The new cable car at the top of Sněžka is finished, a station is being built

Pec pod Sněžkou (Trutnovsko) - Workers have completed the construction of the technological equipment of the cable car at the upper station in the Krkonoš Mountains. If the weather permits, they would like to continue with the construction of the steel structure of the station itself. The terminal loop of the cable car will be concealed within it. Thanks to favorable weather conditions in the past week, the original three-week delay at the upper station has been made up by the builders. The General Director of the construction company BAK Trutnov, Dušan Čížek, told ČTK. The construction of the cable car began in earnest this spring and is set to go into operation in spring 2014.
    The construction of the upper station originally experienced delays due to problems with its foundations in weathered rock. The BAK company transports materials to the site using helicopters, which will be able to fly until the end of November, weather permitting. The concrete footings of the original pillars have also been removed in the upper section.
    The current weather is unfavorable for construction. The cold front on Friday brought snowfall, strong winds, and a drop in temperature to minus ten degrees Celsius.
    After the old cable car was stopped in September, workers also demolished the intermediate station at Růžová hora and began building the foundations and structure of the new station. The construction of the new lower station, which will be moved closer to Pec pod Sněžkou, has a slight delay due to the challenging rock foundation work. "We will make up for this delay because work can continue at the lower station even in winter. We are currently working on the foundation slab," said Čížek. Work on the other parts of the cable car will fully resume in the spring after winter break.
    The new cable car, costing around 300 million crowns, will feature more comfortable cabins instead of the current open seats for two passengers. The hourly capacity of the cable car will remain at 250 people, but it should be better resistant to wind. The services of the old cable car from 1949 were used annually by approximately 200,000 passengers, and about half of them reached Sněžka. The investor of the cable car is the town of Pec pod Sněžkou, which received a grant for the construction from EU funds.