Globally Renowned Innovation and Engineering
Cable cars connecting cities and mountains
Whether in bustling megacities or alpine landscapes: LEITNER cable cars connect places, people, and visions. As a technology leader, the company combines sustainable mobility with engineering and makes the innovative power of South Tyrol/Südtirol visible on a global scale.
Innovation born in South Tyrol
The company’s roots are in Sterzing/Vipiteno, where it was founded in 1888. Ever since then, LEITNER has completed milestone after milestone: the first passenger cable car in Central Europe opened in Bolzano/Bozen in 1908; the Matterhorn Glacier Ride, in 2018—the world’s highest tricable circular gondola lift. Their latest achievement: the world’s first cable car line built exclusively for apples at the Nonsberg mountain in Trentino, South Tyrol’s neighbouring province, eliminates approx. 5,000 lorry trips per year.
“We have always had innovative power”, says Maurizio Todesco, company spokesman for LEITNER. “It has always been our intention to preserve our South Tyrolean roots and at the same time develop new technologies which will leave a permanent mark on the cable car construction industry.”
Sustainable mobility and logistic
These days, LEITNER is a member of the HTI Group, which has over 4,300 employees worldwide and is internationally active in sectors such as winter sports, urban mobility, and renewable energies. Approx. 1,400 of those people work directly for LEITNER. The company’s projects in more than 60 countries range from winter sports regions in Europe and North America to urban cable car solutions in Asia, South America, and Africa. LEITNER thus stands for both alpine origins and a global presence.
The portfolio of products includes gondola lifts and chairlifts, aerial tramways and funiculars, material ropeways, inclined elevators, and surface lifts. With its custom-made solutions, the company makes an important contribution to climate-friendly mobility, both for tourism and for urban centres.
Rethinking transport
Innovation is the foundation of LEITNER—and shall remain its motor for new solutions. From 2025, a new hybrid urban ropeway project will be implemented: “ConnX is an extension to urban cable cars”, explains a company spokesman. “In this hybrid system, the cabin is transferred to an autonomous vehicle in the station, which then continues to the destination on a predetermined route.” This is all in line with the company’s mission: rethinking mobility and making alpine competence visible worldwide.
Ropeway autonomy and safety
Thanks to LeitPilot from LEITNER, the South Tyrolean trailblazer, great strides have also been made in the complete automation of ropeways, which are now able to operate without on-board operators. The newly introduced systems ensure precise operation, controlling essential parameters in real time and improving the overall experience for skiers. In the Carezza Dolomites ski area, for example, the new Franzin gondola lift has improved the connections between the existing ski areas, offering easier, more comfortable and safer access for everyone: snowboarders, families, beginners and people with reduced mobility.
For LEITNER, safety comes first: LeitPilot is equipped with advanced technologies, such as video surveillance, LiDAR sensors, protective barriers and emergency buttons, which enable the system to react immediately to anomalies, always protecting passengers and staff from potential dangers. LeitPilot also adapts perfectly to the unique aspects of the terrain, with versatile features such as Stop&Go, EcoDrive, smart access management and optimised ticketing systems, demonstrating the flexibility of the latest generation of cable cars.
