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45-509: The FGC railway line R6 from Martorell and Barcelona to Igualada runs through the town, while local roads lead to Capellades and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia . Notable monuments include the castle of Fontanet. The castle which was restored in 1916 by Ramon de Viala d'Aiguavives, Baron of Almenar is documented in 955 a.c. and now used for private functions. The sister of the Baron of Almenar, Isabel de Viala d'Aiguavives also financed and patroned

90-643: A day between Lleida and La Pobla de Segur. FGC currently operates two types of freight services on the Llobregat–Anoia line; one of which carries potash and salt from Súria and Sallent respectively to Martorell for cleaning and processing before being sent to the Port of Barcelona , and the other carries cars from SEAT 's main factory in Martorell to the Port of Barcelona. In September 2012, FGC announced that it

135-406: A large and diverse userbase. All lines are overhead DC electrified at 1.5 kV. There are two distinct (and separate) systems: The line numbering is as follows: The FGC operates three mountain railway lines: The FGC also operates four funicular railways : On 1 January 2005, ownership of the non-electrified broad-gauge line from Lleida to La Pobla de Segur passed from Renfe to FGC. This

180-615: A mix of different track layouts. An example of this arrangement is the lower half of the Great Orme Tramway , where the section "above" the passing loop has a three-rail layout (with each pair of adjacent rails having its own conduit which the cable runs through), while the section "below" the passing loop has a two-rail layout (with a single conduit shared by both cars). Another example is the Peak Tram in Hong Kong , which

225-469: A pulley at the bottom of the incline. In these designs, one of the pulleys must be designed as a tensioning wheel to avoid slack in the ropes. One advantage of such an installation is the fact that the weight of the rope is balanced between the carriages; therefore, the engine no longer needs to use any power to lift the cable itself. This practice is used on funiculars with slopes below 6%, funiculars using sledges instead of carriages, or any other case where it

270-464: A railway track laid on a steep slope . The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable, which is looped over a pulley at the upper end of the track. The result of such a configuration is that the two carriages move synchronously: as one ascends, the other descends at an equal speed. This feature distinguishes funiculars from inclined elevators , which have

315-425: A short distance down from the passing loop as well, for the sole purpose of allowing the other car to call at Nebozízek. A number of cable railway systems which pull their cars on inclined slopes were built since the 1820s. In the second half of the 19th century the design of a funicular as a transit system emerged. It was especially attractive in comparison with the other systems of the time as counterbalancing of

360-453: A single car that is hauled uphill. The term funicular derives from the Latin word funiculus , the diminutive of funis , meaning 'rope'. In a funicular, both cars are permanently connected to the opposite ends of the same cable, known as a haul rope ; this haul rope runs through a system of pulleys at the upper end of the line. If the railway track is not perfectly straight,

405-538: A tunnel 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long, is claimed by the Guinness World Records as the "least extensive metro " in the world. Technically, it is an underground funicular. The Dresden Suspension Railway ( Dresden Schwebebahn ), which hangs from an elevated rail, is the only suspended funicular in the world. The Fribourg funicular is the only funicular in the world powered by wastewater. Standseilbahn Linth-Limmern , capable of moving 215 t,

450-733: Is twinned with: Train line connecting Igualada with Barcelona has a stop for boarding on both ways of the line. On 30 October 2012, Piera proclaimed itself as a Free Catalan Territory . Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]     [REDACTED] [REDACTED]    Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya ( Eastern Calatan: [ˌfɛrukəˈrilz ðə lə ʒənəɾəliˈtad də kətəˈluɲə] , "Catalan Government Railways"; Spanish : Ferrocarriles de la Generalidad de Cataluña ), or FGC ,

495-713: Is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia , Spain. The lines operated include metro and commuter lines in and around the city of Barcelona , tourist mountain railways, and rural railway lines. They include 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) of 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge route, 140 kilometres (87 mi) of 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge route, 42 kilometres (26 mi) of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge route, and 89 kilometres (55 mi) of broad gauge route, making

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540-417: Is mostly of a two-rail layout except for a short three-rail section immediately uphill of the passing loop. Some four-rail funiculars have their tracks interlaced above and below the passing loop; this allows the system to be nearly as narrow as a two-rail system, with a single platform at each station, while also eliminating the need for the costly junctions either side of the passing loop. The Hill Train at

585-410: Is not ensured that the descending car is always able to pull out the cable from the pulley in the station on the top of the incline. It is also used in systems where the engine room is located at the lower end of the track (such as the upper half of the Great Orme Tramway ) – in such systems, the cable that runs through the top of the incline is still necessary to prevent the carriages from coasting down

630-455: Is said to have the highest capacity. Some inclined elevators are incorrectly called funiculars. On an inclined elevator the cars operate independently rather than in interconnected pairs, and are lifted uphill. A notable example is Paris ' Montmartre Funicular . Its formal title is a relic of its original configuration, when its two cars operated as a counterbalanced, interconnected pair, always moving in opposite directions, thus meeting

675-975: Is the Fisherman's Walk Cliff Railway in Bournemouth , England, which is 39 metres (128 ft) long. Stoosbahn in Switzerland, with a maximum slope of 110% (47.7°), is the steepest funicular in the world. The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway , built in 1888, is the steepest and longest water-powered funicular in the world. It climbs 152 metres (499 ft) vertically on a 58% gradient. The city of Valparaíso in Chile used to have up to 30 funicular elevators ( Spanish : ascensores ). The oldest of them dates from 1883. 15 remain with almost half in operation, and others in various stages of restoration. The Carmelit in Haifa , Israel, with six stations and

720-474: Is the most derelict line in Catalonia – the stretch from Lleida to Balaguer had been upgraded (using second-hand rails) in the recent past, but from Balaguer northwards the track was in an appalling state. FGC has a number of plans for this line, including increasing the service frequency from three trains a day to a 30-minute service from Balaguer to Lleida, along the lines of a commuter railway; replacing all

765-539: The Giessbachbahn in the Swiss canton of Bern , opened in 1879, was originally powered by water ballast. In 1912 its energy provision was replaced by a hydraulic engine powered by a Pelton turbine . In 1948 this in turn was replaced by an electric motor. There are three main rail layouts used on funiculars; depending on the system, the track bed can consist of four, three, or two rails. Some funicular systems use

810-488: The Legoland Windsor Resort is an example of this configuration. In the case of two-rail funiculars, various solutions exist for ensuring that a carriage always enters the same track at the passing loop. One such solution involves installing switches at each end of the passing loop. These switches are moved into their desired position by the carriage's wheels during trailing movements (i.e. away from

855-515: The Tünel has been in continuous operation since 1875 and is both the first underground funicular and the second-oldest underground railway. It remained powered by a steam engine up until it was taken for renovation in 1968. Until the end of the 1870s, the four-rail parallel-track funicular was the normal configuration. Carl Roman Abt developed the Abt Switch allowing the two-rail layout, which

900-560: The passing loop ) and the Carmelit in Haifa , Israel (six stations, three on each side of the passing loop). A few funiculars with asymmetrically placed stations also exist. For example, the Petřín funicular in Prague has three stations: one at each end, and a third (Nebozízek) a short way up from the passing loop. Because of this arrangement, carriages are forced to make a technical stop

945-541: The FGC one of the few railway companies to operate on four different gauges. Whilst most lines are conventional adhesion railways , the FGC also operates two rack railways and four funicular railways . In 2018, the network carried 87.2 million passengers. FGC was founded on 5 September 1979 to manage lines whose ownership was transferred from the state-owned FEVE to the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1978 as part of

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990-415: The cable is guided along the track using sheaves – unpowered pulleys that simply allow the cable to change direction. While one car is pulled upwards by one end of the haul rope, the other car descends the slope at the other end. Since the weight of the two cars is counterbalanced (except for the weight of passengers), no lifting force is required to move them; the engine only has to lift the cable itself and

1035-596: The cars was deemed to be a cost-cutting solution. The first line of the Funiculars of Lyon ( Funiculaires de Lyon ) opened in 1862, followed by other lines in 1878, 1891 and 1900. The Budapest Castle Hill Funicular was built in 1868–69, with the first test run on 23 October 1869. The oldest funicular railway operating in Britain dates from 1875 and is in Scarborough , North Yorkshire. In Istanbul , Turkey,

1080-498: The crown of the rail were invented by the Swiss entrepreneurs Franz Josef Bucher and Josef Durrer and implemented at the Stanserhorn funicular  [ de ] , opened in 1893. The Abt rack and pinion system was also used on some funiculars for speed control or emergency braking. Many early funiculars were built using water tanks under the floor of each car, which were filled or emptied until just sufficient imbalance

1125-598: The distinction of being the first funicular in the United States for strictly passenger use and not freight. In 1880 the funicular of Mount Vesuvius inspired the Italian popular song Funiculì, Funiculà . This funicular was destroyed repeatedly by volcanic eruptions and abandoned after the eruption of 1944. According to the Guinness World Records , the smallest public funicular in the world

1170-406: The excess passengers, and supply the energy lost to friction by the cars' wheels and the pulleys. For passenger comfort, funicular carriages are often (although not always) constructed so that the floor of the passenger deck is horizontal, and not necessarily parallel to the sloped track. In some installations, the cars are also attached to a second cable – bottom towrope – which runs through

1215-434: The friction between the bullwheel grooves and the cable. For emergency and service purposes two sets of brakes are used at the engine room: the emergency brake directly grips the bullwheel, and the service brake is mounted at the high speed shaft of the gear. In case of an emergency the cars are also equipped with spring-applied, hydraulically opened rail brakes. The first funicular caliper brakes which clamp each side of

1260-414: The inboard wheels are unflanged (and usually wider to allow them to roll over the turnouts more easily). The double-flanged wheels keep the carriages bound to one specific rail at all times. One car has the flanged wheels on the left-hand side, so it follows the leftmost rail, forcing it to run via the left branch of the passing loop; similarly, the other car has them on the right-hand side, meaning it follows

1305-428: The incline. In most modern funiculars, neither of the two carriages is equipped with an engine of its own. Instead, the propulsion is provided by an electric motor in the engine room (typically at the upper end of the track); the motor is linked via a speed-reducing gearbox to a large pulley – a drive bullwheel – which then controls the movement of the haul rope using friction. Some early funiculars were powered in

1350-535: The line in 1979. The second oldest line the Llobregat–Anoia line was opened in 1892 as an interurban tram using metre gauge tracks, which was taken over by the Companyia General dels Ferrocarrils Catalans (CGFC) in 1912 and transformed it into a train line; CGFC being later taken over by FSB and FCC, followed by the broad gauge Lleida – La Pobla de Segur line in 1951 and operated by Renfe until it

1395-413: The line in a worse state than it was on Renfe days, with then three daily services from Lleida to Balaguer and only one running the whole length up to La Pobla de Segur. As of 2015 , the service on the line is as follows: However, as of 2019, the service has improved, following the introduction of new Stadler GTW trains. There are now 6 trains a day between Lleida and Balaguer on weekdays, and 4 trains

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1440-469: The modernist church of Ca n'Aguilera which was donated to Barcelona's Bishop by Zaragoza de Viala family in 1921. The architect of Ca N'Aguilera modernist church is Francesc Berenguer i Mestres , who was Antoni Gaudi 's disciple and personal friend. Another Piera relevant monument is the church of Santa Maria, with both Gothic and Roman elements. The municipality of Piera includes several outlying villages ( barris ): these are usually distinguished into

1485-525: The older, traditional settlements ( barris antics ) and the newer urbanisations which have been developed to cope with the expansion of the municipality ( barris nous ). Populations are given for 1999, from the Ajuntament de Piera and cited in Història de Piera : the town of Piera ( nucli urbà ) had a population of 5,036 at that date, whereas the total population of the municipality was 8,551. Piera

1530-459: The passing loop); this procedure also sets the route for the next trip in the opposite direction. The Great Orme Tramway is an example of a funicular that utilizes this system. Another turnout system, known as the Abt switch, involves no moving parts on the track at all. Instead, the carriages are built with an unconventional wheelset design: the outboard wheels have flanges on both sides, whereas

1575-561: The process of regional devolution under the Spanish Constitution of 1978 . Its oldest line, the standard gauge Línia Barcelona-Vallès however dates back to 1863 which was built and operated by Companyia del Ferrocarril de Barcelona a Sarrià from 1863 until 1874, and Ferrocarril de Sarrià a Barcelona (FSB) (with Ferrocarrils de Catalunya (FCC)) from 1874 until severe financial difficulties forced FSB and FCC to be acquired by FEVE in 1977, which operated it until FGC took over

1620-526: The rack and pinion system engaged with the rack mounted between the rails. The Bom Jesus funicular built in 1882 near Braga , Portugal is one of the extant systems of this type. Another example, the Fribourg funicular in Fribourg , Switzerland built in 1899, is of particular interest as it utilizes waste water, coming from a sewage plant at the upper part of the city. Some funiculars of this type were later converted to electrical power. For example,

1665-507: The rails and sleepers; introducing new trains to replace the ancient diesel stock currently used; and promotion of the line to tourists (it passes through some scenic countryside at its northern end). There were even plans to extend the line to the Pyrenees and possibly on to connect with railways in France – the plan when the line was built, but never carried out. Recent budget cuts had left

1710-529: The rightmost rail and runs on the right branch of the loop. This system was invented by Carl Roman Abt and first implemented on the Lugano Città–Stazione funicular in Switzerland in 1886; since then, the Abt turnout has gained popularity, becoming a standard for modern funiculars. The lack of moving parts on the track makes this system cost-effective and reliable compared to other systems. The majority of funiculars have two stations, one at each end of

1755-423: The same way, but using steam engines or other types of motor. The bullwheel has two grooves: after the first half turn around it the cable returns via an auxiliary pulley. This arrangement has the advantage of having twice the contact area between the cable and the groove, and returning the downward-moving cable in the same plane as the upward-moving one. Modern installations also use high friction liners to enhance

1800-595: The space required for building a funicular, reducing grading costs on mountain slopes and property costs for urban funiculars. These layouts enabled a funicular boom in the latter half of the 19th century. Currently, the United States' oldest and steepest funicular in continuous use is the Monongahela Incline located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Construction began in 1869 and officially opened 28 May 1870 for passenger use. The Monongahela incline also has

1845-534: The track. However, some systems have been built with additional intermediate stations . Because of the nature of a funicular system, intermediate stations are usually built symmetrically about the mid-point; this allows both cars to call simultaneously at a station. Examples of funiculars with more than two stations include the Wellington Cable Car in New Zealand (five stations, including one at

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1890-417: Was achieved to allow movement, and a few such funiculars still exist and operate in the same way. The car at the top of the hill is loaded with water until it is heavier than the car at the bottom, causing it to descend the hill and pull up the other car. The water is drained at the bottom, and the process repeats with the cars exchanging roles. The movement is controlled by a brakeman using the brake handle of

1935-462: Was planning to start operating freight services across the Spanish rail network, as an open access operator . Initial routes would be Barcelona – Sevilla and Barcelona – Madrid . Funicular A funicular ( / f juː ˈ n ɪ k j ʊ l ər , f ( j ) ʊ -, f ( j ) ə -/ few- NIK -yoo-lər, f(y)uu-, f(j)ə- ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along

1980-530: Was transferred to FGC in 2005–2010. FGC operates some of the commuter rail network in Barcelona . Voice announcements and signs on trains and stations of lines operated by FGC are exclusively in the Catalan language, unlike in the lines operated by Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and Renfe which remain bilingual or trilingual (Catalan, Spanish or "Castellano" and eventually English) in order to serve

2025-765: Was used for the first time in 1879 when the Giessbach Funicular opened in Switzerland . In the United States, the first funicular to use a two-rail layout was the Telegraph Hill Railroad in San Francisco, which was in operation from 1884 until 1886. The Mount Lowe Railway in Altadena, California, was the first mountain railway in the United States to use the three-rail layout. Three- and two-rail layouts considerably reduced

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