INFO LA DEPECHE. Toulouse: the launch of the cable car scheduled for May 13
The Toulouse cable car, which will fly over the Garonne and Pech-David, between Oncopole, Rangueil University Hospital and Paul-Sabatier University, should start operating on May 13.
A little after the presidential election and the Easter holidays: the commissioning of the Toulouse Téléo cable car, between the Oncopole, the Rangueil hospital and the Paul-Sabatier university, is, according to our information, scheduled for May 13 if the prefect delivers his authorization, essential for the public to board. To date, this is the date marked on the diary by Tisséo Collectivités, the contracting authority. During the last site visit, in February, Jean-Michel Lattes, president of the public transport organizing authority of the agglo, had mentioned the beginning of May without specifying a day.
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VIDEO. Téléo cable car in Toulouse: last straight line before commissioning in early May
As was the case with line A of the metro in 1993, then line B in 2007, Tisséo is planning a weekend of free open doors in the wake of the opening so that Toulouse residents can discover this new mode of transport, one of the very first urban cable cars in France, an example much observed by other cities in France and abroad. With this project born in 2006 in the mind of an engineer from Tisséo, wanted by Philippe Douste-Blazy, taken over by Pierre Cohen, then Jean-Luc Moudenc, three mayors, the Pink City is a pioneer.
In a book published by Privat on the occasion of the commissioning, Francis Grass, elected to the Capitol and specialist in transport, retraces the history of this mode of transport which has developed abroad more than in France.
Guaranteed success
In the fourth French city, mired in traffic jams, Téléo, with 8,000 passengers a day, should not revolutionize travel. But it marks an evolution. First, it makes the link between the Oncopole in the making, the CHU with its 200,000 consultations per year and 35,000 emergency visits, and the university with a connection to the metro. Above all, with, on one side, the 25 bus arriving from Colomiers, and on the other the future Linéo 7 which will go to Saint-Orens, it creates a “southern belt” which avoids passing through the city center. “The network is moving from a star to a radial system,” repeated Jean-Michel Lattes, citing other projects, in particular the 3rd metro line.
In ten minutes, in one of the fifteen cabins, it will be possible to cross natural obstacles. Tisséo has opted for technology with three cables, two carriers and a tractor, a guarantee of safety even in the event of high winds.
Inaugurated one and a half late, the cable car, at a cost of 82 M€ and 2 M€ per year for twenty years for maintenance, suffered from the health crisis. Tisséo is convinced that it will be a success, including because of the innovative aspect and the view offered. This is why a redevelopment of the Pech-David hill, the highest point and promontory over the city, is also planned.
Firefighters tested the evacuation
The full-scale tests that take place on the installation, in particular the dry run which started on March 22, also include emergency exercises with the firefighters. The chosen technology, two carrying cables and a hauling cable, makes it possible, in the event of a breakdown, to bring the cabins back to a station. But the operation takes a certain time, 1 hour 45 minutes, they say to Tisséo. The firefighters have therefore trained to intervene in a cabin in this round of time in the event that it is necessary due, for example, to the discomfort of a passenger. They also carried out a delicate exercise in the a priori improbable case of an impossibility of bringing a cabin back to a station: the evacuation of passengers from several cabins vertically. An exercise carried out including above the Garonne.