A passenger ropeway car on the iconic Marina Beach is being considered to enable people to have a bird’s-eye view of it. The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) tender for selection of consultancy services for construction of a passenger ropeway at Marina Beach.

Marina Beach is a natural urban beach in Chennai along the Bay of Bengal. The beach runs from near Fort St George in the north to Foreshore Estate in the south, a distance of 6 km, making it the second longest urban beach in the world, after Cox’s Bazar Beach.

As a step to boost tourism, GCC is planning to introduce a new passenger ropeway car along the Marina beach. Ropeway cars provide unique vantage points of the city, enhancing the travel experience for residents and tourists alike. They provide breathtaking panoramic views of the city and its surroundings, creating memorable sightseeing experiences, the tender document said.

The rope car project will be taken up after obtaining the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance, GCC Mayor R Priya had said in October 2022.

On its part, the Centre in January 2023 mooted a feasibility study to be taken up for 10 ropeway projects, including Light House (Marina Beach) to Besant Nagar (Elliot’s Beach).

The National Highways Logistics Management Ltd, a 100 per cent owned special purpose vehicle of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has been assigned to develop ropeways projects under Parvatmala Pariyojana in the entire country.

In Tamil Nadu, rope cars are operated at the two hills of Subramanya Swamy Temple in Palani and at Sri Lakshminarasimhar temple in Sholinghur.

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