aixcentric

Visitors to Marseille will soon be able to whisk from the Vieux Port up to Notre Dame de la Garde by cable car in just six minutes.

The contract has been won by Systra, part  of SNCF who will start work in October.   It’s expected that 2 million people a year will use it, and sales from their tickets will cover the costs of construction and management.  It’s a much quieter form of transport than buses and cars, and is relatively cheap to install.

It’s not the first in France: there are existing cable cars in Grenoble (from 1934), Toulon (1959) and Brest (2016), and téléphériques are currently being installed in Toulouse and Orleans.

But our scenic trip up to La Bonne Mere is a little way off – completion isn’t expected until early 2021.  Here is the route it will take: