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Glite Dictionary
funicular railway

funicular railway

7.5
A steep railway with two cars joined by a cable that balance each other
  • noun
  • /fjuːˈnɪkjʊlər ˈreɪlweɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ferrocarril funicular
  • Many city dwellers prefer taking the funicular railway to avoid the long climb up the steep slope.

Examples

  • Visitors can enjoy breathtaking views as they ascend the mountain on the funicular railway.

  • You might think you're looking at an image of a roller coaster, but it's actually the Gelmerbahn, which is a funicular railway in the canton of Bern, Switzerland.

    Blog text (8)

  • The funicular railway makes it easy for tourists to reach the top of the steep hill.

Synonyms

funicular
vsfunicular railway
  • Specialized
1 8.9

A railway that moves cars up and down a steep hill by a cable

is the longer phrase rather than the short name
cable railway
vsfunicular railway
5.8

A steep railway in which a moving cable pulls the cars up and down a mountain

uses paired cars that balance each other rather than a moving cable alone

Surface Forms

funicular railway singular
funicular railways plural

Morphology

funicular + railway

The meaning is directly compositional: 'funicular' already denotes a cable‑pulled uphill rail system and 'railway' places it in the train/track domain, so their combination simply names that type of railway. This noun+noun construction is transparent and cross‑linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Funicular railway gets its name from the simple image of two cars joined by a rope on a steep hill: as one car goes up, the other goes down and they balance each other. That's why the term means a railway on a steep slope that is 'moved by a cable'.