Wellington Cable Car

The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand. It carries passengers between Lambton Quay, Wellington's main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city. It is widely recognised as a symbol of Wellington.

Track and stations

The Wellington Cable Car line consists of 628 metres of mostly straight track, with the only curves at the passing loop in the middle. Except for the lowest part, the track rises at a constant grade of around 1 in 5, using three tunnels and three bridges to even out the slope. The cars are designed to fit the grade, using internal "terraces" to provide a horizontal floor.

The track is 1000 mm gauge, with pine sleepers. The 30-mm cable is kept off the ground by 120 rubber track rollers.

The lower terminus of the Cable Car is in Cable Car Lane, off Lambton Quay. The upper terminus is at the city end of Upland Road, Kelburn's main street. There are three other stations, spaced equally along the track — from Lambton Quay, they are Clifton Terrace, Talavera, and Salamanca (also referred to as the University station), all named after streets.

Cars and propulsion

The Cable Car has two cars, which start from opposite ends of the line and pass in the middle. The two cars are attached to each other by a cable, which runs through a pulley at the top of the hill. A motor at the top of the hill pulls this cable, providing motive power for the cars. The Cable Car is not, strictly speaking, a true cable car — rather, it is a funicular. A true cable car grips and releases a continuously-moving cable as required, but the Wellington Cable Car is permanently attached to its cable, and it is the cable itself which stops and starts. Because both cars are attached to the same cable, one cannot move without the other.

The motor has a rating of 185 kW. The normal operating speed of the cars is approximately 18 km/h, with a maximum passenger load of around 100. Each car weighs approximately 13,500 kg when empty and 21,000 kg when full.

Passengers

The Cable Car is used by slightly under a million people each year. In the mornings and evenings, it is used by commuters travelling between Kelburn and the city. At other times of the day, it is used by people travelling between the city and the Wellington Botanic Garden, and by students attending Victoria University. A considerable number of tourists also use the Cable Car.

Ownership

The Cable Car is owned by Wellington Cable Car Ltd, a company belonging to the Wellington City Council. The operation is contracted out to a private company, Transfield Services. The Council-owned company is responsible for awarding this contract and for the maintenance of cars and track, while Transfield Services employs drivers, sells tickets, and provides customer service. Unlike buses and trains, the Cable Car does not receive a subsidy. It nevertheless remains profitable.

History

At the end of the 19th century, Wellington was expanding rapidly, and due to the city's hilly terrain, good building land was at a premium. When new residential developments were proposed for Kelburn, it was suggested that a cable car or funicular could be built to provide easy access. In 1898, a number of people prominent in the residential subdivisions founded the Kelburne & Karori Tramway Company. The plan was to build a tramway between the city and Kelburn, and link it by carriage to Karori, a settlement on the far side of Kelburn. The company began purchasing land for the contruction of the tramway, and negotiated with Karori authorities for a new road (now Upland Road) to link the line's upper terminus with Karori. In 1898, the Wellington City Council granted permission for the venture, on the condition that the Council had the option to purchase the operation at a later date. The location of Victoria University of Wellington was influenced by the Tramway Company's offer of a donation of £1000 if the University were located in Kelburn, so students would patronise the car when travelling between the city and the University.

The designer of the system was James Fulton, a Dunedin-born engineer. Fulton was responsible for both selecting the route and deciding the method of operation, a hybrid between a cable car and a funicular. As with a true cable car, there was a continuously moving cable, which the descending car would grip and release as necessary. The two cars were also linked to each other by another cable, looping around an unpowered pully at the top. As one car descended, the other was be pulled up. Both cars moved at the same rate, passing in the middle.

Construction began in 1899, and involved three teams working around the clock. The system was opened to the public on 22 February 1902. Demand was high, with thousands of people travelling on the line each day. In 1903, a number of old horse-drawn trams from Wellington were converted into trailers for the cable car, increasing capacity. By 1912, the annual number of passengers had reached one million. In 1933, the steam-powered winding gear was replaced by an electric motor, improving control and reducing operating costs.

In the 1940s, the Cable Car suffered from increased competition from buses. In particular, buses now ran directly from Wellington to Karori and other western suburbs, bypassing it. The company believed that it was inappropriate for the City Council to compete with a private company, and a legal dispute broke out. The argument ended when the City Council agreed to purchase the company outright, which occurred on 13 February 1947.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Cable Car was the subject of complaints about safety and comfort. The old wooden cars were increasingly considered antiquated, and in 1973 a worker suffered serious injuries in an accident, prompting a review. The review concluded that aspects of the Cable Car were unsafe, particularly the use of unbraked trailers. These trailers were withdrawn, considerably reducing capacity. A major upgrade was then launched, which saw improvements made to most aspects of the Cable Car's operation. Despite a certain amount of public protest, the old wooden cars were withdrawn in favour of new cars from Switzerland. At the same time, the track was regauged from 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) to 1000 mm, and the original propulsion mechanism was replaced, turning the system into a full funicular. Despite the change, the system continued to be called the Wellington Cable Car.

Initially, the refurbished Cable Car suffered a number of problems. The service was frequently out of order for technical reasons, and extensive safety checks also cut significantly into operations. Largely as a result of these problems, patronage dropped to a low of 500,000 in 1982. Eventually, the problems were largely resolved, and use of the Cable Car has steadily increased.

In 1991, when the passenger transport industry was deregulated, there was speculation about the future of the Cable Car. Councils could no longer directly provide transport services, having to either privatise or corporatise their operations. The Wellington bus system was privatised (except for the trolleybus wiring), and it was thought by some that the same would happen to the Cable Car. The Council decided to retain full ownership, through a Council-owned corporation, Wellington Cable Car Ltd.

Operation and maintenance were contracted out separately. Initially, both contracts were won by Harbour City Cable Car Ltd, a joint venture between Stagecoach Group (which had purchased Wellington City Council's bus operation) and East by West (a Wellington ferry operator). In 1994 the Council decided to carry out its own maintenance, with Wellington Cable Car Ltd establishing its own maintenance capacity. In 1997 the operations contract was won by Serco. Serco was subsequently purchased by Australian company Transfield Services, who still have the contract.

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