Emirates Air Line 5.01

The Emirates Air Line is a cable car link across the River Thames in London, England built by Doppelmayr with sponsorship from the airline Emirates. The service opened on 28 June 2012 and is operated by Transport for London. In addition to transport across the river, the service advertises "a unique view of London". The duration of a single crossing is ten minutes (reduced to five minutes in rush hour as the service speed is increased).The service, announced in July 2010 and estimated to cost £60,000,000; comprises a 1km gondola line that crosses the Thames from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Victoria Dock, to the west of ExCeL London. Construction of the cable car began in August 2011. The cable car is based on monocable detachable gondola (MDG) technology, a system which uses a single cable for both propulsion and support, used also on the metrocable in Medellín, Colombia. The MDG system is reportedly cheaper and quicker to install than a more complex three-cable system which would allow larger-capacity cars.HistoryOn 4 July 2010, Transport for London announced plans to develop a cable car crossing over the River Thames. It is the first urban cable car in the United Kingdom. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Expedition Engineering and Buro Happold, it crosses the river at a height up to, higher than that of the nearby O2 Arena. The cable car provides a crossing every 15 seconds, with a maximum capacity of 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, about 50 busloads. Bicycles may be carried. Passengers can pay for their journeys with pay-as-you-go Oyster cards.