Take a cable car to the Western Wall

Jerusalem mayor announces two-line route, to be introduced in 2015, from east and west of city

Israel is to build a two-section cable-car system to take visitors to and from the Western Wall from either side of the city, Jerusalem’s municipality announced Monday.

The cable car, which is set to be introduced in 2015, will transport 6,000 people an hour, setting them down and picking them up close to Dung Gate (Sha’ar Ha’ashpot), the Old City gate closest to the Wall.

One section of the line will run to Dung Gate from near the Seven Arches Hotel on the Mount of Olives in the east of the city. The other section will run from the Hinnom Ridge, near the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and the Khan Theater, along a route similar to that used by a cable car that maintained a connection to the Old City in the 1948 War of Independence.

The project, which has been under discussion for several years, will offer a “wonderful experience” for visitors to the city, Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat said. He added that it would link up to the capital’s Light Rail system, and greatly ease traffic to and from the Old City.

Some 10 million visitors currently visit the Western Wall each year.