Seoul to add new aerial lifts to Namsan by 2025

Visitors to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, are expected to enjoy faster and easier exploration of the city’s famous Namsan Mountain in 2025 as the initial steps of the city's much-delayed project to add new aerial lifts shuttling passengers between the mountain's base and the peak are finally underway.  

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday official invited bidders to join the race to win rights to build gondola lifts to carry people between the base and top of Namsan, a 243-meter-high peak in the heart of the capital, and the related facilities.

The project, estimated to cost about 40 billion won ($30 million), will be carried out on a turnkey basis, including design and construction, under a plan to start operating the lifts in November 2025, the city government said.

TWO FAILED ATTEMPTS

The bidding announcement comes about six months after the city first briefed its detailed plans to build a new Namsan aerial lift facility in June.

The Seoul government had proposed similar plans a few times in the past but the previous two attempts fell through due to cultural heritage conservation and environment protection issues in the surrounding area of the mountain.

Since the city unveiled the latest plan a year ago, it has gone through various meetings with related organizations and residents in the affected area, where the gondola platform and ticket booth will be built and the lifts will pass, to ease the concerns of those stakeholders.

The city on Wednesday vowed to minimize ecological damage during the facility construction and protect the learning and privacy rights of school students and residents in the area.

It has named the new gondola project the Sustainable Namsan Project, which aims to restore the area’s ecosystem while offering much easier and faster access to the mountain.

The city government will use the proceeds from running the new aerial lifts in other projects to improve the sustainability of the surrounding area.

SECOND CABLE CARS

The prior goal of the new lift project, however, was to unclog human and car traffic congestions to the top of the mountain.

A private company has been operating a cable car facility at Namsan since 1962 but its system is outdated and not fit to shuttle many Namsan visitors at a time, causing congestion daily around its platform.

Since the city banned tourist buses from carrying people to the top of the mountain in 2021, the mountain has been suffering more congestion, causing greater inconvenience to visitors.  

Once the new gondola lift facility is up and running by late 2025, the 804-meter-long lifts are expected to ferry about 1,600 people every hour on average between the departure platform, which will be built in Namsan Yejang Park near Myeongdong Station, and the summit.

A total of 25 cabins, which can carry 10 people each, will be added, and an adult return ticket will likely cost about 10,000 won.

The Seoul city estimates users of the new aerial lifts would reach about 1.89 million people a year.

Visitors to the top of Namsan can enjoy panoramic views of Seoul from the observatory deck inside N Seoul Tower. The peak also has a few dining outlets and walking trails.

Write to Hae-Ryon Choi at haeryon@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.