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ROPEWAYS
A Rainforest Experience
Voted Australia’s Best Major Tourist Attraction, the multi-award winning Skyrail Rainforest Cableway
is recognised not only as a premier tourist experience, but as a world leader in eco-tourism.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, Cairns Australia
operates in the Barron Gorge National
Park, in Australia’s World Heritage
protected tropical rainforests, just ten minutes
north of Cairns city. Stretching for 7.5
km, it is the world's longest gondola cableway.
There are 32 towers along the way,
with the tallest being 40.5 m high above the
rainforest floor. Gliding just metres above
the rainforest canopy in comfortable sixperson
gondola cabins, the Skyrail journey
immerses the visitor in an intimate rainforest
experience.
It takes 1.5 hours to complete a one-way
journey with 20 minutes spent at each station
allowing scenic look-outs and giving
information from the forest floor on boardwalks.
Starting at Caravonica Terminal, the 6seater
gondola rises high above the rainforest
canopy where it pauses at Red Peak Station.
This station is at the top of the mountain,
and one can hop off the gondola and
take a tour along the 175-m boardwalk
through the rainforest.
From Red Peak, the gondola continues to
Barron Falls Station with its breathtaking
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The Poma six-seater gondolas provide a bird’s eye view of the rainforest.
views of the magnificent waterfall. From
here, Skyrail descends to Kuranda Terminal
– the end of the line. The little village of
Kuranda is a short walk from the terminal
where restaurants, shopping, and environmental
shows are available.
Skyrail Construction
The original Skyrail concept was conceived
in 1987 and was followed by seven years of
pre-construction feasibility studies, an environmental
impact study and numerous other
reports and assessments, and consultation
and approval processes with local, state and
federal governments and local communities.
Construction commenced in June 1994.
Skyrail’s tower sites were selected to coincide
with existing canopy gaps, and were
surveyed to ensure no rare, threatened or
endangered species would be affected by
construction.
Before construction commenced on the
tower sites, the leaf litter and top soil were
collected and stockpiled for reintroduction
when construction was complete. Plant
seedlings were catalogued at each site, then
ENGLISH SPECIAL
Skyrail Facts
The cableway is 7.5 km long. It has a total of
114 gondola cabins, each capable of seating
six passengers, providing a carrying capacity
of 700 passengers per hour in each direction.
The cableway can operate at a speed of 5.0
m/s; however its normal operating speed is
much slower to provide guests with the maximum
time to enjoy their rainforest experience.
There are 32 towers in total. The highest
tower is 40.5 m high.
Red Peak is Skyrail’s highest station at 545 m
above sea level (1,788 feet).
The Kuranda Station sits at 336 m and Caravonica
Terminal is only 5 m above sea level.
The steepest section of the cableway has a
slope of 19 degrees.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway has 15 km of
40.5 mm galvanised steel rope.
There is a multi-core communications cable
which runs in the middle of the towers, between
the two lines of haul rope. This carries
all the voice and safety circuit communications.
The cableway is driven by a 383 kW DC electric
motor located at each drive station, the
Kuranda and Caravonica Stations. Each drive
station has a back-up diesel motor and a further
auxiliary hydrostatic drive.
Cableway Leitner POMA of America
Cabins Sigma (Sigma-Composite)
Haul Rope Fatzer / TrefilEurope
Electric Drive ABB
Diesel Drives Cummins
PLC system Allen Bradley