New Mexico

El Paso's Landmark Ranger Peak Aerial Tram Closed to Public

El Paso's landmark Wyler Aerial Tramway, which has carried passengers to the peak of the Franklin Mountains for the past six decades, has been closed to public use indefinitely.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced Tuesday that it has closed the Wyler Aerial Tramway after an engineering study found that the 2,400-foot-long, single-span cable tram with no support towers had exceeded its life expectancy.

The tramway was built originally to carry engineers and maintenance workers to the television transmitters perched atop 5,600-foot Ranger Peak. The Parks and Wildlife Department says it had passed annual inspections but was no longer fit for public use.

About 45,000 visitors each year had boarded the tramway gondolas for a ride to a 360-degree view of El Paso, Ciudad Juarez and southern New Mexico.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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