different public and tourist transport operators, generating cutting-edge knowledge and experiences and creating alliances to promote sustainable mobility options around cable transport, a solution on the rise as an alternative or complement to public transport in metropolises around the world. Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) hosted and organised this first technical conference.
The working group visited different cable transport facilities in Barcelona: the Vallvidrera Funicular, managed by FGC; the Montjuïc Cable Car, run by TMB; and the Cuca de Llum Funicular, on Tibidabo, by BSM. The experts also travelled to Montserrat to see the Sant Joan and Santa Cova Funiculars, also managed by Ferrocarrils. The technical days were completed with hybrid working meetings, held in the FGC office building, in Sarrià, where aspects such as the operation of cable transport as well as its maintenance, safety and regulations were discussed.
Montjuïc Cable Car.
The technical conferences were attended, in person and/or virtually in the case of the working meetings, by personnel specialized in cable transport from the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Railways, TMB, BSM and public transport operators from Belgium, Germany, Austria, Colombia, Argentina, France, Portugal, United Kingdom and Hungary, as well as the president of the International Cable Transport Organization (OITAF), Aureli Bisbe.
The most institutional part of the conference was attended by the president of FGC, Carles Ruiz Novella, the general director, Alicia Valle Cantalejo, and the CEO of TMB, Xavier Flores. Ruiz highlighted that this first technical conference “is the beginning of a work that must allow us to share experiences on current challenges such as sustainability, quality, safety and efficiency”. In this sense, he added, “we want to be a benchmark in urban transport but also in tourism outside the urban area, promoting sustainable access to natural parks, to help conserve them, make them known and help the economies of mountain areas“. Ferrocarrils has more than 40 cable transport facilities which include 4 funiculars, 1 gondola, 1 cable car and the rest are distributed between chairlifts and ski lifts.
The UITP is an organization created in 1885 that brings together public transport companies from all over the world. Specifically, it is made up of more than 1,900 public transport companies and associations from more than 100 countries. The association’s headquarters are in Brussels and it has 14 regional delegations and 2 centers for excellence in transport around the world. The representatives of Catalan companies in the UITP are a very active part of the association, participating and leading committees and working groups.
