Funicular dos Guindais

The Funicular dos Guindais, or Guindais funicular railway, is a cable railway system in Porto, Portugal.

The original funicular was constructed in 1891 and closed just two years later after a serious accident. However, as part of a larger initiative to improve the transport infrastructure of Porto it was re-modelled and the modern track opened on February 19th, 2004. The funicular runs down a steep cliff from Batalha (on the higher ground of central Porto) to the quayside at Ribeira. Originally constructed to facilitate movement of cargo, particularly Port wine, the funicular is now mainly promoted as a tourist attraction.

Although the journey is short at approximately 3 minutes, after emerging from the 90m tunnel at the top passengers are given a panoramic view including the Ponte Dom Luiz I (a bridge designed by Théophile Seyrig, a student of Gustav Eiffel), the quaysides of Ribeira and Cais de Gaia, the multitude of port wine lodges and traditional port boats on the Gaia side of the Douro river, and of course the river itself. Once at the bottom, tourists can either walk across the bridge on foot, join a river cruise or enjoy the restaurants and bars of Ribeira. The service is also used by locals and commuters wishing to get from Ribeira and Cais de Gaia to the metro at Sao Bento without climbing the steep hill on foot, although complaints about Monday closures and poor evening service have limited the interest of some Portuenses.

The funicular track is 281 metres long and descends 61 metres, giving an average gradient of around 20%, although as it makes its way down the steepest part of the cliff the gradient is over 45%. It is one of the world's steepest counter-balanced cable railways having two carriages with a capacity of 25 passengers each on the route.

It runs from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, with services running until midnight on weekends and holidays. It is owned by the Porto Metro company and accessed using the Andante ticket, allowing a trip on the funicular to be combined with a journey on the Porto Metro and selected bus routes.

External links

* [http://www.metrodoporto.pt Porto Metro official site]
* [http://www.altrinchamfc.co.uk/opofunic.htm Porto Funicular fan site]
* [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://jpn.icicom.up.pt/2004/03/23/andar_de_elevador_e_caro.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfunicular%2Bguindais%26num%3D100%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG Porto local news report (translated version)]

See also

* Porto
* Porto Metro