Austrian's Tirol has announced the opening of Europe’s first city-to-mountain link. A funicular and cable car have been combined to create a transport link from the city of Innsbruck to the mountains. With the new system, skiers and snowboarders can reach altitudes of over 2,200m. The ride from bottom to top takes 20 minutes. Designed by London-based architect Zaha Hadid, the funicular and cable car system - which "imitates nature" according to the designer - should allow easier access to the ski slopes....The project encompasses four terminals of the funicular rail link and a new bridge over the River Inn, an `S’-shaped steel construction with two 34 metre high pylons, which link from the centre of Innsbruck to connect with the cable car at the Hungerburg station on the adjacent mountains.
The revolutionary new rail and cableway, the first in Europe to link `city shops to mountain tops’, started operating on Saturday 1st December.
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http://www.easier.com/view/Travel/Attractions_and_Events/article-150899.html