The Tibidabo Funicular (; ) is a

funicular railway A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...

in the city of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The line connects ''Plaça del Doctor Andreu'', the upper terminus of the '' Tramvia Blau'', with the summit of

Tibidabo Tibidabo () is a hill overlooking Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At , it is the tallest hill in the Serra de Collserola. Rising sharply to the north-west, it has views over the city and the surrounding coastline. The summit of the hill is occupi ...

, where there is an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

and a church, the Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor. The funicular is one of three in Barcelona, the others being the Funicular de Vallvidrera and the Funicular de Montjuïc. After modernisation works the funicular recommenced operations with new trainsets nicknamed "''La'' ''Cuca de llum"'' in June 2021 during a period of upgrade works from 2019. The ''Tramvia Blau'', along with a parallel bus service, provides a connection from Avinguda Tibidabo metro station. This is the terminus of line 7 of the

Barcelona Metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport system ...

, operated by the FGC from a city terminus at Plaça de Catalunya. Like the Tramvia Blau, the funicular is not part of Autoritat del Transport Metropolità (ATM) integrated fare network. Tickets must be separately purchased from ticket offices or machines at the terminal stations prior to travel.

History

The line was opened on October 29, 1901, with a length of . It has been modernised in 1922, 1958 and most recently in 2021.

Technical details

The funicular has the following technical parameters:

Rollingstock

2021 - present

After overhaul works to infrastructure between 2019 and 2021, new cars began operating on completely replaced tracks featuring a wider gauge of 1,400mm. There are two articulated vehicles currently operating with a capacity of 252 people and an empty vehicle weight of 30 tons.

1958 - 2019

The most notable change was the replacement of wooden bodies replaced by metal ones. They typically operated as 2-car trainsets carrying 113 per trainset with a maximum speed of 4.1metres per second (13.5 ft/s) with a track gauge of .

1901 - 1958

The vehicles had been remodelled multiple times over this period with cars made from wood. The first bodies were built by the Estrada de Sarrià workshops, and had five compartments divided between the preferential and general classes with a maximum capacity of 30 people.

References

External links

Tibidabo Funicular
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Tibidabo, Funicular del Metre-gauge railways in Spain {{Catalonia-rail-transport-stub