A funicular, also called funicular railway or inclined railway, inclined plane, or in the United Kingdom a cliff railway, consists of a system of transport in which cables attach to a tram-like vehicle on rails to move it up and down a very steep slope.
The word "funicular" derives from the Latinfuniculus (thin rope), a diminutive of funis (rope).
Funiculars are also called trams or cable cars in many places. Typically the steepness of the track does not vary very much, which differentiates the funicular from a cable railway. In addition, the cars of a funicular usually are permanently attached at the end(s) of the cable whereas the cars on a cable railway can usually detach and reattach to the cable during normal operation. The vehicle is often specially designed for the particular inclination, so that seats and/or floors remain roughly horizontal.
It is thus a hybrid between cable transport and rail transport. Two cars at the end of a cable go alternately up and down on either two tracks or one track which splits and rejoins in the middle. Funiculars often occur in mountains. Many cities have short funiculars on hills or cliffs, such as the Montmartre funicular in Paris, or those in the Englishseaside resort of Scarborough.
Some urban funiculars are associated with a city's transit system. For example, the Montmartre funicular in Paris and the Montjuïc funicular in Barcelona are fare-integrated with those cities' metro systems.
The earliest such railways were water-driven, allowing barge traffic of canals to ascend and descend steep hills. They were used primarily in the early 19th century, especially during the height of the canal-building era in the 1830s in the United States.
Such railways operated by allowing water in feeder canals at the top of the plane to drive a turbine, raising or lowering a canal barge along a steep slope. Along level sections, the railroads essentially operated as standard towpath canals, with the barges typically drawn by horse or mule.
