The cable car (to Bor), Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car — the first Russia aerial ropeway to pass over a river and connect two cities — Nizhny Novgorod and Bor. It opened in 2012. The Nizhny Novgorod station is located on the Kazanskaya Embankment, near Sennaya Square and the The Kremlin; the Bor station is situated at the end of the Bor backwater on the opposite bank of the Volga.
Context: why the crossing was needed
The wide channel of the Volga in the Bor area has historically posed a serious obstacle to agglomeration links between the two cities. The geographic centers of Nizhny Novgorod and Bor are separated by the Volga River and lie roughly 3 km apart in a straight line, while the road detour via the highway is approximately 27 km. The heavily congested Borsky Bridge added an extra 30–40 minutes to the journey, not counting traffic jams. The average daily passenger flow between the two cities is around 21,000–25,000 people, almost entirely carried by road transport. The ferry service could not cope with the growing passenger demand, which further sharpened the need for alternative solutions.
Building a bridge across the Volga at a location strategically convenient for connecting to Bor was deemed too costly and time-consuming. This circumstance made Bor a testing ground for a number of unconventional transport ideas: in addition to the cable car, proposals included a Metro Tunnel at Bor, String Transport, Rastolkovskiy's Razgonoplan, and the Borskaya Floodplain as an urban settlement area. In the end, the Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car was the only proposal to be realized.[1]
About the project
The cable car project was officially presented by the French company Poma on 21 December 2007 in Nizhny Novgorod; construction and installation work began on 20 January 2010.[2] The total cost of the project amounted to 850 million – 1 billion rubles. The founders of JSC "Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car" were the Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region (55%) and the Nizhny Novgorod city administration.
Support structures ranging from 7 to 82 m in height and weighing up to 60 tonnes were manufactured at Russian plants belonging to the Elektromash holding company. Tensioning of the cables between the supports during construction was carried out with the help of helicopters, and vessel traffic on the Volga was restricted for several hours a day during the work.[1]
Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car: key figures
- Total route length — 3,661 m.[3]
- Unsupported span over the Volga — 861 m (a Russian record for structures of this type).[1]
- Height of cabin suspension above water level — up to 95 m.[3]
- Elevation difference between the two stations — 62 m.[3]
- Rolling stock — 56 cabins with a capacity of 8 passengers each (the business plan envisaged up to 55 cabins).[3]
- Travel speed — 5 m/s (18 km/h).[3]
- Journey time between banks — 12–15 minutes, compared to an hour by road.[3]
- Total passenger numbers from opening to 1 January 2026 — 24,569,515 people.[4]
- Daily passenger flow — more than 5,000 people.[3]
Construction
Construction and installation work began on 20 January 2010. The support towers were erected on the Bor side and in the Volga channel; tensioning of the load-bearing cables over the 861 m unsupported span was carried out using helicopters. During the installation work, navigation on the Volga was restricted for several hours per day.[1] It was planned that the cable car would be commissioned in the first quarter of 2012, which was ultimately achieved.
Opening
The cable car opened in 2012. At the time of opening, the ticket price was 50 rubles per person.
What the cable car is for
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The cable car will help ease road traffic on Borsky Bridge. The daily passenger flow between Nizhny Novgorod and Bor is 25,000 people. The traffic moves almost entirely by road transport, which aggravates the already difficult situation on Borskiy Bridge. | 
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It was expected that the cable car would initially carry around 1,000 passengers per day. In the business plan, the ticket price was pegged to the cost of the Nizhny Novgorod–Bor bus fare and was not to exceed 50 rubles. The cable car was conceived not only as a transport solution but also as a tourist attraction — a new draw over the Volga.
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An additional factor attracting passengers to the cable car may be the intensive dacha construction on the left bank of the Volga. In the longer term, the cable car will become an important link in the transport connection between Nizhny Novgorod and the satellite city Globe Town. However, once the Podnove–Bor bridge is built, the cable car will lose its relevance as a transport route. Based on the experience of other countries, operating an aerial ropeway for tourism purposes is profitable, and here it will become an unusual attraction if an alternative tourist infrastructure is developed in Bor — an aquapark, for example. The Volga cable car is an exotic novelty for Russia. 22.09.2009, Alexander Shchagin |
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Operating hours
The cable car operates daily: on weekdays and Saturdays from 06:45 to 22:00, on Sundays and public holidays from 09:00 to 22:00.[4]
Ticket prices
As of the current date, a single ticket costs 200 rubles; contactless payment by transport card or bank card is available directly at the turnstile.[4] At the time of opening in 2012, the fare was 50 rubles; later the adult ticket price was set at 70 rubles and the children's ticket at 7 rubles.
For reference — fares for alternative crossings at the time of opening:
- commuter train — 33 rubles,
- bus — 30 rubles,
- hovercraft — 90 rubles,
- ferry (summer) — 20 rubles,
- river tram (summer) — 53 rubles,
- taxi — approximately 1,000 rubles.
2025 upgrade
In spring 2025, the cable car underwent a major upgrade: the cabins were replaced and their number doubled — to 56 units; the cost of the work amounted to more than 750 million rubles.[5]
2026 incident and suspension of operations
On 5 July 2026, the cable car was halted due to strong winds: several cabins were left suspended over the Volga with 16 people inside, including four children; all passengers were successfully evacuated.[6] On 5 July 2026, during a severe rainstorm, an emergency occurred on the cable car: four empty cabins collided at height, and rescuers had to evacuate passengers from two cabins — 16 people, including four children, were stranded above the bank.[7] On 5 July 2026, the cable car halted operations during wind gusts of 17–22 m/s: four cabins collided near one of the support towers, and 16 passengers, including children, were evacuated by rescuers from height.[5] Following an inspection, Rostekhnadzor determined that the incident was caused by incorrect actions on the part of staff: without verifying the validity of the errors being displayed, employees allowed cabin movement to continue, resulting in damage to the load-bearing haulage rope.[5] After the incident, the cable car was shut down; the Volga-Oka Directorate of Rostekhnadzor completed its investigation and issued a directive to the operating organization LLC "Urbantech Service," recording the damage to the load-bearing haulage rope.[7] Following the incident, the Volga-Oka Directorate of Rostekhnadzor completed its investigation and sent LLC "Urbantech Service" an official directive stating that the cable car may not resume operations before May 2027.[6] According to the Rostekhnadzor directive, the Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car may not resume operations before May 2027; if the violations are remedied ahead of schedule, the operating organization has the right to request an unscheduled on-site inspection followed by an industrial safety assessment.[7] The operating organization "Urbantech Service" is required to remedy the identified violations by May 2027; pending the completion of restoration work and an industrial safety assessment, all cabins have been removed from the cable car.[5] If violations are remedied ahead of schedule, LLC "Urbantech Service" may apply to Rostekhnadzor for an unscheduled on-site inspection; resumption of operations is only possible after restoration work is completed and an industrial safety assessment is carried out.[6] The circumstances of the emergency that occurred in July 2026 are also being investigated by the Investigative Committee.[6]
Contact information
Phone numbers
Operator's website: nnkd.ru
See also
Sources
- Nizhny Novgorod – Bor Cable Car 🚡, 2026 hours and schedule, ticket prices on the official website, how to get there, reviews, contacts… (kanatka-moscow.ru) — Nizhny Novgorod – Bor Cable Car 🚡, 2026 hours and schedule, ticket prices on the official website, how to get there, reviews, contacts… — Construction of a bridge across…
- Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car — Wikipedia (ru.wikipedia.org) — Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car — The cable car project was officially presented by the company Poma on 21 December 2007 in Nizhny Novgorod; construction and installation work began on the 20th…
- Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car — a unique gondola lift across the Volga | Prices and operating hours (putevka.com) — Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car — a unique gondola lift across the Volga — Prices and operating hours — The Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car has a total length of 3,661 metres; the cable suspension height…
- NIZHNY NOVGOROD CABLE CARS | Cable car, gondola lift in Nizhny Novgorod (nnkd.ru) — NIZHNY NOVGOROD CABLE CARS — Cable car, gondola lift in Nizhny Novgorod — As of 1 January 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Cable Car has carried a total of 24,569,515…
- Months to fix violations. When will the Nizhny Novgorod cable car reopen? (gipernn.ru)
- The Nizhny Novgorod cable car may not reopen until May 2027 (niann.ru)
- The Nizhny Novgorod cable car may resume operations in May 2027 (vremyan.ru)