Cable car may link quayside cities

Passengers could travel from Gateshead to Newcastle

Plans for a futuristic cable car spanning the Tyne are being considered by transport experts.

Gateshead City Council is considering the ambitious new public transport system.

It would include an overhead cable car system, stretching from the town centre to Gateshead Quays.

The project is still in its early stages but planners say they already have proposals to extend it across the Tyne to Newcastle.

Employment hopes

Catherine Donovan, leader of the Bensham Labour Action Team, said the system was being designed to fit in with current developments on Tyneside.

"The cable car would be able to take people from the town centre right down to the riverside.

"As well as delivering excellent day-to-day services, Gateshead is quite rightly getting a great reputation for turning exciting plans into reality.

"A cable car scheme, if viable, would be able to rapidly transport people across busy road systems and would encourage people to come to the area by public transport.

"Thousands of people will be making Gateshead Quays their destination so these developmets will also provide valuable employment opportunities for local people."

In a joint bid with Newcastle, Gateshead is one of the 14 UK cities in the race to become Europe's Capital of Culture in 2008.