The new cable car on Ještěd will be designed by the companies SIAL and Valbek

Liberec - The contract for the design of a new cable car at Ještěd in Liberec has been awarded to the design offices Valbek and SIAL architects and engineers. The consortium of the two local companies submitted the only bid. In addition to preparing complete project documentation, they will also ensure engineering activities and author oversight. The city will pay them 25.7 million crowns excluding VAT, which is 3.3 million crowns below the maximum price set by the city hall for this competition. The city spokesperson Tomáš Tesař informed about the result in a press release today.

The city leadership approved the winning bid this morning at an extraordinary council meeting, and in the afternoon, representatives of the consortium signed the contract. "From now until three months, we expect to receive documentation for the building permit from the designers. Subsequently, the so-called EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) must be discussed, and after obtaining consent, we should receive the documentation, based on which it will be possible to tender for the new cable car supplier, within 110 days at the latest," stated mayor Jaroslav Zámečník (Mayors for the Liberec Region).

The operation of the previous cable car ended after a tragic accident in October 2021, when one of the two cabins fell after the pulling cable broke, resulting in the death of a conductor. At that time, the cable car belonged to České dráhy, which decided not to operate it anymore and sold it to Liberec for 38.6 million crowns. The city is preparing the construction of a new cable car, with a different system and an extended route to the final tram station in Horní Hanychov.

The company SIAL was already used by the city in the preparation of the new cable car construction two years ago when it was commissioned to develop a feasibility study for the restoration. The fact that they won the contract again is welcomed by their representative Zdeněk Dřevěný. "I am glad that we succeeded because the tender was very demanding and complex. One of the activities our studio has been long dedicated to is cable car design. We have experience not only throughout the Czech Republic but also in Slovakia. At the same time, I do not hide that we have a very personal connection to Ještěd. Not least because the founder of our studio in Liberec was the author of the legendary hotel and transmitter Karel Hubáček," stated Dřevěný.

The new cable car will have one high-capacity cabin for 100 people suspended on two cables, a so-called tram. The cabin's curved shape is designed to resemble a landing UFO, hence it will have special lighting at the bottom. Its design was created by the studio Anna Marešová designers. The new cable car is expected to be operational by 2030 at the earliest. According to a preliminary economic analysis from 2024, its construction will cost between 360 and 440 million crowns.