Pau funicular

The funicular in Pau from below

The Pau funicular ( French : Funiculaire de Pau ) is a funicular in Pau in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France . It opened in 1908 and has been completely renovated twice since then. The funicular has long been one of the landmarks of the city located near the Pyrenees .

history

The Funiculaire de Pau was ceremoniously opened on Saturday, February 15, 1908, at 7:00 a.m. It connects the Boulevard des Pyrénées (height above sea level: 206 meters) at the Place Royale in the city center with the Château de Pau (180 meters) at the train station in the valley. The car bodies of the first two vehicles were made of wood .

The railway was laid out as a single-track stretch of 105 meters in length with a gauge of 1000 millimeters ( meter gauge ). An Abt switch without moving parts not far from the valley station enables vehicles to meet. Practically the entire route is built on steel scaffolding . The pull rope is driven by an electric motor installed below the mountain station.

The fare was ten cents and a bicycle could be transported for the same amount again. The car sequence was two minutes, the departure signal was given by a horn up to the date of the first shot , which is still well known to the older residents of the city. According to reports, the railway worked largely without problems.

The current light blue painted cabins of the railway date from 1961 and are made entirely of steel . They replaced the previous wagons with wooden superstructures, which were worn out after 53 years of operation. Even in the new car there was always a driver who, among other things, operated the doors.

The rather chaotic and badly loss-making operation since the 1960s was suspended until further notice on January 2, 1970 due to serious safety deficiencies. Only in the second half of the 1970s was a revision of the facilities started. The completely renovated funicular was reopened on February 16, 1978.

In 2005, after a further 27 failure-free years, the railway was temporarily suspended in order to carry out maintenance work and adaptations to the current standards . The all-metal vehicles from 1961 were also given a general overhaul. Operations were resumed after about a year on November 25, 2006.

Since it first reopened in 1978, no charge has been made for the journey. The railway transports an average of around 500,000 passengers per year and has long been one of the city's landmarks. Even today the line of cars is very close with one departure every three minutes.