Sugarloaf Cable car

Since its debut in 1912, the Sugarloaf cable car in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has welcomed more than 37 million tourists. Every 30 minutes or whenever the car is full, cable cars run.

Two stages, each lasting three minutes, make up the ride. The first stage climbs 220 meters, or roughly 240 yards, from Praia Vermelha (Red Beach) to Morro da Urca (Urca Hill). The second stage travels at a height of 528 meters, or around 577 yards, from Morro da Urca to Sugarloaf Mountain. The speed range for cable cars is 21 to 31 kilometers per hour. There are 65 passengers in each car.

The cable car system was extensively redesigned in 1972 and was originally created by Brazilian engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos, one of the founders of Companhia Caminho Aéreo Pão de Açcar. In May 2009, the electronic operating system was updated, and the cables were modified once again in 2002. For the voyage between Praia Vermelha and Urca, brand-new cable cars with an improved ventilation system and tinted, anti-glare glass were set up in 2008. In the second stage of the restorations, four brand-new automobiles that cost about 3 million euros and were imported from Switzerland were placed on the Morro da Urca-Sugarloaf stretch.

One of the world's safest cable car systems is the one at Sugarloaf. The panoramic views you'll experience during the ride and from the top of Morro da Urca and Sugarloaf Mountain include the beaches of Rio de Janeiro (Flamengo, Botafogo, Leme, Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon), the Corcovado, Guanabara Bay, downtown Rio, the Santos Dumont Airport, the Rio-Niterói Bridge, and Dedo de Deus.

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil