It seems to me that there is a great need for means to link
the dozens of pairs of stations in London and elsewhere where the
two stations are just too far apart to be considered "the same
place", and too far apart to walk conveniently between. The legacy of
the railway politics of the 19th century!

What means of transport could link such pairs? It would be
nice to have a standard thing which could be widely used.

There may be other ways of doing it, but I want to explore the
possibilities of bi-cable gondelbahnen/cableways (Sorry, I am not sure
of the English word) as used, for example, in ski-resorts.

"Bi-cable" means that the weight is carried by wheels running
on a fixed cable, and the cars are pulled along by a moving cable.

Cableways certainly have very low visual impact, just two
wires, high up, and the masts necessary to support them. That can't
be very expensive. Certainly not as expensive as the Birmingham
airport shuttle at £10M for 1Km of double route, when the track bed
already existed.

Cableways can go up and down steep gradients, that's their
function in ski resorts. Pairs of stations often have a large height
difference between them. Speed is adequate for such short distances.

I have always been struck by the fact that cable cars are
always hung well below the level of the cable. Why is that? Is it to
ensure that like pendulums, they swing slowly and don't make the
passengers sick? That will be a problem in cases where the route has
to go underground because the tunnel has to be so much bigger. But
could the difficulty be overcome? The car is fitted with rail
wheels set into the corners (ie, not increasing its total
height), where the route is of reduced height, the car is guided onto
rails which carry its weight, the hanger at the top folds down, and
the moving cable continues to pull it along.

Cable cars can be run automatically, and the number of cars
can be varied to match the level of traffic.

No doubt a lorry could be fitted inside with rails
and overhead cable so that the cars could be run into it over a
special route and taken away to be maintained at a central depot.

Is this workable?

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Michael Bell