The Sun Moon Lake Ropeway is scheduled to be launched on Jan. 1, the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Administration said yesterday.
The cable car system connects Sun Moon Lake and the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village (九族文化村) and is about 1.8km in length. It was built by the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village using a build-operate-own model.
Construction was supposed to be completed in October, but was delayed by Typhoon Morakot. Though the gondola system’s structure was not damaged, the administration decided to conduct a comprehensive inspection of its structure before opening it to the public.
Administration director Tseng Kuo-chi (曾國基) said the system passed a preliminary inspection by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). A second inspection will be conducted on Tuesday.
“If everything goes as planned, we may have a trial run next Saturday, when we will allow visitors to ride the gondola for free for a couple of days,” Tseng said. “We hope that the gondola can be officially opened by Jan. 1.”
Tseng said the administration would review the ticket price plan submitted by the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village on Thursday. It proposed charging NT$300 for adults for a round-trip ticket from Sun Moon Lake. People taking the ropeway from within the theme park would not have to pay, as the cost would be included in the village’s entry price.
“The NT$300 does not include entry to the village,” Tseng said. “The purpose is to ease traffic in the Sun Moon Lake area by encouraging people to leave their cars at the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village, which can accommodate 6,000 cars.”
“Once visitors arrive at Sun Moon Lake, they can use the water shuttle service to tour the lake. They can also take the round-the-lake shuttle bus service from one scenic spot to another,” Tseng said.
Tseng said the system would be equipped with 86 cars. Each gondola can carry a maximum of eight passengers. The entire system would be able to carry about 3,000 passengers per hour.
The contractor will be asked to build four more glass-bottomed gondolas, he added.
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