Liberec has six options for the cable car restoration to Ještěd, the cost is 290 to 500 million CZK

Liberec – Liberec will assess six variants of the restoration of the cable car on Ještěd, which has been out of service since a tragic accident in October 2021. The variants arose from a feasibility study. People can send their comments and suggestions until the end of February. This was stated today by the mayor of the city, Jaroslav Zámečník (Mayors for the Liberec Region), during a public discussion. The estimated costs for the restoration of the cable car are between 290 and 500 million koruna excluding tax, according to the proposed variants. The city hall of Liberec commissioned the study from the architects of the SIAL office.

"There are a total of six variants; in terms of the route, there are two, and in terms of the technologies used, there are three, so two times three is six," said Zdeněk Dřevěný from SIAL to ČTK today.

Three variants follow the existing route, nearly 1.2 kilometers long, and three similar ones extend the route by 770 meters to the final tram station in Horní Hanychov. One variant includes maintaining a shuttle service with two cabins, each accommodating 50 or 70 people. The second proposes a circulating system with 12 or 17 cabins, each with a capacity of ten people. The third, called the tram, would have one cabin suspended on two cables for 80 or 100 people.

According to the mayor, it is still too early to say which variant they will choose. "Of course, I have some personal priority, but I would like to listen to the citizens and other council members so that we can try to perceive what is the best solution for each," added the mayor. Liberec has set up a special website for the restoration of the cable car. If the city were to decide based on the participants of today’s public debate, it would restore the cable car along the existing route while maintaining the shuttle system or possibly replace it with the "tram" variant with one cabin. Milan Starec also presented a petition today with approximately 1,500 signatures for preserving the cable car along the existing route in a shuttle mode of transport.

The cable car to Ještěd belongs to Czech Railways, which no longer wants to operate it. "The decision made by the board two years ago still stands that we decided not to restore or operate the cable car on behalf of Czech Railways and that we are ready to sell it. And the only interested party from market consultations is the city of Liberec," said Jiří Ješeta, a member of the board of Czech Railways, to ČTK today.

According to the transport provider's assessment, the cable car is valued at 45 to 46 million koruna, while the city’s assessment is around 17 million. The final price should be determined by an expert review, which the transport provider agreed to prepare with the city. "We expect to know the result by the end of February," added Ješeta.

Variants for the restoration of the cable car on Ještěd

existing route	acquisition costs in millions CZK excluding VAT	operating costs in CZK/year	capacity of people in one cabin	number of cabins	number of supports
shuttle	350 – 420	600,000	50	2	1
circulating	290 – 350	1.2 million	10	12	9
"tram"	300 – 370	520,000	80	1	1

extended route to the tram terminal	acquisition costs in millions CZK excluding VAT	operating costs in CZK/year	capacity of people in one cabin	number of cabins	number of supports
shuttle	410 – 500	650,000	70	2	1
circulating	330 – 400	1.5 million	10	17	12
“tram”	360 – 440	550,000	100	1	2

Source: Feasibility study / SIAL