Table Mountain aerial cableway is open again
The Table Mountain aerial cableway in Cape Town has resumed operations after being closed for its annual maintenance since mid-July.
Following its mid-July closure for annual maintenance, the Table Mountain aerial cableway has now reopened and is ready to welcome visitors.
New operating hours until mid-December
The Table Mountain aerial cableway reopened after necessary maintenance was carried out. The maintenance was necessary for passenger safety and to adhere to international standards. It was the longest overhaul since the upgrade of the popular Cape Town tourist attraction in 1997.
Tablemountain.net has announced new operating hours from today until the middle of December.
From 02 September to 14 December 2024 the cableway operating hours are as follows:
- First car up – 08:30
- Last car up – 18:00
- Last car down – 19:00
What to do at the top
Once visitors disembark the cable car at the top of the mountain, they have 360-degree views of Cape Town, Table Bay, the nearby peaks of the surrounding mountains, and the rest of the Table Mountain National Park.
There are three walking trails that start at the upper cable station. While exploring, visitors can see some of the fynbos vegetation on the mountain, with over 1 460 different species of plants. There are also plenty of dassies, lizards, insects, and birdlife to see.
Interesting facts about Cape Town’s Table Mountain
Markedly, Table Mountain is one of the oldest mountains in the world. To put its age into perspective, the Alps are 40 million years old.
Table Mountain was once three to four times higher. However, millions of years of erosion have caused it to shrink. In ancient times, Table Mountain and Lions Head connected the Peninsula to the Hottentots Holland mountains.
The mountain’s highest point is 1 086m above sea level, called Maclear’s Beacon named after the man who built a stone marker at the site in 1865.
Table Mountain’s first cable cars
The cable cars in Cape Town were originally made of steel and wood and have been upgraded three times, first in 1958, again in 1974, and most recently in 1997, when the round cars with revolving floors called ‘rotairs’ were introduced. Originally the Norwegian engineer Trygve Stromsoe’s idea, the Cableway Company was founded by Stromsoe and his partners, Sir Alfred Hennessy, Sir David Graaff, and Sir Ernest Oppenheimer and managed by their descendants until they sold it in 1993.
The Table Mountain aerial cableway has attracted more than 30 million visitors since its opening in 1929.