Sawt Falasteen - First urban cable car unveiled outside Paris

Officials inaugurated the C1 line in the suburb of Limeil-Brevannes in the presence of Valerie Pecresse, the head of the Ile-de-France region, and the mayors of the towns served by the cable car.

The 4.5-kilometre route connects Creteil to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and passes through Limeil-Brevannes and Valenton.

The cable car will carry some 11,000 passengers per day in its 105 gondolas, each able to accommodate ten seated passengers.

The total journey will take 18 minutes, including stops along the way, compared to around 40 minutes by bus or car, connecting the isolated neighbourhoods to the Paris metro's line 8.

The 138-million-euro project was cheaper to build than a subway, officials said.

"An underground metro would never have seen the light of day because the budget of more than billion euros could never have been financed," said Gregoire de Lasteyrie, vice-president of the Ile-de-France regional council in charge of transport.

It is France's seventh urban cable car, with aerial tramways already operating in cities including Brest, Saint-Denis de La Reunion and Toulouse.

Historically used to cross rugged mountain terrain, such systems are increasingly being used to link up isolated neighbourhoods.

France's first urban cable car was built in Grenoble, nestled at the foot of the Alps, in 1934. The iconic "bubbles" have become one of the symbols of the southeastern city.

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Y.AlMasri--SF-PST