History of Singapore cable car
From May 1 to Sep. 30, 2023, visitors to Mount Faber Peak, HarbourFront and Sentosa can catch a glimpse of 67 cable cars wrapped in colourful Pokémon design as Singapore Cable Car kicks off its 50th anniversary celebration. The year-long celebration will feature the exterior of the cable cars decorated in the iconic red and white Poké Ball design. Five different interior designs will be featured, each themed around first-generation Pokémon, such as Pikachu and Eevee, and Pokémon from later games such as Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly.
Since its inception in 1974, the Singapore cable car has become one of the most recognisable attractions in Singapore, having served more than 60 million visitors over the decades to travel between Mount Faber Peak and Sentosa.
Turning 50 years old in February 2024, Mount Faber Leisure Group is set to begin a year-long celebration. More information on the celebrations can be found on MFLG's website.
Futuristic SkyOrb cabins mark another world first for Singapore Cable Car
The seven new SkyOrb cabins will join the existing fleet of 67 on the Mount Faber Line connecting Mount Faber and Sentosa Island. ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN
Chrome-finished spherical cable car cabins, customised for Singapore Cable Car (SCC), will take passengers between Mount Faber and Sentosa Island from March 20. These futuristic “balls” with glass-bottomed floors, called SkyOrb cabins, mark yet another world first for the company as it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024.
In 1998, it was the first in the world to launch sky dining in a cable car. The following year, to commemorate its 25th anniversary, it introduced the world’s first glass-bottomed cable car cabins, which offered clear views of the harbour and seascape south of Singapore. The seven new SkyOrb cabins will join the existing fleet of 67 on the Mount Faber Line connecting Mount Faber and Sentosa Island. They will light up the night sky with the ring of lights around the cabin windows that change colours for different occasions.
Double window louvres at the front and triple window louvres at the rear of the SkyOrb provide enhanced air ventilation. Measuring 2.5m tall and 2.3m wide, each cabin can seat up to six guests. The SkyOrb is SCC’s fifth generation of cable cars since the attraction was launched in 1974.
Singapore Cable Car
The Singapore Cable Car is a gondola lift providing an aerial link from Mount Faber (Faber Peak Singapore) on the main island of Singapore to the resort island of Sentosa across the Keppel Harbour. Opened on 15 February 1974, it was the second aerial ropeway system in the world to span a harbour, after Port Vell Aerial Tramway in Barcelona, which opened already in 1931. However, it is not the first aerial ropeway system to span the sea. For instance, Awashima Kaijō Ropeway in Japan, built in 1964, goes over a short strait to an island. The system is a major tourist attraction, as it provides a panoramic view of the central business district. In 2020, a round-trip ticket cost SGD35 for adults and SGD25 for children.
The Singapore government came up with the idea of a cable car to Sentosa from Mount Faber in 1968 as part of its masterplan for tourism projects in the country. Four years later in 1972, construction on the S$5.8 million system commenced, and it was officially opened on 15 February 1974 by then Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Goh Keng Swee. At opening, the system had 43 cabins which required cabin attendants to manually open and close the doors. The number of cabins was increased to 51 in 1976. An episode of the popular American TV show Hawaii Five-O was filmed on the system in the late 1970s, while the world's first mass weddings on the cable cars were conducted in the late 1970s. There was a major breakdown on 27 March 1977, when eyewitnesses heard screams coming from a stranded cable car.
A serious incident occurred on the Singapore Cable Car system at about 6 p.m. on 29 January 1983, when the derrick of the Eniwetok, a Panamanian-registered oil rig, passed under the aerial ropeway and struck the cable that stretched over the waterway between the Jardine Steps Station and the Sentosa Station. As a result, two cabins plunged 55 metres (180 ft) into the sea, killing seven people. The oil rig was being towed away from Keppel Wharf when it became entangled in the cable and caused it to snap. It also left 13 people trapped in four other cabins between Mount Faber and Sentosa. This was the first incident involving death or injury since the cable car system opened in February 1974. This disaster caused the entire system to shut down for almost seven months. In 2010, 20 passengers found themselves trapped in their cabins for 15 minutes after lightning triggered sensors which brought the cable cars to a sudden halt. In 2014, construction was underway on a new intra-island cableway on Sentosa when an empty car became dislodged and crashed. No one was hurt but a member of the staff in another cable car was trapped for several hours. On 27 July 2022, 18 people were left stranded in cable cars between Sentosa and Mount Faber due to system error.
