Prague funicular turns 120 years

Prague, Aug 19 (CTK) - A new permanent exhibition on the history of funiculars in Prague was opened at the upper station of the funicular on Petrin hill in the city centre Friday, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of its operation, the display's author Pavel Fojtik has told reporters.

The new display replaced the outdated exhibition.

"Visitors can get acquainted with the history of all three funicular railways that were running on Petrin. Moreover, it reminds of the other Prague funicular, now already forgotten, to the Letna plain," Fojtik, head of the Prague Transport Company's archive, said.

The exhibition offers mainly old photographs, maps and tickets from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as well as some interesting technical exhibits.

"We have also displayed the as yet unpublished documents from the National Archive and from the Transport Company's archive," Fojtik added.

Both the Petrin and Letna funiculars were put into operation 120 years ago. They had originally a narrow track gauge and a water balance propulsion.

While the Petrin funicular railway, reconstructed several times, has survived to date, the funicular to Letna was closed in 1916. In the 1920s an escalator was built on the former funicular structure that was definitively dismantled in the 1930s.

The current Petrin funicular is the third version.

The first was put into operation on July 25, 1891 and it was running until 1914.

The second extended electrical funicular was operating in 1932-1965. It was put out of service in the 1960s due to the slope's erosion. Its operation was resumed in 1985 only.

The funicular annually carries some 1.8 million passengers.