The construction of high-quality vehicles in aluminum has always been our specialty. It wasn’t long before our products were being exported around the globe.
1956
1983
It all started with the conversion of American cars into ambulances and fire trucks. Later on, the company also built coaches.
Even back then, ropeway manufacturer Gerhard Müller relied on CWA’s know-how in lightweight aluminum construction and awarded the company the contract for the first ropeway cabin.
As a one-off, CWA successfully builds a ship – the “Aurora” – which continues to operate to this day on Lake Lucerne.
In the meantime, CWA increasingly began to specialize in building vehicles for ropeways. In 1964, the first aerial tramway cabins for overseas customers went to Sandia Peak in New Mexico, USA, and were able to carry 60 passengers.
In the same year, the first self-supporting funicular cabin was built for the Chantarella-Corviglia installation in St. Moritz.
For the International Transport Exhibition in Munich, CWA supplies the first trains for the promising monorail system.
The first DELUXE gondola cabin with panoramic glazing leaves the factory.
CWA cabins go to Mellau in Austria, where Doppelmayr builds the first detachable gondola lift.
CWA develops the first fully automatic doors for gondola cabins and revolutionizes the ropeway market.
In the same year, an aerial ropeway is used as a means of public transport for the first time. With the NOVA Jumbo, CWA wins the competition for the impressive installation from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island in New York City.
Following intensive development work, CWA scores an unanticipated resounding success with the OMEGA. Ropeway manufacturers and operators hail it as the best cabin available on the market. CWA is recognized as market leader.
For the funicular serving the railroad station, Napoli Centrale, in the Italian city of Naples, CWA builds what was then the world’s biggest funicular cabin. To this day, it carries 450 passengers in each direction.
The ROTAIR, the world’s first aerial tramway cabin with a rotating floor, is built for Titlisbergbahnen in Engelberg, Switzerland.
The aerial tramway cabins for Yuzawa, Japan, were so big that no means of transport was able to cope. They were therefore built in two sections to allow shipment and then reassembled on site by CWA professionals.
The Frech family sells the company to its biggest customer, the Doppelmayr Group.
For the first time, CWA supplies cabins for use on Ferris wheels.
CWA presents the fourth OMEGA generation und patents an aluminum space frame consisting of extruded and bonded elements.
The first OMEGA IV was transported by horse and cart to the customer in nearby Reigoldswil, Switzerland.
The first line belonging to the world’s biggest urban ropeway network goes into service in La Paz. The public transport network, which will ultimately include 1,500 OMEGA cabins, carries passengers in safety and comfort above the roofs of La Paz and El Alto.
The world’s biggest aerial tramway cabins, each with a capacity of 230 passengers, are attached to the rope in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. And that’s not the only record: The world’s tallest ropeway tower with a height of 188.88 meters was built in concrete and stands in the sea.
The world’s steepest funicular goes into service in Stoos, Switzerland. The track has a 110-percent grade. Passengers don’t feel the effects at all as the four cylindrical compartments automatically move to compensate for differences in grade.
Consistent further development of the OMEGA. That was the guiding principle for the fifth generation of our bestseller.
We have retained the unmistakable cabin shape and made attractive additions: with outstanding perspectives, a pleasant interior climate, ergonomic design through to the smallest detail and a modular structure. So that the OMEGA V can continue to meet the needs of passengers and ropeway operators in the future.
A coherent overall appearance in the harmonized design language of the Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group, premium materials, new technology, modularity – and maximized vision.
A wealth of experience gained from hundreds of 3S cabins from CWA already in service around the globe is reflected in the design of the ATRIA.
And there is yet another highlight in store this year: CWA is celebrating its 80th anniversary and eight decades of expertise in the construction of cabins and vehicles!
