A 1.24-mile-long aerial cable-car system could be operational in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games if Mayor Boris Johnson signs off on the plan. The $65-million project would be the U.K.’s first urban cable car and would cross the River Thames. Last month, councils for the two boroughs affected—Greenwich and Newham—approved the plan that links Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks.
The system, designed by a London-based team including structural firm Expedition Engineering Ltd. and Wilkinson Eyre Architects, will be able to carry 2,500 people per hour. Cables will run between two 295-ft-tall towers on either side of the river. Cable cars would cross the river at heights of more than 164 ft.