The Antananarivo urban cable car project is progressing slowly and surely, several stages of the preparatory work have already been carried out or are in progress, if we are to believe the words of Gérard Andriamanohisoa, State Secretariat in charge of New Towns and Housing.
The State aims to complete construction work on the Orange line linking Ambatobe-Anosy before the 2023 Island Games in August. The release of the first tranche of the funds necessary for the project, in particular for the Orange line) was authorized on January 31, 2023 by Société Générale. The total cost of this project is estimated at more than 151 million euros, part of which will be financed by the French treasury.
The project is in its preparation phase. The company responsible for strengthening the shores of Lake Anosy and laying the deep foundations for the construction of the first cable car station is already hard at work. The construction of a station in Soarano will start shortly according to Gérard Andriamanohisoa. After the construction of the stations, the installation of the seven pylons which will connect the two stations will begin.
All the land where the stations will be located belongs to the State except that planned for the company Henri Fraise in Ankorondrano, he specifies. This means that for the moment the project requires neither a declaration of specific utility nor a prior expropriation procedure. However, the regulations of transport by aerial cable are not yet known, particularly in terms of user safety or the overflight of private property. We also do not know who will get its commercial exploitation, the public administration or a private service provider.
According to the announced plan, two main lines of cable cars will be established in the Urban Commune of Antananarivo. The first, to connect Anosy-Ambatobe and the second to connect Anosy-Ambanidia. In concrete terms, 274 cable car cabins, with a capacity of 10 to 12 people each, will circulate on these lines which will have 8 stations. 28,000 to 38,000 passengers per day will be able to use this transport. The so-called red line, on a 2.60 km journey starting from Ambanidia, should take 10 minutes to reach Anosy. The so-called orange line, on a 9.21 km journey, starting from Anosy, should take about thirty minutes to reach Ambatobe.