Kiev funicular

Both cars of the funicular in front of the valley station

The Kiev funicular ( Ukrainian Київський фунікулер Kyjiwskyj funikuler ) connects the Kiev districts of the Post Quarter in the lower town ( Podil ) and Michaelplatz in the upper town with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Michaelskloster over a length of 238 meters and with an incline of 36 percent with a height difference of 36 percent 75 meters. The line went into operation in 1905 and replaced a tram line set up in 1892, which ran from the bank of the Dnieper to the city center over a longer distance .

history

As early as the middle of the 19th century, the idea arose of connecting the buildings on Vladimir Hill with the factories, port facilities and residential buildings on the bank with an elevator . Engineer Artur Abrahamson, who had received his training in Switzerland , presented the first concrete plans to the Kiev city council in 1883. After long and sometimes controversial discussions, it was finally decided to build a funicular . The project engineers Pyatnitski and Barischnikow were commissioned to work out the specific construction plans. Between 1902 and 1905, specialists were able to build a single-track line with a gauge of 1000 millimeters with a passing point and two train stations (pavilions) at the respective end stations. The track system was built on supports made of reinforced concrete , which had just been developed as a new building material at the beginning of the 20th century. It was driven by electric motors built into the mountain station. The first two wagons were made in Switzerland, were mostly made of wood and each carried 65 people. The construction costs are given at the time of 230,000 Russian rubles . The facility is considered to be one of the first funiculars built on the territory of the Russian Empire or the later Soviet Union .

On May 7th, ^July/ May 20, 1905 ^greg.the opening of the “Michailowski's Mechanical Lift” (Михайлівський механічний підйом) called the transport facility, a trip took three minutes. Just one day later, the 22,000th passenger was counted!

Initially, the operator was the Belgian stock corporation, which had also used the first trams in Kiev .

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Video of the funicular

In the course of its existence the railway has been rebuilt, expanded and technically renewed several times. In 1928 the valley station could be extended by 38 meters to the Postplatz. Since 1958, carriages made of sheet steel have been in use, which are identified by the letters Λ (= l for left) and П (p = <pravo> for right) and therefore always remain on the same side at the meeting point. The drive motors and sleepers also had to be replaced. In 1984 a comprehensive reconstruction of the pavilions was carried out, which were completely closed and designed in an Art Nouveau style. The last work was done in autumn 2006.

The funicular in the 21st century

Cable car, 2012

The railway is operated by the Kiev municipal passenger transport company "Київпастранс" ( Kyjiwpastrans ) and runs in the opposite operation at short intervals. The four-tier cars have doors on both sides for separate entry and exit. It is operated manually from the operator's platform; a journey still takes between two and a half and three minutes. All single tickets for public transport cost the equivalent of around 20 euro cents ( as of summer 2010 ). On an annual average, the railway transports 2.8 million passengers, including many tourists.