Italian cable-car specialist Leitner has won a $100m contract to build a transport system in Morelia, capital of the central Mexican state of Michaocán.

The state’s governor, Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla, announced the deal, reports El Universal newspaper.

He said the system would have seven stations over its 7.2km length, and would transport up to 22,000 users a day.

He added that the “flagship project” would transform mobility in the city, increase road safety, and lower pollution.

Morelia has a population of around 750,000 in the city proper, and a little less than a million in the municipal area.

Leitner, which is based in the town of Sterzing in the Italian Alps, has 4,200 employees in 21 offices around the world, including Spain, the Dominican Republic and South Korea, as well as Italy and Mexico.

It has already built two “cablebuses” in Iztapalapa, a district in the south-east of Mexico City. These cover some 11km and were opened in 2021.