CHANDIGARH: To reduce travel time and traffic congestion to Shimla, the Himachal Government plans to float a global tender by this month or early next month for the country’s longest ropeway. It will stretching over 40 km between Parwanoo and Shimla, with a travel time of two hours.
Sources said the state government has identified land for the project, and construction is likely to begin once the global tenders are issued and the allotment formalities are completed.
The ropeway will have 11 stations from Shimla to Parwanoo: Tara Devi (Goyal Motors), Tara Devi Temple, Shoghi, Waknaghat, Waknaghat IT City, Karol Ka Tibba, Solan, Barog, Dagshai Cantonment, Jabali, and Parwanoo. Passengers can travel the full length or disembark at any station along the way, depending on their preference.
Ticket counters will be set up at all stations, and ticket prices will be fixed once the project is completed, which is expected by 2030. The ropeway will use either a mono-cable detachable gondola system or a tri-cable system for the cable cars.
On average, around 20,000 to 22,000 vehicles travel daily on the 90-kilometer stretch between Shimla and Parwanoo. During weekends or peak tourist seasons, such as summer, Christmas, and New Year, the number increases to around 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles. At times, the movement of apple-laden trucks causes delays, with travel times extending up to five hours. However, with the completion of the four-lane highway, travel time is expected to reduce.
Talking with the TNIE, the Director of Ropeways Transport Development Corporation (RTDC), Ajay Sharma said that the estimated to cost of the ropeway project is Rs 5,571 crore and will be completed by 2030 under public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
"The detailed project report (DPR) of the project has been submitted by the Tata Consultancy and now we are analyzing the report and by next two weeks the global tenders of the project will be floated. We have given the indicative design as the cable cars will be either of mono cable detachable gandola (MDG) system which can carry between 8 to 10 passengers or 3S technology which can carry upto 25 passengers,’’ he said.
Sharma said that the ropeway will ferry about 904 persons per hour per direction. "Thus around 25 lakh passengers per year are expected to travel to and fro per year and will be major tourist attract besides decongesting the traffic to the Shimla and by 2063 it is expected to achieve it’s peak capacity of about one crore,” he said.