As of today the Sljeme cable car is free for all Zagreb residents

Starting on Saturday, all Zagreb residents can ride the Sljemen cable car for free. Every day of the week, according to the new summer working hours, which are introduced because the days are longer and warmer. If you want to avoid queues at the ticket office, you can also download a coupon for free. To do so, citizens need to visit one of the ZET sales points with an existing Subscription card or the MojZET mobile application in which a user account has been opened and a virtual Subscription card has been created with the user's photo, a valid ID with proof of residence.

Those who do not live in Zagreb will continue to pay to ride the cable car, but less than before as prices have been cut to six euros for a one way ticket and ten euros for a return ticket. With summer and warmer weather approaching, the new working hours of the cable car will also be in effect as of Saturday:

On weekdays from 10 AM to 7 PM

Weekends and holidays from 9 AM to 7 PM

"Since the citizens of the City of Zagreb are paying for the loan for the construction of the cable car and its operating costs through the budget anyway, it seemed fair to us that the ticket should be free," said Deputy Mayor Luka Korlaet.

However, in spite of the free tickets Saturday did not bring the expected crowds. Only a few decided to spend the partly cloudy Saturday at Medvednica.

"It's great for us because we came up on foot, and now that we know, we'll go back down by cable car," said Iva.

"I've ridden the cable car before, but maybe now I'll come more often, since it's free for us Zagreb residents," said Davor.

"I am delighted. And it is not clear to me why they have so much against Bandić. This is his masterpiece," said one lady.

"This cable car should be named after him," added one gentleman.

Last year, the cable car transported more than 300 000 citizens, and ZET generated an income of 1.3 million euros from the tickets sold. The annual costs of the loan repayment, salaries and maintenance amount to 12.5 million euros. However, the city administration says it is ready to forego this income stream for environmental reasons.

"We counted the vehicles that go to the top annually, there are 150 000 of them, and the idea of making the cable car free is an effort to discourage citizens from driving to Sljeme. It is the first step towards limiting road traffic on the Medvednica Mountain range," Korlaet said.

According to the current payment plan, the citizens of Zagreb will be paying off the loan for the construction of the Sljemen cable car for another 11 years.

Source: HRT