Zurich’s iconic Rigiblick funicular railway is entering a new era: the modernised funicular will start operating in autumn 2025. The contract was awarded to Garaventa AG, a specialist in urban and tourist cableways and part of the internationally active Doppelmayr Group, which is headquartered in Switzerland. The new cable car will be equipped with a high-performance cable from Fatzer. On 20 June 2025, the two new traction cables, each 480 metres long and weighing 1.9 tonnes, arrived in Zurich from the factory in Romanshorn. The 32-millimetre-thick cables will be installed on 6 August 2025.
The cable car was first opened on 4 April 1901 as the ‘Rigiviertel Cable Car’. It was the first fully automatic, licensed cable car in Switzerland and was extended between 1978 and 1979, equipped with new carriages and renamed the ‘Rigiblick Cable Car’. Today, around 700,000 passengers use the facility every year, with around 64% of journeys being uphill. 2 Since its opening, the Rigiblick cable car has been a feature of Zurich’s cityscape, connecting District 6 with the Rigiblick hill – offering an incomparable view over the city. But the cable car is more than just a means of transport: it is part of Zurich’s cultural heritage and a symbol of urban mobility and quality of life for locals and tourists alike. With around 160 trips per day and a non-stop journey time of just two minutes, the cables are subject to high stress. This high stress requires the highest quality materials to ensure reliable operation with maximum safety.
The new vehicles for the Rigiblick cable car were developed in close collaboration between Zurich Transport Authority, Garaventa, Milani Design and CWA. In addition to its striking appearance, which was specially designed for the cable car, the system features a special chassis with plastic wheels constructed by Garaventa, which significantly reduces noise emissions and ensures a quiet ride in the urban environment.
Rope technology from Eastern Switzerland
On 6 August, the 480-metre-long traction cable with a diameter of 32 mm and a weight of almost two tonnes was installed. Given the high frequency of travel, the Performa traction cable, which was specially developed for urban installations, is used. This cable has plastic profiles between the strands, which almost completely fill the circular area and thus have an almost cylindrical surface structure, which is why the cable runs over rollers and pulleys with virtually no vibration and low noise. This makes the rope type ideal for installations in populated areas. In addition to these properties, the rope is particularly durable despite high stress. This extends maintenance intervals and significantly increases ride comfort.
The Performa rope is already being used successfully in high-traffic urban systems such as Cablebus 1 in Mexico City, Aerovía in Guayaquil (Ecuador) and, most recently, in Paris. Since its renewal in 2022, Fatzer’s traction rope has also been in use on the Sierre-Montana funicular railway in Switzerland. ‘For a high-traffic facility in a residential area such as Rigiblick, durability and smooth running are crucial. Fatzer’s Performa rope offers optimum safety and comfort – a decisive reason why we chose this rope,’ says Daniel Hunziker, Technical Project Manager at Garaventa.
Precision and tradition from Romanshorn
Fatzer has over 190 years of experience in rope production and is a global leader in the development of high-performance ropes for urban and tourist cable cars. Each rope is manufactured with the utmost precision and undergoes extensive quality controls to ensure reliable performance even under extreme loads.
‘We are proud to contribute to the modernisation of this traditional Zurich facility with our ropes,’ says Remo Gubser, project manager at Fatzer. ‘The new Rigiblick cable car combines history and innovation – and our ropes are an essential part of this success story.’
Rope from Fatzer for Paris
Urban cable car systems are experiencing a boom worldwide. By the end of 2025, Paris will have France’s longest urban cable car system: 4.5 kilometres, 105 cabins, 30 supports and 5 stations. With a journey time of 18 minutes across residential areas, motorways and the TGV line, it will relieve the traffic infrastructure in the south of the city in future. Performa cables are also being used in the ‘Cable 1’ project by Île-de-France Mobilités. Three cables with a total weight of 90 tonnes were delivered.
The modernisation of the Rigiblick cable car shows that urban cable cars in Switzerland can be successfully operated and modernised even under challenging conditions. The combination of a historic means of transport, technical development and reliable operating equipment such as the new Fatzer cables makes it possible to prepare the system for the coming decades – and secure its role as an integral part of urban mobility.