Vodno Cable Car Waits for a Motor Being Repaired Abroad: Gjorgjievski Promises It Will Run Again in December

The cable car on Vodno isn't running, the cabins are being rebuilt, and the motor has been sent abroad for repair. Skopje Mayor Orce Gjorgjievski, after a site visit, said the cable car should welcome visitors again in December, if the work is finished on schedule and it passes all safety checks. There's no exact date yet.

The reason for the closure, according to Gjorgjievski, is serious defects found during an inspection, the result of years without the necessary major servicing and regular maintenance. "It needed extensive and thorough work that had been neglected for almost a decade. That's why the cable car was taken out of service," he said. "For me, the safety of our people comes first. There's no compromise on that."

The blame, as usual, goes to previous managements. But if the cable car really ran for almost ten years without major servicing, the question isn't only who failed to do it. Who was checking the safety of the cabins that Skopje residents and tourists were climbing into back then, and why did the problem only come to light with the change of government?

It's good that the cable car is being fixed rather than running with problems. But what the mayor himself calls one of Skopje's favourite experiences now depends on when one motor arrives from abroad. For now, December is just an announcement, without a date.