MND Group
MND is one of the four major leaders when it comes to traditional ropeway and gondola systems. They operate out of France but have global reach through partnerships.
It’s probably fair to say that MND doesn’t lead the pack when it comes to innovation, but they have developed some unique technology. So, while they may be the underdog of the big four, they just might be the wildcard that upsets the field when it comes to the pursuit of a supergondola.
In the Fall of 2017 they announced their urban innovation vision - CabLine - a system that showed large cabins riding along a three cable minimal guideway.
Their website said the following about CabLine:
“(CabLine) is a new form of ropeway transport has been developed for the city with the support of France’s environment & energy management agency in a bid to meet the capacity, integration and maintenance requirements of today’s urban environment.”
Here are some promotional renders:
But since that time MND has been largely silent about the initiative. There was some mention of a “Cabline 2.0” at one point, but it seems like the concept has been largely scrubbed from their website.
There’s still a moment of what “could” be the “Cabline 2.0” concept 44 seconds into this 2023 corporate promotional video (below) for their Urban division - but it only shows 4 seconds:
Is it a supergondola?
Well, not much to go on here. It does look like they are suggesting a distributed network of relatively small footprint stations in an urban environment. Also, those 4 seconds of what might be CabLine 2.0 suggests that it’s able to make turns - maybe on a section of rail? Those would be some of the checkboxes for realizing a supergondola. But…
When will it happen?
The fact that CabLine has largely been removed from the MND site is either extremely encouraging because they want to make a big splash when they finally reveal it - or - CabLine was only a concept and MND are effectively out of the race.
Gondola half full or half empty? At one point the specs leaked as follows: “CabLine 2.0 involves the development of a new public cable transport system facilitating unobtrusive urban mobility. This innovative, energy-efficient and high-performance urban cable transport solution utilises cutting edge technology developed by the MND Group. Cabline 2.0 will be capable of transporting up to 5,000 people per hour in each direction at speeds of up to 45kph. This fast, safe and silent mode of public transport, which integrates seamlessly into the urban environment, substantially reduces energy consumption and noise pollution, as well as installation, operation and maintenance costs.” On top of that, it was stated that “The MND Group, through its subsidiary LST, specialized in cable transport, today announces €4.4 million of funding received as part of the Investments for the Future program (operated by the French environment and energy management agency) for the ‘CabLine 2.0’ project to develop and implement a new generation urban cable transport system.”
That was in 2017. We still want to believe in MND, but it’s looking unlikely.