The Brest cable-car

The Brest cable-car

Transport

The Brest cable-car

A new mode of urban transport

Constructed by Bouygues Construction and Bartholet, the Brest cable-car system, inaugurated in 2016, has created an aerial bridge high above the city. The two cable-cars that cross the River Penfeld, which cuts the city in two, can transport up to 1,850 people per day.

Frédéric Godin,
Sales Director for Major Projects at Bouygues Travaux Publics
“This line will form part of the existing public transport network. This means that specific standards will have to be met, ranging from operational safety to accessibility for people with reduced mobility and for bikes, for example.”

Project

Constructed in 2016 by Bouygues Construction and Bartholet, a group specialising in ski lifts, the Brest cable-car offers a 360-degree panoramic view over the River Penfeld.

Innovation

The cable-car system is 400 metres long, and operates with two 13 m² cars, which can take up to sixty passengers each (hence an annual capacity of 675,000 people!) and can run in winds of up to 110 km/h. When the cars cross in mid-passage, they are not side-by-side, but one above the other. 

Human capital

Bouygues Travaux Publics and Bouygues Bâtiment Grand Ouest had to understand both the specifics and requirements of the innovative project. They called on the expertise of Bouygues Energies & Services for concerns relating to high and low voltages – an excellent example of different divisions of the Group working together!

Environment

The cable-car system constitutes the cheapest technical solution compared to other systems, such as transport bridges, road bridges and mobile footbridges. CO2 emissions per passenger per kilometre are 30 times lower than those of an automobile.

Adaptability

Some of the windows of the cars darken as they approach residential buildings in order to respect the privacy of their occupants. As a fully-fledged element of an urban transport system, the cable-car offers ease of access for people with reduced mobility as well as for passengers with bikes or pushchairs.

In Short
400 m
long
a 360°
panoramic view