London cable car system consortium announced

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has confirmed UK contractor Mace will lead the consortium to construct London's new cable car system and work will start later this year.

The cable car will cross the River Thames helping to boost the ongoing regeneration of east London and the newly created Enterprise Zone.

According to the Mayor's office, it will provide a low-emission, quick, direct and fully accessible link connecting the Greenwich Peninsula and the O2 Arena with the Royal Victoria Docks and the ExCeL exhibition centre.

Mace was chosen thanks to its "strong track record of delivering innovative projects", including the London Eye. It is currently constructing London's Shard and is involved in a consortium delivering the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Stadium.

Other members of the consortium include the cable car specialists, Dopplemayr, and Watson Steel, URS Scott Wilson, Buro Happold and Aedas. The cable car has been designed by Wilkinson Eyre and Mace will operate it for three years.

Work will start on the ground this summer on what is the first urban system of its kind in the UK and Transport for London (TfL) expects to finish work before the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in August 2012.

Situated close to London City Airport it will complement the planned UK£ 15 billion (€ 16.9 billion) Crossrail project later this decade, which will connect Heathrow Airport to London's West End, The City, Canary Wharf and east London.

Planning applications for the cable car are now in place from Newham and Greenwich Councils, the Thames Gateway Corporation and the Greater London Authority

Stretching 1.1 km across the River Thames and with 34 gondola cabins operating, the cable car will have the capacity to carry up to 2500 people per hour and it is anticipated two million passengers per year.