Tatev aerial railway tram to be halted for one week
28.12.2010,
21:04
The world’s longest aerial tramway built to transport visitors to the Medieval Monastery of Tatev in Southern Armenia, will be halted for one week for a planned check, the National Competitiveness Fund said.
YEREVAN, December 27. / ARKA /. The world’s longest aerial tramway built to transport visitors to the Medieval Monastery of Tatev in Southern Armenia, will be halted for one week for a planned check, the National Competitiveness Fund said.
The 5.7-kilometer-long aerial tramway transports visitors from the village of Halidzor across the Vorotan gorge to the village of Tatev, within walking distance of the monastery, allowing tourists and visitors to bypass a 90-minute drive on a dilapidated road in and out of the Vorotan River Gorge.
The aerial tramway will be halted from December 30 to January 5, 2011, the Fund said in a press release adding that the break will be used to check the railway’s compatibility with requirements.
About 9,000 people have visited the Medieval Monastery of Tatev since the October inauguration of the railway, 30 % were residents of nearby villages.
The reversible cable car line cost $18 million, with much of the funding coming from private donations, according to the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, which oversaw the project through its Tatev Revival Project.
The cable car travels at a speed of 37 kilometers per hour (23 miles per hour) and a one-way journey takes 11 minutes.
At its highest point over the gorge, the car travels 320 meters (1,056 feet) above ground level. It has two cabins, each capable of carrying up to 25 passengers. Local residents can o ride the cable car for free while others will have to pay 3,000 Armenian drams (eight dollars/six euros.). Residents of the villages surrounding Tatev can enjoy the tramway once a day for free. The cable car is part of a $45 million-dollar public-private effort to develop tourism at Tatev and in the overall region of Syunik.
The aerial tramway was officially registered by a representative of the Guinness World Records October 23 who arrived in Armenia for that ceremony. -0-
The 5.7-kilometer-long aerial tramway transports visitors from the village of Halidzor across the Vorotan gorge to the village of Tatev, within walking distance of the monastery, allowing tourists and visitors to bypass a 90-minute drive on a dilapidated road in and out of the Vorotan River Gorge.
The aerial tramway will be halted from December 30 to January 5, 2011, the Fund said in a press release adding that the break will be used to check the railway’s compatibility with requirements.
About 9,000 people have visited the Medieval Monastery of Tatev since the October inauguration of the railway, 30 % were residents of nearby villages.
The reversible cable car line cost $18 million, with much of the funding coming from private donations, according to the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, which oversaw the project through its Tatev Revival Project.
The cable car travels at a speed of 37 kilometers per hour (23 miles per hour) and a one-way journey takes 11 minutes.
At its highest point over the gorge, the car travels 320 meters (1,056 feet) above ground level. It has two cabins, each capable of carrying up to 25 passengers. Local residents can o ride the cable car for free while others will have to pay 3,000 Armenian drams (eight dollars/six euros.). Residents of the villages surrounding Tatev can enjoy the tramway once a day for free. The cable car is part of a $45 million-dollar public-private effort to develop tourism at Tatev and in the overall region of Syunik.
The aerial tramway was officially registered by a representative of the Guinness World Records October 23 who arrived in Armenia for that ceremony. -0-
