Odesa Funicular

The Odesa Funicular (Ukrainian: Одеський фунікулер, romanized: Odeskyi funikuler) serves the Ukrainian city of Odesa. Running alongside the Potemkin Stairs, it connects the Prymorskyi Boulevard with the Port of Odesa.[1]

Odesa Funicular
(Одеський фунікулер)
Overview
LocaleOdesa, Ukraine
Coordinates46°29′18.2″N 30°44′31.9″E
Termini
Stations2
Service
TypeInclined lift
History
Opened1902[1]
Technical
Line length130 metres (430 ft)[1]
Track gauge1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)

Despite what its name suggests, in its modern state the Odesa Funicular is not technically a funicular but rather a double inclined lift.[1][2] The system was built by the "Skylift" from Kyiv.

History
Odesa Funicular, circa early XX century

The funicular was designed by the engineer N. I. Pyatnitsky and opened on 8 June 1902. It was equipped with two passenger cabins for 35 persons each delivered from Paris.

In 1969 the original system was replaced by a cascade of escalators, which had to be closed in 1997.

Then in 1998 the city council decided to restore the service, this time in the form of an inclined elevator. Construction started in the same year but was delayed until 2005, and the ropeway was reopened on 2 September 2005.[1]

Service was interrupted for much of 2016 for repairs to the Potemkin Stairs.[3]

Route

Located in the old town, the central city district, the line starts at the Primorsky Boulevard (Primorsky Bulvar), in which lies the upper station, close to the Opera Theater. The line and ends at Prymorska Street (Prymorska vulytsia), by the Black Sea coastline. The lower station, Morsky Port, is in front of the city port and is next to the port's railway station.

Originally built with a single track and a passing loop in the middle, it now has two metre gauge tracks and runs for 130 metres (430 ft)[1] alongside the Potemkin Stairs and Stambulsky Park. Each car has capacity for 12 passengers and the journey takes 3.5 minutes.[1]

  • The lower station and the Potemkin Stairs
    The lower station and the Potemkin Stairs
  • The upper station
    The upper station
  • The port seen from the funicular
    The port seen from the funicular
  • View of a car
    View of a car
  • View of a car
    View of a car

Literature
  • Nicolas Iljine, Bel Kaufman, Oleg Gubar: Odesa Memories. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2004 - ISBN 0-295-98345-0

See also

References
  1. Вверх-вниз вдоль Потемкинской лестницы на фуникулере, экскалаторе и лифте (in Russian). ЧАО "Сегодня Мультимедиа". 2008-10-11.
  2. Pyrgidis, Christos N. (2016-01-04). "Cable railway systems for steep gradients". Railway Transportation Systems: Design, Construction and Operation. Taylor & Francis. p. 251. ISBN 978-1-4822-6215-5.
  3. Sukhopleshchenko, Kateryna (2016-09-27). "Odessa Funicular Ceases Work". The Odesa Times. Archived from the original on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2021-04-16.. The Odesa Times, 2016-09-27
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