1901: The Start of Operations for a Funicular Railway in Zurich

April 4, 1901

In Switzerland, a funicular railway in the city of Zurich first went into service. This railway was built to carry people up and down the Zürichberg, a 2,228-foot (679-meter)-high hill in the northeastern part of the city. A key destination on this hill at the time was a restaurant named Rigiblick that was likewise completed in 1901 and is now the site of a popular theater.

As with similar railways across the globe, the Funicular Rigiblick (“Seilbahn Rigiblick” in German) relies on cable traction to make travel on a precipitous incline all the more manageable. The origins of the term “funicular” can be traced to the Latin word “funis,” which means “rope” or “cord.” During its first year of operations, the Funicular Rigiblick made approximately 18,000 trips and transported about 95,000 passengers altogether. (The accompanying photo of this railway was taken early on in its existence.)

The Funicular Rigiblick’s original wooden cable cars were replaced during the early 1950s with metal-bodied cars that were red. Additional major changes to the railway took place in the late 1970s, when the upper end of that line was extended another 262-feet (80 meters) and blue-and-white cable cars were adopted for use.

With a track length of 1,263 feet (385 meters), the Funicular Rigilblick now encompasses a total of five stations. This railway, which carries an average of 600,000 passengers per year, is managed and run by the public transport operator Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ). Funicular Rigilblick is one of two funicular railways still operating in Zurich; the other railway is the Polybahn in the city’s central area.    

In a post that he wrote in 2013 for the transit-oriented blog known as Gondola Project, Ross Edgar highlighted what he saw as the continued relevance and roles of the Funicular Rigilblick in Switzerland’s largest city. He stated, “With its connections to both city tram routes and trolleybus routes, the Seilbahn Rigiblick is a prime example of how cable systems can be integrated within a wider urban transport network.”

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on the Funicular Rigilblick, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funicular_Rigiblick

A video of this railway can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgf3k8tf86s