📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Pierre-Emmanuel BOITON
Travel
Varanasi launches India's first public‑transport ropeway, cutting commute to 15 minutes
✍️ The Economic Times
🗓 05 Nov 2026, 05:18 AM
👁 2
The new ropeway in Varanasi reduces a typical 45‑minute road journey to just 15 minutes, providing a faster alternative to the city’s congested traffic.
Varanasi has inaugurated India’s first ropeway designed for public transport, aiming to ease the city’s notorious traffic congestion. The aerial system links key points within the urban area, allowing commuters to travel the same route in roughly one‑third of the time previously required by road. Officials highlighted that the 15‑minute ride replaces a typical 45‑minute drive through narrow streets and bottlenecks.
The ropeway is expected to serve daily commuters, tourists and local businesses by offering a reliable, weather‑resistant mode of travel. While exact ridership figures have not been released, authorities anticipate a shift in commuter patterns as the service gains familiarity.
Transport planners view the project as a pilot for similar aerial solutions in other densely populated Indian cities, where expanding road capacity is challenging. If successful, the Varanasi ropeway could set a precedent for integrating ropeway technology into urban public‑transport networks across the country.
The ropeway is expected to serve daily commuters, tourists and local businesses by offering a reliable, weather‑resistant mode of travel. While exact ridership figures have not been released, authorities anticipate a shift in commuter patterns as the service gains familiarity.
Transport planners view the project as a pilot for similar aerial solutions in other densely populated Indian cities, where expanding road capacity is challenging. If successful, the Varanasi ropeway could set a precedent for integrating ropeway technology into urban public‑transport networks across the country.