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45-493: The Lantau Trail has 12 stages. There are distance posts along the trail, numbered L000 through L140, every 500m: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Easy Walk [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Fairly Difficult [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Very Difficult Path is rerouted. The Section 3/4 changeover appears now to occur very close to the Ngong Ping 360 cable lift. Section 4 for

90-617: A "cable car") linking between Tung Chung (where it connects the MTR Tung Chung station ) and Ngong Ping (where the Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha are located). Between the two terminals at Tung Chung ( Tung Chung Terminal ) and Ngong Ping, the lift system runs across the southern shore of the Hong Kong International Airport island and Nei Lak Shan , with eight towers including

135-401: A 30-year franchise on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis for the global project of operation, management and maintenance of a cable car system linking Tung Chung and Ngong Ping on Lantau Island. The Tourism Commission declared the objective of the project was to increase the range of attractions to visitors to enhance Hong Kong's position as a leading tourist destination in the region. Target timing

180-417: A haul rope which continuously moves and circulates around two terminal stations. In contrast, an aerial tramway operates solely with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals. The capacity, cost, and functionality of a gondola lift will differ dramatically depending on the combination of cables used for support and haulage and the type of grip (detachable or fixed). Because of

225-757: A hilly area near Chek Lap Kok South Road. Despite the fact that there were no injuries caused, an investigation resulted in the operating company and its CEO being charged with criminal negligence related to the incident, although the CEO's case was later delayed, and the charges against him eventually dropped altogether. Skyrail-ITM was removed as operator, fined HK$ 5,000, and the MTR Corporation took over operational responsibility. The line remained out of service until 23 December when it underwent one week of trial run involving 40,000 visitors riding for free. It reopened officially on 31 December 2007. In April 2009,

270-554: A premium rate. Both sets of cabins circulate on the same cable, with passengers being segregated by queuing systems at both terminals. The Ngong Ping Village, built next to the Ngong Ping Cable Car Terminal, occupies a 15,000 square metre site and has been designed to mirror and uphold the cultural and spiritual veracity of the Ngong Ping area. Traditional Chinese architectural designs are a feature of

315-763: A ski resort was at the Wildcat Mountain Ski Area . It was a two-person gondola built in 1957 and serviced skiers until 1999. The lift was later demolished in 2004. The lift and its cabins were manufactured by a former Italian lift company: Carlevaro-Savio. One of the longest gondola rides in the world, Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen , is in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland and connects Grindelwald with Männlichen . In recent years, gondola lifts are finding increased usage in urban environments. Cable cars used for urban transit include

360-462: A slight collision with a late departing cabin. The entire system was automatically halted by the safety system, leaving 500 volunteers trapped for two hours. As a result, Skyrail-ITM postponed the opening day to fix the technical problems, tests and emergency staff drills. After two months of improvement works and repair for the damages made by Typhoon Prapiroon in August 2006, Ngong Ping 360 resumed

405-427: A trial-run of 7 days from 30 August 2006. The project director at MTR Corp and senior executives of Skyrail were at the soft opening of the facility on 18 September. In keeping with feng shui traditions, Skyrail-ITM sold just 1,688 tickets for the maiden day's run on 18 September at HK$ 88 each, the numbers being considered lucky. Henry Tang officiated at the grand opening of the attraction on 9 November 2006. After

450-717: Is a bicable gondola lift on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Intended to improve tourism to the area, the aerial lift was previously known as Tung Chung Cable Car Project before acquiring the Ngong Ping 360 brand in April 2005. It consists of the Ngong Ping Cable Car , formerly known as the Ngong Ping 360 Skyrail , and the Ngong Ping Village , a retail and entertainment centre adjacent to the cable car's upper station. Ngong Ping 360 connects Tung Chung , on

495-421: Is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is typically connected to an engine or electric motor . It is often considered a continuous system since it features

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540-401: Is being investigated for having cleared ecologically sensitive land by burning and for having brought heavy construction machinery into a protected Hong Kong country park . The Yi O village area has protected wetland area and is one of the few habitats of Hong Kong's endemic and rare Romer's tree frog . Lam was a top advisor to Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung 's 2012 campaign. Rerouting of

585-491: Is currently no sign indicating when (or if) the original part of Section 7 will be restored. One can find the approximate original route by turning left at the end of the paved path, following the trail/dirt road, and then staying to the left of the organic produce farm. However, use of this route, as a separate sign indicates, will be considered trespassing—those who choose to find the original route should be mindful about causing disruptions. The suggested alternative route leaves

630-551: Is opened to pedestrian traffic as of November 2020. The Phoenix Walkathon was previously held by the Hong Kong Ecotoursism Society along the 70-km Lantau Trail every year, although it was cancelled in the early 2000s. 22°14′58″N 113°55′41″E  /  22.2495°N 113.9280°E  / 22.2495; 113.9280 Ngong Ping 360 Ngong Ping 360 ( Chinese : 昂坪 360 ; Jyutping : ngong5 ping4 three sixty , Cantonese )

675-411: Is particularly common in mountainous mining concerns, and directly employed; the weight of loaded down-going containers pulling the returning empties back up the slope. Gravity can also be used indirectly, where running water is available; a waterwheel is powered by gravity acting on water, and is used to power the cable. Conventional systems where a single cable provides both support and propulsion of

720-819: The Lantau North Country Park to another angle station near Nei Lak Shan (Nei Lak Shan Angle Station), before finally descending to the Ngong Ping Terminal . During the 25-minute journey, travellers can see panoramic views over the North Lantau Country Park, the South China Sea , Hong Kong International Airport , the Tung Chung valley, Ngong Ping Plateau and surrounding terrain and waterways. As visitors approach Ngong Ping, they can see The Big Buddha and

765-467: The Lantau Trail right after distance post 059 (and immediately before Na Ying Kok campsite) and rejoins the trail near distance post 073. Substantial clearing work for an organic farm has occurred since 2010, so finding the trail may be difficult., The trail closing has, as of December 2013, generated considerable political controversy. The developer of the 9-hectare organic farm, Andrew Lam Siu-lo,

810-1041: The Metrocable in Medellín , Colombia and the TransMiCable in Bogotá , Colombia ; Aerovia in Guayaquil , Ecuador ; Portland Aerial Tram in Portland, Oregon , United States ; Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City, New York, United States; Metrocable in Caracas , Venezuela ; Trolcable in Mérida , Venezuela; Cable Aéreo in Manizales , Colombia; Mi Teleférico in La Paz , Bolivia ; Mexicable in

855-402: The Po Lin Monastery . Designed by Aedas , also the architect of the project, the line uses a continuous circulating twin cable aerial ropeway system, technically described as a bicable gondola lift . The Leitner Group was the contractor for the cable car system. Between the Tung Chung and Ngong Ping Terminals, the 5.7 km cableway changes direction twice at the two angle stations, one on

900-869: The Republic of the Congo , was over 75 kilometers (47 mi) in length. The Kristineberg-Boliden ropeway in Sweden had a length of 96 kilometers (60 mi). In Eritrea , the Italians built the Asmara-Massawa Cableway in 1936, which was 75 kilometers (47 mi) long. The Manizales - Mariquita Cableway (1922) in Colombia was 73 km long. Conveyors can be powered by a wide variety of forms of power sources: electric motors , internal combustion engines , steam engines , or gravity . Gravity

945-671: The State of Mexico , Mexico ; Teleférico de Santo Domingo ; Yenimahalle-Şentepe teleferik in Ankara , Turkey ; Maçka and Eyüp Gondolas in Istanbul ; the London cable car in London , England; Nizhny Novgorod Cableway , Russia. The Metrocable systems in Medellin and Caracas are fully integrated with the public transit network which provides passengers the ability to seamlessly transfer to

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990-557: The Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff , Canada. This system has the advantage that the stationary cable's strength and properties can be tailored to each span, which reduces costs. They differ from aerial tramways , as these consist only of one or two usually larger cabins moving back and forth, rather than circulating. Bicable and tricable systems provide greater lateral stability compared with monocable systems, allowing

1035-802: The Mediterranean, the historical Jounieh Bay and the pine forest at the 80% slope which this gondola lift goes over. Such a system is called pulse cabin and usually several cabins are loaded simultaneously. Open-air gondolas, or cabriolets as commonly called, are fairly uncommon and are quite primitive because they are exposed to the elements. Their cabins are usually hollow cylinders, open from chest height up, with floors and roof covers. They are usually used as village gondolas and for short distances. Examples are at Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec , Canada, and at Blue Mountain Ski Resort (summer only, in

1080-744: The Ngong Ping Village, which contains an assortment of shopping and dining experiences, on top of a number of key attractions including Walking with Buddha, the Monkey's Tale Theatre and the Ngong Ping Tea House. Chinese New Year, Christmas and the three days of Buddha's birthday are among the most crowded days. Ngong Ping Village's international cable car gallery has cable car replicas from various countries including China, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil, Austria, France, Italy, Germany etc. Bicable gondola lift A gondola lift

1125-528: The cabins are often called monocable gondola lifts. Gondola lifts which feature one stationary cable (known as the 'support' rope), and one haul rope are known as bicable gondola lifts, while lifts that feature two support ropes and one haul rope are known as tricable gondola lifts. Famous examples of bicable gondola lifts include the Ngong Ping 360 in Hong Kong , the Singapore Cable Car , and

1170-726: The cable by means of spring–loaded grips. These grips allow the cabin to be detached from the moving cable and slowed in the terminals, to allow passengers to board and disembark. Doors are almost always automatic and controlled by a lever on the roof or on the undercarriage that is pushed up or down. Cabins are driven through the terminals either by rotating tires , or by a chain system. To be accelerated to and decelerated from line speed, cabins are driven along by progressively swifter (or slower) rotating tires until they reach line or terminal speed. On older installations, gondolas are accelerated manually by an operator. Gondola lifts can have intermediate stops that allow for uploading and downloading on

1215-553: The cable car station, follow the pedestrian shopping precinct in the direction of the Tian Tan Buddha for around 200m, watching on the right for a poorly displayed Lantau Trail sign pointing hikers downhill along Ngong Ping Road and Sham Wat Road. Section 4 continues on the road all the way to Section 5. The trail crosses private land at Yi O Village and access is officially closed (as verified in December 2013). Along

1260-455: The cable car system used in Hong Kong is much heavier and bigger than that used in Austria. He said the steel columns used to support the system have to be stronger, and thus more expensive. The cable car line offers two levels of service based on different cabin designs, branded Standard Cabins and Crystal Cabins. The Crystal Cabins are distinguished by their glass bottoms, and are charged at

1305-424: The commencement of service, system failures still occurred occasionally. Between its opening on 18 September and 27 October, eight service suspensions were recorded, prompting a legislative panel to challenge the operator's continued operation. A serious incident occurred on 11 June 2007, during a brake test which was part of the annual examination of the cable, when an empty cabin fell off the cable and crashed into

1350-497: The company introduced its premium rate Crystal Cabin service, using glass-bottom cabins. On 25 January 2012, Ngong Ping 360 was hit by a technical fault which was caused by a pulley which wasn't running smoothly, causing the automated system to grind to a halt. Passengers who had been stranded were later evacuated by resuming the operation with reduced speed. Ngong Ping Cable Car is a 5.7-kilometre (3.5 mi) long bi-cable gondola lift system (referred to by its operators as

1395-521: The future, TransLink in Metro Vancouver has proposed to build a gondola up Burnaby Mountain to Simon Fraser University in an announcement in September 2010. The project was sidelined in 2014, but was revived in 2017. In late 2012, a widespread aerial gondola system was proposed for Austin, Texas , in an effort to expand mass transit options in the rapidly growing city. The proposal

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1440-633: The lift. Examples of a lift with three stops instead of the standard two are the Village Gondola, the Excalibur Gondolas at Whistler Blackcomb and the Skyride at Alton Towers . In other systems the cable is slowed intermittently to allow passengers to disembark and embark the cabins at stations, and to allow people in the cars along the route to take photographs , such as Lebanon 's Téléférique which offers an exceptional view to

1485-546: The local metro lines, whereas the network in La Paz, the largest in the world, forms the backbone of the city's public transit system itself. Disney Skyliner is a gondola-lift service, which opened on September 29, 2019, at Walt Disney World in central Florida. The system uses multiple lines and has five stations, and it connects Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios with one another and with several Disney-owned and -operated resort hotels. In terms of urban gondola systems for

1530-478: The most part follows Ngong Ping Road from Ngong Ping 360 to the start of Section 5. As of April 2019, Google Maps has the correct route in its database. The current routing leaves it unclear if the Section 3/4 changeover is near distance post L027 or distance post L030. The previous changeover was at L027. For easiest access to/from Ngong Ping and Ngong Ping 360 , follow the trail to distance post L030. Once at

1575-620: The needs of disabled passengers, including elderly and wheelchair users. The system has a capacity of 3,500 people per hour in each direction. The cableway and the cabins come from the Leitner Group. A continuous circulating bi-cable aerial ropeway system, where the track cable acts as a rail in the sky and the haul cable pulls the cabins, allows long spans between towers. It is the first of its type to be installed in Hong Kong. Martin Leitner, chief sales officer of Leitner, explained that

1620-532: The north coast of Lantau and itself linked to central Hong Kong by the Tung Chung line , with the Ngong Ping area in the hills above. This is home to the Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha , both already significant tourist attractions in their own right. Before Ngong Ping 360's opening, the only access was via a mountain road and bus service. Ngong Ping 360 is owned by the MTR Corporation ,

1665-471: The operator of Hong Kong's rail system. It was built by Leitner Ropeways and was originally operated by Skyrail-ITM . Skyrail-ITM was removed from the project after an investigation following an incident in June 2007. It is now operated by a directly owned subsidiary of the MTR Corporation. Following a feasibility study, the Hong Kong government issued an invitation in 2000 for detailed proposals and tender for

1710-684: The proliferation of such systems in the Alps , the Italian : Cabinovia and French : Télécabine are also used in English-language texts. The systems may also be referred to as cable cars . The Kohlerer-Bahn opened on June 29, 1908, in Bolzano , South Tyrol , the first modern aerial enclosed cable car solely for passenger service. In some systems the passenger cabins, which can hold between two and fifteen people, are connected to

1755-507: The south shore of Chek Lap Kok ; the other west of Nei Lak Shan within the Lantau North Country Park. Whilst the gondola cabins are temporarily detached from the cables at each angle station, there are no passenger loading or unloading facilities at these points. The cableway is supported by 8 towers. The cabin has a modern design with seating for 10 and standing room for another 7. It also incorporates features to meet

1800-585: The stations. Five of the towers are located within the country park. The cable car journey offers a 25-minute aerial alternative to the current one-hour journey by Tung Chung Road , allowing visitors to glide across Tung Chung Bay and up to Lantau Island towards Ngong Ping Plateau. The cableway starts at the Tung Chung Terminal, runs across Tung Chung Bay to Airport Island Angle Station on Chek Lap Kok , where it turns through about 60 degrees before returning across Tung Chung Bay. It then runs up

1845-420: The trail appears to have been unnecessary and one might reasonably point to Mr. Lam's motivation in attempting to keep the public away from Yi O. Other than some recent development, Yi O appears to be an all but abandoned village, having lost its population long ago, and therefore restrictions against "trespassing" on village property might only make sense in the context of Mr. Lam's development project. The trail

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1890-440: The trail is posted the following message: The closing applies approximately to the part of Section 7 between distance posts 062 and 065 only, but the alternative route skips a length of trail starting from around distance post 059 and ending around distance post 073. Portions of the alternative route are available on Google maps as of April 2019. The intermediate distance posts in the closed section appear to have been removed. There

1935-694: The winter it is converted to a six person high-speed chairlift.) in Ontario , Canada, The Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah, Mountain Creek , and the new Village Cabriolet at Winter Park Resort in Colorado. Open-air gondolas can also come in a style similar to that of pulse gondolas, like the Village Gondola at Panorama Ski Resort , British Columbia . The first gondola built in the United States for

1980-652: Was rejected by the local transit agency in 2017. A proposed gondola system in Montreal was ultimately rejected by the Old Port of Montreal . A ropeway conveyor or material ropeway is essentially a subtype of gondola lift, from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended. Ropeway conveyors are typically found around large mining concerns, and can be of considerable length. The COMILOG Cableway , which ran from Moanda in Gabon to Mbinda in

2025-404: Was to identify a successful proponent by the end of 2001 and to commence operation of the cable car system before early 2006. Construction of the cable car project started at the beginning of 2004. The system was originally scheduled to open on 23 January 2006, but on 17 June 2006, during the trial-run with the maximum of 109 gondola cabins on the cables, a cabin arriving at Ngong Ping station had

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