Authorities have effectively given permission for the ambitious initiative to build a cable car up Gellért Hill to Citadella. The facility should reduce the number of tourist buses chugging up the steep slope – no public transport goes this far – and provide sightseers with panoramic views as they ascend.
None of the three bodies responsible for safety, conservation and the environment has objected to the application for a permit to build a cable car up Gellért Hill.
Its lower terminus will stand alongside the Rác Baths, also due to open at some point. The rail will run underground for 100 metres to Orom utca, then climb on a track 4.5 metres high to the upper terminus at Citadella sétány. This will be immediately below the Statue of Lady Liberty, the dramatic monument visible from many points in town, and a favourite spot for selfies and wedding photos.
The decision-makers have also stressed that the upper station building should match the “colours and materials of the surrounding background”.
Also planned here is a museum dedicated to the various struggles for freedom throughout Hungarian history, suitably set in the hilltop Citadella garrison, built by the Austrians after the Uprising of 1848-49.
