The Mérida Cable Car Tourist Transport System or simply Mérida Cable Car is a cable car system that operates in Venezuela. It is the highest cable car and the second longest in the world for only 500 meters. The Mérida cable car has a 12.5 kilometer journey, reaching a height of 4,765 masl, making it an engineering work that was traditionally one of a kind and with more than 50 years of history. It goes from the city of Mérida to the peak of the Espejo peak within the Sierra Nevada National Park in the Venezuelan Andes, specifically in the state of Merida, Venezuela
History:The first Mérida cable car was projected in 1952 by a group of Venezuelan climbers called The Andean Venezuelan Club during the government of General Marcos Pérez Jiménez, in order to build a system that facilitated the ascent to the Sierra Nevada de Mérida. The proposal was taken into account and the topographic survey was carried out in order to develop the project in 1955.
By 1956 the final route was drawn up and by the following year the loading cable car was already in operation until La Aguada station, which would serve as a transport for the materials necessary for the construction of the stations.
The cable car was built mostly with French, Swiss and German support. By 1958 it was 50% built. The work was completed in March 1960 thanks to the support of Venezuelan workers and the foreign technical team led by the French specialist Maurice Comte. The work had a cost for the moment of its construction of 70,000,000 Bolívares that for the time they were equivalent to about 16 million dollars. Throughout the years, the Mérida cable car system has been updated, ensuring it and guaranteeing its continuity over time.
